"I asked participants who claimed to be ‘strong followers of Jesus’ whether Jesus spent time with the poor. Nearly 80 percent said yes. Later in the survey, I sneaked in another question, I asked this same group of strong followers whether they spent time with the poor, and less than 2 percent said they did. I learned a powerful lesson: We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours. I had come to see that the great tragedy of the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor." – Shane Claiborne
Christians and the Poor
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Here are the latest posts from some of my friends: Jim, Julie, Dorinda, Alan, Debi, and others; as well as posts I have shared in google reader.
my friends
- 3 ways to be a great host, and my modifications. Julie R. Neidlinger
- In the Republican Party the American Dream is Just an Oxycontin Hallucination Helen Philpot
- Wild Bill Langer and the Hampden Community Hall. Julie R. Neidlinger
- 3 clicks or less if you want to see change. Julie R. Neidlinger
- Never stop improving, always keep consuming. Julie R. Neidlinger
- The green plane and the blue sky. Julie R. Neidlinger
- When everything is shades of gray. Julie R. Neidlinger
- When social media refuses to get along. Julie R. Neidlinger
- Mitt Happens Helen Philpot
- The Prairie Princess and her eminent domain. Julie R. Neidlinger
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- A Poem For Sunday
- The Christmas Song
- Herod - then and now A non lectionary sermon based on Matthew 2:13-23
- Prayer of Teresa of Avila
- Sunset with Silhouettes and Chemtrails
- Bibledex: a video about every book in the Bible
- Di*cip*eshi*
- Love Wins: Part 7, Your Gospel Is Too Small
- Brennan Manning’s Last Words
- Salvation: Do We Have It All Wrong?
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What follows are links to some of the blogs I like and read. Perhaps you will like them as well.
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friends
- .: vindicated : the amazing blog of kyle potter :.
- ::: alancreech ::: home :::
- A Nuanced World
- Art's Strange World
- David Hayward – nakedpastor
- Debi Warford – the scriptorium
- Dorinda Fox's Blog
- Eric Siegmund – The Fire Ant Gazette – Midland, Texas
- Haloglow's Weblog
- James Higham – nourishing obscurity
- Jim Jannotti – serotoninrain
- Julie Neidlinger – Lone Prairie
- Kim Wooods – Chester County Real Estate Talk | Life, Places, Events
- lizardblog ( the blog of liz creech
- Loren Webster – In a Dark Time the Eye Begins to See
- The Fire Ant Gazette – Midland, Texas
- The Official Blog of D. H. Schleicher
- Vicki – words


I’d venture to say that too many Christians are not only this way with the poor, but with “sinners” (in general, but primarily those with outwardly identifiable struggles). It’s too easy to condemn, for whatever reason, rather than get to know someone and their problems, and it’s too easy to hide out in one’s Christian circle of friends.
I think you are correct. Thanks for stopping by and for commenting.