Truly following God's example means taking care of one another

Have you ever heard a preacher talk about how Christianity is at odds with the common culture? Have you ever been sitting in church and heard a pastor bash the culture at large? What does he talk about? Abortion? Marriage rights? Sex? Pornography? Usually those are the big-ticket items; they're what we spend most of our time on.

I can't remember the last time I heard a preacher talk about exploitation, or slavery, or even widows and orphans. Yes, I have heard and worked with Christians who advocate on behalf of these issues, and I love them for it, but I can't recall when I have heard a radio preacher or televangelist raise these issues into the light. What saddens me about this is that God spends a lot of time talking about righting injustice, taking care of the broken, rescuing the slaves and healing the sick. Yes, God does give us a basis for sexual purity, the beauty of life and a specific view of relationships, but maybe we should try to keep our activist ratios in line with that of Scripture.

I think that this is a good time for me to confess what is prompting this topic: An 18-inch doll named Gwen Thompson, one of the newest releases from the very popular American Girl line.

What about a doll prompts this type of article? Well, it happens to be a very bleak social commentary. Gwen -- the doll -- is homeless, but for $95 she can be yours. The sad thing is that none of that large price tag actually goes to aiding the homeless, meaning that the doll is being used to educate children about homelessness but not do anything about it -- and, worse yet, to make a huge profit from the suffering of others.

What makes this worth writing about is that the Bible has plenty to say about exploitation and excess. God makes a huge point in communicating how he wants us to treat one another. The second half of the greatest commandment is "to love your neighbor as yourself," and James 1:27 tells us that "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." God wants us to know that we are to care for each other, not take advantage of one another.

There are times in Scripture when God gets harsh with us. This is one of those times. In Amos, the prophet begins with this: "Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, 'Bring us some drinks!' The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness: 'The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.' "

Here God is speaking at people whose excess is their form of oppression. These women are called cows by God, and though the specific audience is a group of women in the ancient Middle East, this statement can be applied to both genders in any gluttonous culture, including our own. We can take this statement and set it toe to toe with the two verses above and see that God cannot stand it when we take advantage of other people, especially for our own enjoyment. This is what makes slavery so vile: It holds a human captive simply for the pleasure of another human.

So what does this mean for us? I hope that this article expands beyond one doll and sheds light on our culture as a whole.I hope that it is plain to see that we live in a culture that has all the trappings of oppression-causing excess, and that God wants us to live above it.

First, there is no amount of charity that can make up for our broken state -- only the forgiveness and grace that God offers can put us back together. Second, it means that there is a way of living that is better than that of a cow, and that God can show us that way.

Finally, it means that there are places in our lives, where we can realign our priorities and begin to love our neighbors in a way that ends their suffering, not perpetuate it. This is what Jesus meant in John 13:34 when he said: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."