On a cold September evening, in
the city of Madrid, to a fanfare of trumpets and cheering crowds, a huge black
bull steps nervously onto the sands of the Plaza De Toros Monumental. Magnificently dressed matadors and picadors
swirl their brightly coloured cloaks to attract the proud creature, but to no effect. The crowd grows restless and prods are applied
to goad the animal to life. Eventually
it charges at the nearest enemy and the whole macabre theatre unfolds with jabs
and stabs that weaken the bull and draw him closer to the final act. Just before the Coup de Gras this forlorn
creature bows its head to smell the bright red blood, his blood, shed for the
amusement of the rich. It was not a fair
fight.
In an economically cold and
financially pinched Britain, another group are addressed with a fanfare of conferences
and the blasts of politician’s rhetoric – they are the poor. Sadly, more are reluctantly joining their
ranks, stepping nervously into a world with only jabs and energy sapping rejection.
Crowds roar on the professionals but
much of the rhetoric is a load of bull.
Step forward the church
"to loose the chains of injustice", to embody Jesus Christ by doing
what He did and continued to do in the early church. "There were no needy persons among them."
says Acts 4:34. Rodney Stark in ‘Rise of
Christianity’ observes that the explosive growth of the church came from its
engagement with those who were suffering and impoverished.
God forbid that we stand safely in a crowd and
chant and point and applaud the professionals yet mock the poor, who are bleeding
in the sands of our arena. With eyes of
faith, let us seek to help, rescue, and empower those in our community that are
struggling. God has chosen the poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith
and to inherit the kingdom He promised to those who love Him (James 2:5). Church arise! It is our time to not only speak
but to act with compassion, and reject the bull!
