Christianity - Social Issues - Poverty

As a Christian I am always trying to see the Christian view point on social issue like slavery, poverty etc.I am not sure whether social scholars look to the bible for answers to these problems, but I do.

Bible has been very vocal on certain issues like poverty but has not been explicit in giving its opinion on some social issues like slavery.

In the book of Leviticus 19:10 and Leviticus 23:22 God  commands Israelites that they should leave behind some of their yield for poor,widows and foreigners.

What I find interesting here is that the responsibility of the social welfare is being put on the people and not the government, which is what we dont see around in many nations today. Why does God put the responsibility on the people and not the government?

The answer I think is found when we look at social welfare system in India which is so inefficient and stooped in corruption that many have given up hope of its recovery.

The state as an agent for redistribution of wealth for social welfare is not a very efficient one. This I believe is because of what I call "Transmission Loss". When energy flows from one medium to another it is dissipated because of factors such as friction,vibration etc. In the same way wealth and resource also face "Transmission Loss" when redistributed through the state. These factors are

1. Corruption

2. Inappropriate Allocation

3. Overheads

4. Lack of infrastructure for delivery

5. Lack of empathy and sense of responsibility

Compare this with the citizenry taking up this role. If citizens voluntarily takes up this role then point 5 is taken care of. Point 2 is taken care of because benefit provider is directly interacting with the benefit receiver and is well acquainted with the need. Overheads and infrastructure required is minimum because the role of the state is limited to co-ordination efforts only.Absence of any other intermediaries reduce the risk of corruption as well.

Now the other argument could be that if the state relinquishes this responsibility to citizens then lack of participation from citizens could jeopardise the development & welfare of the community. But my thought is that if this is true about citizens then the same can be said about the state as well and this is what we are seeing in a nation like India where wealth of the people is totally misused by the government intermediaries.

I am not advocating total stoppage of government playing the role of welfare provider. If it does it will create a total chaos in a nation as large as India. But yes I do believe that governments state should slowly vacate this space to the citizens.

Sufficiency of Holy Spirit & God's project plan

I am a project manager by profession and as a Project Manager what intrigues me is- what was GOD project plan when he decided to send out the message of salvation to world?

Step 1 was definitely to send his SON Jesus Christ to the world as a complete MAN and complete GOD so that he could bring salvation to the world through his death and resurrection.

Step 2 - This really baffles me because all that Jesus said was that he will leave his HOLY SPIRIT with us who will guide our path.

Almost 2000 years later Christianity is still a force to reckon with, though some argue that its influence in the western hemisphere have dwindled in the last couple of decades. But did the West ever wholeheartedly accept Christianity? Thats a different topic altogether which I may want to discuss in my next blogs.

Any genuine leader of any sort of organisation is always working on his succession plan. But what was Jesus's succession plan on planet earth? He sent the HOLY SPIRIT. Interesting to note here is that he did not write a book to guide us, which probably any leader would do. But then, does he need to write a book when he himself is the Living Word?

He left it to GOD the HOLY SPIRIT who alone can reveal Christ's mind to us.

As Christians why do we complain of lack of Knowledge & Understanding? The early church's only guide was the HOLY SPIRIT. Notably the New Testament was not formed until 4 AD.

So isn't HOLY Spirit enough to guide us and equip us in ways of GOD.

PS - I am nowhere diluting the importance of reading scriptures. I am only pointing out to the sufficiency of the SPIRIT OF GOD for our Christian Living

Baba Ramdev's "Satyagraha"

I really don't understand Baba Ramdev's campaign against black money. He accuses the Government for not bringing black money back to India

Q1. Who has deposited the black money in foreign banks? The Government? The people of India.. right??Then who should be held responsible in the first place?

Q2. Instead of blaming the Government,shouldn't he ask his millions of followers to pay their taxes honestly and timely? I only found Salman Khan saying this. Really Wisdom comes from all corners. Baba's followers includes many HNI and millionaires.Shouldn't he be helping the country by asking them to rid of their black money? or is he worried about waning his fan following?

State Elections - 2011

4 states went to poll in India in the last 1 month. These were Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam. Out of these, Kerala and Bengal are Communist strongholds.

What strikes me is that inspite of the same political idealogies that rule these 2 states, Kerala has been way to high on the Human Developmeng Index than Bengal. Infact Kerala has been number 1 in India in Human Development Index. Someone might credit this to the High Literacy rate in Kerala, but this is not the cause,  this actually a result of a better governance. And certainly Bengal does not lack intellectual capital to consider itself disadvantaged. ...Umm..something to think about.

In a CNN IBN program today, discussing the exit poll results, political analyst Yogendra Yadav commented that states in the South had much better governance than the North..Why is it so..?

One heartening news was that, as per the exit polls, Trinamul Congress will come to power ending 3 decades of Left rule.

I hope the best for West Bengal.

Unique Indentififcation Number - UIN

I was reading an article on the Unique Identification Number in India Today. I believe this a great project with numerous benefits.

One idea of alternative usage already floating around is using it for passing on benefits to people below poverty line. This was something announced in the Union Budget this year.

Another possible use I can think of, of course when this is rolled out 100% across India, is to use this number in all economic transactions across the country. To reduce chaos this should be made mandatory for transactions only above Rs 100000. While I am say this I am very conscious of the infrastructure needed to make this work. This will necessitate mammoth investment of time, money; effort and most importantly - will. But considering the amount of black money this country holds, I think it will be worth the investment.

Submission in Christian Marriage

I was reading Colossians Chp 3 today morning. I use the life application Study Bible. I was reading about Wives submitting to the Husbands and Husbands loving their wives. The commentator insists that  submission mentioned here is mutual. I must say that no where in the Bible I have read that the submission in mutual in marriage.

Yes, this idea of mutual submission is extremely popular and endorsed by the Church Leaders of the Born Again- Spirit filled churches across the globe. The idea is that if Husband and wife are both walking in the ways of the Lord then wife will submit to the Husband and the Husband will put aside his own interests and cherish his wife.

I have a problem with this idea.

This idea is very Utopian. Before meeting Christ, I have been a fan Utopian thinking and I have always desired for the perfect world to come by and it was this hope that brought me to Christ. Were my hopes dashed? No, I realised that as Christians we are preparing ourselves or training ourselves to be part of the perfect world..the heavenly Jerusalem which will appear with Christs second coming. This helped me get rid of the frustration of the failing political system, corruption and other social problems in this world and the problems in my life as well. Have we earned our place in this new world?? No..It is a gift of God in form of salvation.

Similarly it is not right to expect a newly married couple to walk in ways of GOD from the day they get married. This means that idea of mutual submission perhaps can only be applied to a couple which has spent several years (Good & Bad) together.

So how then do we establish order in an institution ( marriage) which is very young and is not fully developed themselves in the nature of Christ?

Lets look at examples from the society we live in. In any organisation - corporates, NGO, Army, Government, there is always a superior authority which directs/implements/manages/develops/corrects their respective units. The team members (subordinates) in each of these form of organisations have varying level of freedom of will and freedom of expression.

Most of us work in large companies. Can we imagine being a part of a unit which has no boss? Any organisation however big and small has one boss. No organisation can function without such an order.
This is because someone  has the have the last word.

What I don't understand is why does this concept change when it comes to marriage? Why do we becomes super spiritual,philosophical and hypothetical when it comes to establishing order in the institution of marriage. Someone may argue and say ..Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world..but brother or may be sister..this pattern of governance is GOD ordained which is successfully adopted by the "evil" world.

That's why Paul has chosen to use to 2 separate instructions in the passage in Collosians. To the Wife he says to submit and to the Husband he says to love. Only then we have can practically viable governance in marriage. Paul could have very well chosen to say.."Husband and Wife, love and submit to each
other".. but he didn't.

"Mutual Submission" is a very diplomatic and "all pleasing" idea, but it is totally impractical.

Royal Wedding - Worship

The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine was truly a spectacular event. But more than the actual wedding and the whole romance around the event what struck me was the Glory of Christendom.

I am conscious of the fact that the Royal family including the newly married couple pay only a lip-service to their so called Christian faith, proof of which is Catherine deciding to omit the word "obey", but who really cares what the Royal family thinks and does?? The Church of Jesus Christ has stood strong and is ever increasing.

I dont know about the rest of the folks watching the event but it was astonishing to see Christ rule & reign and the worship that was offered to HIM. Christianity has come a far away from its modest begining in Jerusalem when Jesus started his work with 12 disciples. He never raised an army,did not overthrew any government, never even wrote a book and apparently worked (ministry) only for 3 years. I must also add that his disciples were sort of a Motley Crew. But today the world worships HIM. Isnt that a miracle in itself, that inspite of such an unconvential beginings, people around the world trust in HIM and worship HIM. Some even give their life for HIM. Who is this Son of Man that who takes all the glory? How can one MAN influence the world in such a way. Only the Spirit of God can make this happen, the Spirit of God which rests upon his beloved SON Jesus Christ

Looking at Westminister Abbey and listening to hymns made me realise why David wanted to build a temple to Our God. It was his act of worship. I agree that God cannot be accomodated in a building or what can we offer to a God who is the creator of Heaven and Earth. But God delights in these little things we try to do for HIM. We dont do this to gain acceptance, but we do this to bring joy to HIM. Sometimes songs and music is not enough to express the way we feel for GOD. Thats why perhaps David and people who created buildings like Westminister Abbey, St Paul Cathedral and Vatican - to take their worship to next level.

Yes to the next level but will the levels be ever exhausted??.. I dont think so..

Sin Free Life

Sin free life is a by-product of Christian life . It is not the purpose of Christian life. The purpose of Christian life is to glorify Christ alone. As Christian we should only be conscious of whether our actions glorifies Christ alone.

Does that mean God doesnt have problem with sin? No.. God can never tolerate sin. Hence we have Christ. God declares us Holy not because of the absence of sin in us but because of the faith we show in Christ. Faith is Christ is stamp of approval from God.

Once we accept Christ as our saviour, which itself is an act of faith, The Holy Spririt begins work in us which creates this by-product...Sin Free Life..