"Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!" (Amos 4:1)
"Cows of Bashan"! Can you imagine any preacher in his right mind getting up and calling the ladies of the church, "cows of Bashan"?
No wonder Amos wasn't very popular.
In a recent sermon in our series on the Mighty Acts of God, we talked about Amos and other prophets who preached about the Exile. Since that lesson, I've been thinking now and then about what Amos would say today. And, to be honest, it makes me pretty uncomfortable. I doubt he'd be very popular today either.
For example, he castigates the Israelites because "they sell the poor for a pair of sandals" (2:6; 8:6). Those are harsh words, and at first glance I'm just glad that I would never do such thing. . . . Or would I?
We American consumers are noted for caring only about getting the lowest possible price for the things we want. The consequence of that market pressure is that companies are always looking for ways to provide products at a lower cost than their competitors. Inevitably, some companies will find they can do that by purchasing goods from foreign suppliers who pay pitifully low wages for extremely long hours, do little or nothing to provide for the safety and health of their employees, and even use child labor. Is it possible that my shopping choices contribute to the selling of the poor for a cheaper pair of sandals?
And then there is that annoying sermon in the first few verses of chapter 6. Our small group spent a little time one evening imagining how Amos' words might translate into our culture. It's easy to read words about "ivory beds" and "choice lambs" and "strumming harps" and distance myself from the message. Those don't sound like my life. But what if Amos preached this in contemporary images?
I wonder if he might have said something like this:
Woe to you who are complacent in America,
and to you who feel secure in your cities,
you successful citizens of the foremost nation!
You think the day of consequences is far off,
but bring near a reign of oppression.
You lie on your king-size beds with satin sheets,
and lounge on your couches and recliners.
You dine on fine steaks and grill your extra large burgers.
You watch your widescreen plasma TVs,
and listen to your surround sound home theater systems.
You fill your frig with all your favorite drinks.
You smooth your skin with luxurious lotions.
But you do not grieve over the ruin of your people.
Therefore you will be among the first to face
the coming calamity;
your feasting and lounging will end.
I don't know about you, but I don't think I'd want to go to Amos' church.
6 comments:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSIGHTFUL MESSAGE. WE NEED TO CARE FOR AND LOVE THE POOR AND THE LOST.
This is why our family no longer shops at Walmart. I still can't understand why it has become such a religious icon, considering its business practices. Any time you buy items from a store at greatly reduced prices you can be assured that somewhere, someone paid the difference with their labor and their lives. We just don't want to do the math or consider the bottom line in human terms. Check out a little book called The Better World Shopping Guide if you really want to open your eyes to this problem. (Start with the page on Coca-Cola when you do.)
"Any time you buy items from a store at greatly reduced prices you can be assured that somewhere, someone paid the difference with their labor and their lives."
Dean and Rob,
The question occurs to me whether those people would have any sort of job at all without Walmart? I'm not happy about 3rd world sweat-shops, but I'm wondering whether the alternative is something even worse.
Capitalism has some really ugly side-effects, but given human nature, and observed history, what other system will provide the most prosperity for the most people? I'm genuinely interested in the answer.
Casey Perkins
Casey,
Actually, I'm the one that needs to respond. Rob just provided the forum (sorry, Rob). First, thanks for being so respectful and humble in your response. I can see that your concern is genuine and I assume that your heart is pure. I guess all I'm asking for is "conscious consumption," the willingness to ask about the true price that was paid for the goods we buy. I'm not just talking about sweat-shops, but human slavery that is greater now that it was 200 years ago (when it was legal). It's not a definitive response, but it begins when we start asking the right questions and when we refuse to sacrifice people for profit. Check out the site for the International Justice Mission as a place to begin asking those questions. Then ask yourself, how would Jesus want us to respond?
Thanks Casey and Dean for the good dialogue. Sorry I haven't been able to get back here sooner. Easter week is a bear. (Though a lovable, friendly bear!)
Casey, I completely agree that of the economic systems I know, capitalism provides the most opportunity adn best standard of living for the poor. Communism failed in it's promise (mostly, I think, because it failed to truly assess human nature). I've seen enough of the world to believe that most of the poor in this country are generally better off than the poor in most of the rest of the world.
If we failed to buy foreign goods, the poor in those countries would suffer even more. That's why I don't favor the refusal to buy from countries that don't have labor standards that match those protected by our government and labor unions.
On the other hand, when all we ask is "who has the lowest prices?" then we drive mom and pop stores out of business on main street in our own country and put economic pressure in other countries to provide cheaper and cheaper labor.
There are ways for consumers to shop that still encourage just labor standards in third world countries. Dean has pointed to a couple of good resources. One of the first challenges is to educate ourselves on some issues that are pretty troubling--including, as Dean pointed out, the deeply disturbing spread of modern slavery.
When I get past Easter, I may expand on this some.
Rob
Rob, thanks for the blog.
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