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Introducing Micah 6:8

Micah lived in a time of economic change and growing prosperity. Widespread wealth had resulted in a society that was increasingly materialistic. People invested their wealth in sprawling real estate, and large farms sprung up, making it hard for smaller farmers to survive. Old ways of living in community and in covenant with God were neglected, and social concerns were a low priority for leaders. Even the religious leaders of the day failed to call people back to faithfulness.

As God’s prophet, it fell to Micah to respond, delivering a stern warning from Yahweh. Part of that response is the Micah 6:8 text, a favourite Scripture for many of God’s faithful.

Act justly: Restoring fairness to the most vulnerable

The word translated as justice in Micah 6:8 is often translated as righteousness in English-language Bibles. It involves putting relationships right. A righteous person during Old Testament times worked for peace and wholeness in the community: caring for and defending orphans, widows, the poor and the vulnerable. The righteous person never exploited anyone, took good care of the land and lived at peace with others (Deuteronomy 24:14-22, Jeremiah 22:3). To act justly is to work for right relationships and fairness for all, especially the most vulnerable.

Love mercy: Caring for others, especially those in need

To love mercy is to treat others with mercy and mutual respect. The word for mercy used here is the same word used to describe God’s compassion and devotion toward His people. It is the same kind of love demonstrated in the Old Testament story of Ruth: a loyal, dedicated woman who showed a godly caring and devotion to her widowed mother-in-law despite the difficulties she endured as a result. To love mercy is to walk alongside those who suffer, showing faithfulness, generosity and compassion.

Walk humbly with God: Pursuing spiritual growth and discipleship

A walk involves intimacy – sharing, spending time together and listening. In the Old Testament, a person who ‘walked with God’ was someone who demonstrated a close, personal relationship with God. Enoch did not die because he ‘walked with God’ (Genesis 5:24) and God had been pleased with him (Hebrews 11:5). In the Old Testament, walking with God involved trust and companionship, developing a closer relationship by meditating on His Word and Laws, and striving to follow His commands (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). To walk humbly with God is to be serious about pursuing ongoing spiritual growth and discipleship.

Ten reasons why Christians should be involved in meeting the needs of the poor

1. The Bible says so

There are over 2,000 verses on poverty and injustice in the Bible. God has the poor in His heart and wants us to act with mercy and to love our neighbour. Old Testament prophets spoke out against personal behaviour that exploited the poor as well as institutional injustice and hypocrisy. The Micah Challenge takes its name from Micah 6:8: ‘What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’

In the New Testament, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan to explain how we should love each other. He controversially presents us with a Samaritan (a despised foreigner) who cares for the wounded Jew even though respected Jewish figures (the equivalent of a bishop, church elder or Christian business leader) pass on by. We are to show ‘mercy’ even if it is costly in financial terms or puts us at personal risk. Being involved in social justice encourages us to examine our attitudes to the poor, to our possessions and to our economic power. We can repent of our arrogant attitudes and realise that we are all rich and poor in different ways.

2. We can integrate word, action and spiritual power

We want every part of our lives to be infected with Jesus. For many years we have tended to separate evangelical and social justice concerns in churches. But over the last generation Christians have come to see the importance of an integrated or holistic gospel.

The Micah Declaration of 2001 says ‘Integral mission or holistic transformation is the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel. It is not simply that evangelism and social involvement are to be done alongside each other. Rather, in integral mission our proclamation has social consequences as we call people to love and repentance in all areas of life. And our social involvement has evangelistic consequences as we bear witness to the transforming grace of Jesus Christ.’

(for the full text see www.micahchallenge.org/Christians_Poverty_and_Justice/96.asp)

Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, said in 2005 ‘I’ve never been involved in partisan politics – and don’t intend to do so now – but global poverty is an issue that rises far above mere politics. It is a moral issue…a compassion issue…and because Jesus commanded us to help the poor, it is an obedience issue!’

3. We can intercede for others

We can pray for our leaders and our nation, bringing more of God’s influence, His character and His Kingdom into our lives. We are urged to weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice and share in the sufferings of others. We can overcome evil with good and see situations transformed through prayer.

‘Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”’
Luke 21:1-4

4. Jesus’ words and actions are our example

Jesus spoke and acted for the poor on a number of occasions, e.g. the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the Good Samaritan, the widow’s coins, the parable of the sheep and goats. Jesus resisted the temptation to use His powers to provide for His needs. He also warned the rich, ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry’ (Luke 6:24-25). It is hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and we need to constantly ask ourselves how God wants us to use our material blessings.

5. We are all created in God’s image

Extreme poverty is a result of sin and injustice. Many of us respond to the horror of poverty when we compare what we would sacrifice for our children with the fact that 11 million children die needlessly every year from hunger and disease. Less than one per cent of what the world spends annually on weapons is needed to put every child into primary school (and that statistic applied before the massive military spending in Iraq). Such statistics shame us because every child is part of God’s creation.

6. Justice implies judgement

If we say that it is ‘wrong’ for 20 per cent of the world’s people to live in absolute poverty and it is ‘right’ to do something about such inequality and suffering, we are talking of justice. And justice implies judgement.

God will call us to account for our action or lack of action. When Micah spoke out against the injustice in his nation, he was talking to God’s people, not those who were unaware of God’s values. So we need to remind ourselves to act with humility in our own lives. Then we can speak out to our nation about right behaviour in areas of personal and business ethics, and political action on poverty.

7. We really can make a difference

The problems of our world are huge and can seem overwhelming. We know the dreadful statistics and see images of crises time after time. But over the last 30 years there have been improvements, e.g. the average life expectancy has increased by 8 years and another 1 billion people can read and write.

There are more and more Christians support agencies that are doing valuable work in long-term development, but we need more than generous individuals. We need our governments to respond with generosity and justice to the needs of the poor – it is our responsibility as a rich nation. We live at a time when we can tackle the worst effects of poverty: we have the technology, the money and the skills; all we need is the will to act. That is why the Micah Challenge backs the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They are not perfect but they do reflect God’s purposes. The Micah Call puts it this way:

This is a moment in history of unique potential, when the stated intentions of world leaders echo something of the mind of the biblical prophets and the teachings of Jesus concerning the poor, and when we have the means to dramatically reduce poverty… We call on international and national decision-makers of both rich and poor nations, to fulfil their public promise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and so halve absolute global poverty by 2015.

‘The five “Global Goliaths” are spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy education.’ Rick Warren, author The Purpose Driven Life

8. We are being prophetic

What a responsibility to remind our government to act with compassion, mercy and justice. Being submissive to the state (Romans 13) does not mean uncritical obedience – we should challenge our leaders if they are out of line with God’s purposes for government. Paul spoke out when his rights were denied in Philippi (Acts 16) and Peter and Silas carried on preaching about Jesus even though the authorities told them to stop. The Micah Challenge is not being party political – it is neither left wing nor right wing. We are standing for God’s clear values and ask Christians in the UK to join together to be a strong voice for change. We are not speaking only of human rights – we are preaching good news for the poor – those who are physically poor and those who are spiritually poor.

9. If we don’t do something, who will?

It is easy to think that others will act, that our church community has different priorities and that it is too hard to deal with global poverty. Moses protested five times to the Lord that he was not the one to lead God’s people out of captivity, and five times God answered his doubts (see Exodus 3-4). God equipped Moses to do the task and God will equip us if we say, ’Here I am’. Esther was afraid to speak out in defence of her people until Mordecai reminded her, ‘Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?’ (Esther 4:14). Is this our time to speak out to save millions of people and to do it in the name of our just and loving God?

10. We can be an example of unity

By being part of the Micah Challenge – praying and acting with other Christians around the world – we are helping to model God’s vision of unity among our brothers and sisters. ’By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another’ (John 13:35). We are also loving our neighbours wherever they are and whoever they are, and helping to bring them life in all its fullness.

For further development of these ideas, see:

The Millennium Development Goals

By 2015, all UN member states pledged to:

  1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
    • Reduce by half the proportion of people who live on less than one dollar a day.
    • Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
  2. Achieve universal primary education
    • Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.
  3. Promote gender equality and empower women
    • Eliminate the gender discrepancy in primary and secondary education by increasing opportunities for girls to attend school preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.
  4. Reduce child mortality
    • Reduce by two-thirds the percentage of children who die before the age of five.
  5. Improve maternal health
    • Reduce by three-quarters the percentage of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth.
  6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
    • Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/ AIDS.
    • Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
  7. Ensure environmental sustainability
    • Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources. Sustainable development means reducing hunger and poverty in environmentally sound ways, by: meeting basic human needs, expanding economic opportunities, protecting and enhancing the environment, and promoting democratic participation.
    • Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.
    • Achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.
  8. Develop a global partnership for development
    • Reform the trading system (i.e. the World Trade Organisation) and the financial system (e.g. private capital flows and international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund) so that poor countries can more easily sell their products to developed countries at fair prices and obtain the financial resources needed to create stable, growing economies that lift people out of poverty.
    • Focus special attention on how to help the poorest countries mobilise the resources needed to reduce hunger and poverty and become self-reliant.
    • Focus special attention on how landlocked and small island developing countries can promote economic development and poverty reduction.
    • Make an all-out effort to resolve the problem of unpayable debt for the world’s poorest countries.
    • Develop decent and productive work for youth.
    • Provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries.
    • Make available the benefits of new technologies.

Why do the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) matter?

The Millennium Development Goals are a practical, achievable plan to reduce appalling human poverty by 2015. The MDGs are a unique compact made by rich and poor countries at the highest political level: the goals were endorsed in 2000 by 189 Heads of State and Government (including British Prime Minister Tony Blair). For the first time, the international community has committed to common targets – with a deadline – and has agreed to be accountable for their achievement. International organisations, national governments, donors and civil society are advocating for the achievement of the same goals, and monitoring their implementation. For all these reasons, the MDGs represent an unprecedented opportunity to do better than ever before in our common fight against global poverty. Most importantly they matter because people matter.

If the world achieves the MDGs:

Are the goals realistic?

Yes. We have the resources, technology and know-how to achieve the goals by 2015. In fact, many countries have already reached some goals in the space of 10 to 15 years: China, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Ghana are a few examples. But there is a lack of political will; and if we carry on with ‘business as usual’, they will not be achieved by 2015. We need to take action now.

To do this, poor countries will need to develop achievable plans and strategies for addressing poverty, and rich countries will need to deliver their promises to:

Are the goals affordable?

Yes. The world has never seen so much prosperity. We have the financial means to realise the goals by 2015. The world spends around US $1 trillion dollars on military budgets each year. Hundreds of billions were available for conflict and reconstruction in Iraq and rich countries pay around $300 billion for agricultural subsidies for farmers in their own countries. Only US $40-70 billion of additional aid per year would be needed to meet the goals.

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