Hype Humanitarianism

Disclaimer: Let me start by saying this is not meant to offend anyone. It is simply a rant born out of my own conviction.

Because well known charities like the (RED) campaign and TWLOHA (TO Write Love On Her Arms) are so publicly supported by popular clothing stores and companies like GAP, Hot Topic, and Starbucks, the general public is now slightly more aware of different opportunities/avenues of which to give back to society- more so than they may have been in the past. I think it's great that these charities have been able to market their products to raise awareness for their causes and I'm sure they have been able to raise a lot of money because of it. Especially since they've been able to reach a younger demographic than maybe your average charity, that targets the settled and well off middle aged+ adult. All of this is great. I see nothing wrong with purchasing a shirt to support a cause. My only concern is with the phrase "raising awareness". I remember several months back people were all changing their twitter and facebook profile photos in order to "raise awareness" for some charity or cause and I was very confused as to what exactly they hoped to gain by doing this. Sure, people were aware of the opportunity to give to that particular charity or made aware that a problem existed BUT did that really accomplish anything?

I see it this way. Let's say during election season I decided to put a campaign sign in my yard for the candidate I thought would make the best president but never left my house to vote. But I went through all the trouble to post that sign in my yard, so I did my part to raise awareness that this candidate was a good choice to lead our nation. Sure I might've encouraged others to vote, but what did I actually do about it other than take a few minutes to post a sign?

As christians, we should want to do more than just raise awareness. We are called to do more than what is convenient. It's easy to buy a shirt or a pair of TOMs. But what if every person that bought a pair of TOMS decided to give an hour a week of their time to volunteer at a kids home or soup kitchen? What would it look like (Other than a bunch of worship leaders/youth pastors gathered in a room together)? I'm not trying to sound judgmental or say that buying TOMS or a (RED) product is wrong, but I strongly ask you to consider digging a little deeper here.

The root of the problems we face in the world today isn't that we lack the resources to change the state of things, but that we have become so comfortable where we are, with just buying a pair of shoes, that we think it is enough or that we've done our part. I've bought my TWLOHA/(RED)/TOMS bumper sticker so I'm good. Seriously? The Bible says to be "doers of the word, not hearers only." (James 1:22-27 ESV) Do is a verb here. Jesus didn't say "GO therefore and change your profile picture so that people know there are starving children in the world that need food". He said, "feed my sheep."

I don't want to leave this word with a promise on my lips. I want to leave this world knowing that I did all I could to change it. I'm not saying any of this stuff to sound holier-than-thou. This is just something I have been convicted of myself recently and I wanted to share it. We have to stop the hype humanitarianism somewhere. Let me put it into perspective for you. While you were deciding which color TOMS to purchase...

• One child dies ever 21 seconds from waterborne illness due to lack of access to clean drinking water.
• One person dies ever 4 seconds from starvation, most of which are children.
• One person every 20 seconds dies from AIDS, which is treatable with the proper medication and care.
• 600,000 to 800,000 individuals are trafficked each year.

I haven't even begun to list abuse statistics and drug and homelessness stats. But I think you get the idea. I don't see anything wrong with buying a pair of TOMS or a (RED) product to support those causes. But as a christian, I feel that I shouldn't just feel satisfied with something I can write off of my taxes at a later date. It's time for the church to be the church and put to rest this charitable complacency that has become all too familiar. It's going to be tough and uncomfortable but the fact that I am writing this from the comfort from a warm dry home full of food and clean water is enough reason to go beyond just reposting a photo to raise awareness. If you're going to love people as Jesus did, you're going to have to be willing to walk the walk as well as stick the bumpersticker.