The Occupy Wall Street Moment suffered a set back this week when the NYPD evicted the protesters from Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan. The protestors had been there for nearly two full months and are vowing to return. The OWSM (Occupy Wall Street Moment) in New York has given rise to similar protests in major cities across the United States as well as in some foreign countries. It is not yet known if the police and other authorities are now prepared to permanently squelch the protests because of concerns over violence and other illegal activities.
Regardless of how you feel about the OWS protests and movement it would do us all well to listen to what those involved are saying to us in a broader sense. There is a powerful message for God’s people to understand and act on.
The OWSM comes out of the discontent many in our world have come to know with reference to our capitalistic society. Please don’t misunderstand me here. I am a firm believer in capitalism as an economic system. It is my opinion that socialism is another name for shared poverty and I really don’t want anything to do with that. However, let it also be said that capitalism and its cousin materialism are petri dishes for the cultivating of the lusts of the flesh and lusts of the eyes and the greed, covetousness, and jealousy associated there with.
Over the last few months we have heard statements dealing with “the inequality of wealth distribution” and the need for a more “equitable system”. The cry has been, “we are the 99%”. Many, if not most of these protestors are feeling cheated out of their share of “The American Dream”. They believed, as most of us have, that the ticket we need to dance at the ball was a college education. Based on that assumption, they borrowed and borrowed to get that ticket only to find that the dance had been cancelled. They feel that they were duped and they are mad as heck about it.
This movement is not going away anytime soon. In one form or another it is here to stay. Thus, it is critical that the church not turn a deaf ear to this group of people. These protestors in our city and in cities all over the nation and globe speak to a real yearning in the heart of men and women for fulfillment, for more to life than they are presently experiencing. God’s church has a message for “such a time as this”.
Right now across our culture the strong cries for forgiveness of student loans, provision of high paying jobs and lower salaries for corporate executives are actually a desire for the dignity a job brings, the feeling of security money in the bank imparts, and the liberty and autonomy that moving away from home surely gives. The OWS cause is based on the common felt needs shared by all people.
Here is the good news. God’s people, the church, have an app for that. In John 10:10 we read “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Speaking to His disciples 2000 years ago Jesus Christ recognizes and declares that we have an enemy who is seeking to bring ruin upon individuals using any means. Jesus also wants them and us to know that the purpose for His coming is to give us not just life but beyond that, He offers us life to the fullest.
Through Christ we know the dignity of being made in the image of God and having such worth that God sent Jesus to die for us. Faith in Christ enables us be secure and have a peace that is not determined by the circumstances of lives. The Christian doctrine affirms the equality of all people and promises freedom and liberty from the power and penalty of our sin.
We have the real treasure that the Occupy Wall Street Movement needs and desires. A personal relationship with Christ meets the deepest need of the hearts of those all over the world who are crying out in frustration. Heads up church, we’ve got what they need. Let’s seek to meet all who are without Christ where they are and lead them to where we have been lead by the grace of God.
In His Service,
Dave Watson - An Urban Christian
