The Christian Responsibility to Heal the World of Divisions

On Sunday, Sep. 26, many Christian churches around the world heard the story of the rich man and Lazarus from the gospel of Luke 16:19-31. As I reflected on this story, I was reminded once again of our Christian responsibility to heal the world of all divisions. The rich man in this story is not condemned because he is wealthy, nor is he condemned because of what he did with his wealth. He is condemned because of what he did not do. He is condemned because he did not spend his time, talents and treasures to bridge the gap between Lazarus and himself. The chasm that existed between the rich man and Lazarus is symbolic of the different chasms we have created and maintained in our society.

What are those chasms and who are the Lazaruses? There are several divisions that exist in our society: the rich and the poor, those who dine sumptuously and those who go hungry, gay and straight, whites and people of color, Christians and other religions like Islam. Our Lazaruses are the marginalized or those who are disadvantaged because of the side of the divide where they find themselves. In our society, these are the poor, the hungry, gays, people of color, and Muslims. These are the least of our brothers and sisters that Jesus Christ expects Christians to care for. We cannot ignore them, deride them or pretend that they do not exist. Christians not only have a responsibility to help them, but they must fight to tear down the structures of inequality in our society. Christians cannot sit passively when the rights of Muslims are being violated just because they belong to a different religious tradition. They must act because we all have a common origin. The same God created Muslims and Christians (and people of other faiths). I was not created by a black God or a white God. The God who created gay people is not different from the God who created straight people. The poor are also created by the same God who creates the rich. We all are created by one God. We all share the image and the likeness of one God.

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