What angers you?

I was eavesdropping…please don’t judge me. I think I can reconcile this… I was in the student union last night, just reading and sitting on desk duty. I looked up and saw a girl and guy talking, this is pretty normal, and living in such a small community people are inclined to know other peoples business. I never do this but what was said sparked my interest.

The girl said to the guy “I don’t think I have ever seen you upset.”
The guy replied, “Well there is nothing that really upsets me.”
The girl thought, “Oh that’s great, but if there was one thing what would it be?”
He replied, “Animal cruelty.”
She concluded, “Oh good for you.”

After this I was done. I could not believe my ears. If there was one thing it was animal cruelty? Now I can understand how one would be upset about this, however I believe there are other issues out there that we should put in front of this. Don’t get me wrong. I love animals; I don’t like to see them in pain, but we have to sit back and ask ourselves, what makes us angry, what takes importance, what do we want to change?

I think we should be more concerned with numerous other issues than just cruelty to animals. What about poverty, sex trafficking, war, HIV/AIDS, child slavery? In Africa a child dies every three seconds…three seconds because of poverty, AIDS, or something related. Yet America and other parts of the world stood sill when Michael Jackson died. To be frank, a child not having a future breaks my heart more than any of the deaths that occurred this summer. In Bangkok children are being sold for sex left and right. Children that are five years old until they become professional entertainers, these children have no life but sex, day in day out. What do you think it would be like for them to have a good meal, a stuffed animal, and a comforting bed to sleep in, instead of the nonstop abuse? Yet in America we are worried about losing sleep, and trying to find the open fast-food places.

The porn industry is one of the largest in the world. Every second 3,000 U.S. dollars is being spent on some type of pornography. Yearly it grosses two to three billion. Yet we say we don’t entertain that idea. I’ve heard arguments that people are not contributing by not paying for it, they are basically getting it for free by some website. Yet by one person here and one person there typing in something in a search engine, they are raising their hand and saying I want to be a part of this. Then the Webmaster sees the people accessing it, intern they are making money from their host. Yet we say we don’t pay for it. Someone has to make money. What if three billion was given to Africa, Mexico, or any other third world country, in the name of God and relief?

So what is the problem? Why do we sit back and watch this? In America we surround ourselves with the thoughts of the Empire, and not the Kingdom of God. People were outraged when Kayne West interrupted Taylor Swift to talk about some other star. Now we have websites that are fully committed to stretching out this incident into whatever they please. Okay now Kayne West has lost some of his fan base, people hate him, whatever. What people don’t think of is that at the end of the night, these people have more money, possessions, cars, pools, and houses, than most of us will never see. He is better off than 99 percent of the world. Yet this is wealth of the Empire. And by people being outraged by this rude occurrence-- thought of the Empire.

Something needs to change, something that may be bigger than us, yet, maybe not, being that we should be a great group of helpers, and sharers of the Good News. There are many opportunities to get out and help someone, many non-profits to get into, and many people to meet and serve. I propose we get rid of what hinders our view of the Kingdom of God, whether that is the television, Internet, magazine racks, money, greed, or idols. Believe me I know the list goes on. But we need to surround ourselves in with the Kingdom of God, instead of the Empire. Plug yourself in to a community of believers that want to help. Don’t just give your old clothes to the Goodwill or another thrift store, but give them directly to someone who needs them, it may push you a little, but you meet the best people. Heck don’t even give your “old” things away, but something that you like. Donate your time and money to a child or family in need. The Bible gives us a clear example of how to help and care for the marginalized in Leviticus 19.9.

So get to know the issues, the people involved in them and find your place in the Kingdom of God. There are many organizations out there that you can look up and then, hopefully you can find yourself informed. So do something for someone else, be selfless, give them a drink, buy them something to eat, pray for them, and after you have cared for people, go walk a group of obnoxious dogs, and pick up their poop.

Some great organizations that I hold dear, as well as love the people who run them:

www.one.org/us/ works with AIDS and poverty.
iempathize.org/ works with sex trafficking.
Invisiblechildren.com/ to rescue child soldiers, and give African people jobs.





*Note: I love animals, they are great fun, and help with the economy more than you think, but I love people more.