A historic government shutdown is taking a toll on Americans in a myriad of ways. Perhaps among the cruelest is the federal government’s refusal to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as SNAP, which more than 42 million Americans (including 16 million children) rely on to put food on their tables.
In fact, the Trump administration has gone so far as to order states to undo SNAP payments for November. This is a moral crisis, one that calls for more than sermons. It calls for faith in action.
Joshua Liston-Zawadi
There was a time when the church was more than a building, it was a refuge. A place where those who had been forgotten by the world could come and find care, compassion and community. Today, as this nation teeters on the edge of moral exhaustion and economic despair, that refuge is needed more than ever.
Ministers, pastors and leaders, I write to you not from a place of judgment, but of burden. We are shepherds and the flock we were entrusted to protect are weary. Families are choosing between tithes and groceries. Parents are drowning in bills while their children’s need to be seen, nurtured and educated are being both attacked and forgotten. The people we preach to every Sunday are not looking for eloquence anymore, they are looking for evidence of God through our love in action.
“We cannot keep preaching prosperity when our pews are filled with poverty.”
This is the time for servant leadership at its highest form. Suspend the tithes if you must. Open your sanctuaries for meals, for warmth, for healing. Start food services, diaper banks, clothing drives, tutoring hubs, therapy sessions and whatever else your flock needs to breathe again. For too long, the church has been reactive instead of responsive. We cannot keep preaching prosperity when our pews are filled with poverty. We can’t keep thriving while our congregations are dwindling in silence.
If we truly believe in the ministry of Jesus, then we must embody his model. He fed the people before he preached. He washed feet before he sat at tables of power. He met people where they were and never used their suffering as a moment to show true grace, humility and love. As Matthew 20:16 says, “So the last shall be first, and the first last; for many he called, but few chosen.” We were chosen, so we must act.
The moral health of our nation will not be restored by politics; it will be restored by the call of presence that God has placed on all of us leading in his name. The kind of presence ministers bring when they step off the pulpit and into the community of their people to not just see the pain, but ease it head on.
So, to my fellow leaders: This is not the time to protect institutions. It is the time to protect people. Let your faith be felt, not just heard. Let your leadership be servant first and title last. Because if the flock perishes, so does the purpose of our calling.
Joshua Liston-Zawadi is an ordained minister and a Public Voices Fellow at The OpEd Project in partnership with the National Black Child Development Institute.