I was wandering through the bookstore tonight in the Christian section and was struck by how many ‘self-improvement in Christ’ books that fill the shelves. I wanted a book on helping the poor and really couldn’t find any. Not that they don’t exist, they do, but in comparison they were lost in the mix of being a better Christian, being a better wife/husband, being more intimate with the Lord, etc… These are good and necessary and thank God they exist as I’ve been helped by them, but what about the books that are written about our service to the poor? And how to help them? I’m not sure they are as good as sellers. And yet those who I know that work intimately with the poor have the most mature character I’ve seen (and they probably didn’t have to read a book to get that way). Perhaps we’ve gone about it wrong. Perhaps we grow faster, wider, and deeper when we are engaged not only with the Lord but with meeting the wounded world around us. By looking at my heroes of the faith, it would sure seem that way.
