Part 42 – What It Means To Prepare for the 2nd Coming of Our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ
Proverbs 29:7 ESV
“7 A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.”
If we are to survey for leadership in the field of striving to provide justice for the poor, one way would be by knowing whether or not already rich countries have minimal gaps between the rich and the poor. That’s what I just did for purposes of writing this part. To my surprise, even advanced or developed countries maintain wide gaps between the rich and the poor.
The article below was from Wall St. dated May 30, 2018 which means this news was only as of a few months ago. It says even in the USA, income inequality has been growing and the middle class is shrinking. The report also states the situation is either as bad or worse in “Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas”. Listing the top 15 countries with the widest gap between rich and poor, it shows:
1. South Africa
2. China
3. India
4. Costa Rica
5. Brazil
6. Mexico
7. Chile
8. Turkey
9. USA
10. Russian Federation
11. Lithuania
12. Israel
13. United Kingdom
14. New Zealand
15. Latvia
Given that we hope so much on justice coming from leaders in USA and European countries, it looks like they are experiencing a losing battle in the quest for lowering the gap between rich and poor, increasing the middle class, and uplifting human lives towards better human dignity. We should pray that Jesus Christ will send better leaders and improve the righteousness, capabilities, performance of Godly fellowmen in developed countries — and/or improve current leaders. At the same time, we ought to see the log in our own eyes and generate corrective measures for us to become more instrumental in becoming more serviceable to others as we continue to improve ourselves as well.
Think of concrete ways to help (in a little way) poor people we encounter. Consider it a rehearsal. Then turn it into a habit. Let me cite a simple yet noteworthy example. A Facebook friend by the name of Butch Quezon Guarin Aragon, a distant descendant of Pres. Manuel L. Quezon, celebrated his birthday with street children just recently. He is a new Pastor and used to be an Evangelist. Thus, he is rich in the knowledge of biblical passages and must have shared some moral support for the poor in RP, even on his birthday.
Has anyone among you seen our DSWD out in the field trying to serve the homeless loitering in streets ? Such a department of government has a big budget for making their presence felt in public services.
Luke 16:30 ESV
English Standard Version
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”