opio and bebo

i've never been a big, or small, fan of bebo norman's music. i'm still not. but, i recently saw him in concert anyways, and he was good. not his music, it was ok. he spoke after his set, and he was good. it's not easy to talk about poverty. we're so apathetic when it comes to that topic. we're so apt to think, "not another musician who thinks he has a platform launch the 'poverty agenda.'" it's so easy for us to deny poverty given our own conditions. as derek webb puts it: "where we're all living so good that we moved out of jesus' neighborhood where he's hungry and not feeling so good from going through our trash." earlier that day i had received a brochure in the mail about compassion international. compassion is an organization that has the lofty mission of releasing children "from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty" by providing an avenue for people to sponser a child for $32/month. they even have an HIV/AIDS initiative. you can visit their website at http://www.compassion.com/. the brochure stated that they were looking for individuals with a passion for social justice. i was so encouraged that bebo had this passion. he spoke about how frustrated he was with our government, with God, and ultimately with God's people. he said he stopped relying on politicians and stopped asking the question, 'where's God?'; instead, he started asking 'where are God's people?' he went on to explain that the description jesus gives in scripture is that whenever we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or provide shelter for the homeless we literally feed, clothe, or shelter christ. it's unbelievable the conditions with which people are forced to live, and compassion thinks that it's unjust and just plain uncool. that's big. that's global big. compassion works for a better world, not just a better america. ali and i have been humbled to take part in compassion's mission for about 3 years now. here's opio fred.

maybe he'll google his name some day and find this site. that'd be sweet. ali and i aren't sure if we should call him opio or fred. since opio sounds cooler, that's what we usually call him. he likes the real football. i like the fake kind. we still get along, though.

i think it's really cool that stars like brad pitt and angelina jolie talk about making poverty history. i think it would be even cooler if the church started talking more about it. i read a speech that bono gave to washington elites at an africare dinner a few years ago:

so you've been doing God's work, but what's God working on now? what's God working on this year? two and a half million africans are going to die of AIDS. what's God working on now? i meet the people who tell me it's going to take an act of God to stop this plague. well, i don't believe that. i think God is waiting for us to act. in fact, i think that God is on His knees to us, to the church. God is on His knees to us, waiting for us to turn around this supertanker of indifference, our own indifference a lot of the time. that God almighty is on His knees to us- I don't know what that means. waiting for us to recognize that distance can no longer decide who is our neighbor. we can't choose our neighbors anymore. we can't choose the benefits of globalization without some of the responsibilities, and we should remind ourselves that 'love thy neighbor' is not advice: it is a command.

that's a weird thought- God on His knees to us.