The world of Evangelical Christianity lost a voice for reason and honesty last week in the death of Ron Sider, who taught for many years at the Eastern Baptist Seminary, now known as Palmer. His 1978 book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity, challenged not only Evangelicals but all of us who think we live a Christian life. Lazarus at our gates changes us, he wrote.
When he talked about equality of opportunity, he did not mean some trickle-down economics pushed by the rich at the top. He meant real equality. His stood for social justice as a foundation of Christian living. Although many of us would not have agreed with his anti-abortion and sexual ethics stands, he did not shrink from calling out our so-called leaders on their ideas of charity rather than equality.
In 2020, appalled at the hypocrisy of many Evangelicals in embracing Donald Trump, he edited The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump, stating that Evangelicals were more interested in power than anything else. Whether you agreed with him or not on any of the many stands he took, he was consistently honest to his faith to the end. He was 82.
Prayer for the Day
We know, O God, that we shrink from the many Lazaruses at our gates,
And so we send a check to this group or that to assuage our consciences;
But we recognize, O Lord, that living faithfully means more,
And we ask ourselves what it is we really need to do for the poor.
Move us out of our lethargy, our unwillingness to change our lives,
And help us embrace true transformation in our world.
In the name of the One who reaches out to Lazarus,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
God's Word teaches a very hard, disturbing truth. Those who neglect the poor and the oppressed are really not God's people at all—no matter how frequently they practice their religious rituals nor how orthodox are their creeds and confessions.
- Ron Sider, from Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger
Christians must be extremely vigilant against the ongoing temptations of idolatrous nationalism. Christians in the United States are especially prone to embrace this evil, but the temptation lurks in every nation.
- Ron Sider, from Just Politics: A Guide for Christian Engagement