By Steven Wetton
I was in a recent meeting about food provision when somebody said: “The well fed should never be deciding for the starving.” It made me stop. I asked myself: “Do we the ‘well fed’ decide for the ‘starving’? Do we even have the right to make decisions for programme beneficiaries?” I felt really uncomfortable. For I am one of the well-fed. I realised taking such decisions pre-supposes huge arrogance on my part.
Whenever I feel uneasy, I turn to scripture. Proverbs 15 vs 22 says ” Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed”. And James 3 vs 17 says” But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy.”
I realised if we take the guidelines in James 3 seriously, then we will not be arrogantly deciding for the ‘starving’ but rather that we are engaging them as advisers to help us shape our interventions so that we produce a harvest of good deeds that are free from prejudice and hypocrisy. And going even further, perhaps they should be the ones deciding and we become just the advisers.
In such turbulent times, I am reminded the value of keeping God’s word as a lamp to guide us and be a light for our paths (Psalm 119:105).
This week consider:
What issues are you facing, what is making you uneasy?
Where in the Bible could you turn for guidance?
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