Righteousness - Psalm 33
 18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
      on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
 19 to deliver them from death
      and keep them alive in famine.
Another challenge presented to Christians is that of famine.  However, the issue of famine is one of perspective.  Western society is moving in the direction of finding conditions such as famine to be completely unacceptable. We therefore have two schools of thought forming. One is the school of thought that it is the responsibility of the haves to provide for the have nots. Actually, that’s not quite accurate, as the haves cannot be trusted to provide for anyone but themselves; after all, the reasoning goes, the motivation of a “have” is to continue to “have”. And so, we plunder the “rich”, and feed the hungry with our spoils. As long as there remains famine, and there remain rich people, I suspect this pattern will continue. (Sorry, some of my political gripes are leaking through… take the objective facts, without the emotion)
However, it isn’t entirely like that.  Ridding the world of famine is its own noble goal, and so in addition to taxing the “haves”, giving through charity is also encouraged, and there are foundations around the world to do so.
Finally, despite all western society does, there are many many people who are still not fed. What direction is Western society going in for them? Well, we subsidize abortion as an option to famine for the unborn, and we show sympathy for suicide, for those would rather die than live in famine.
Our standards are based on the judgement that famine is cruel, and that making someone live through famine is cruel. Either remove the famine, or let them choose death. As for the rest of them, we’ll get to them eventually… there is only just so much good will to go around, and charity and taxes can only get us just so much further. Well, what if instead of making them live through famine, we only help them live through it? Our good will might spread to more people, but that doesn’t work you see, because their still in famine, and what difference have we made? Western thought is to remove the famine, to come in to rescue them (through food in this life, or support into the next) after they have lived through their famine… or to view our efforts as failure if the famine endures through the assistance we give.
Now, I have to say that despite my judgement of our taxation rules, and our moved toward what I would characterize as socialism, I also realize that this perspective is not entirely unbiblical. Joseph taxes all the wheat production in Egypt during the 7 years of plenty, and was able to feed everyone in Egypt and beyond during the 7 subsequent years of famine. The difference however, is that Joseph’s approach was a bit different. His purpose wasn’t to seek out the poor and starving, those needlessly deprived of food in Egypt during the years of plenty; his purpose was put away for the famine that was to come and would effect all. We don’t do that. We not only spend we have collect as we collect it, but we spend that which we have not collected yet. So, while the hearts and goals of many who care for the poor and destitute are biblical, or follow through in my opinion is not.
So, how do I reconcile this? If we’re not supposed to eradicate famine through whatever means we have (bankruptcy and debt, taxation, charity, abortion, sympathy to suicide), then what guiding principle can we follow? What could possibly be more important for us to than eradicate famine? The answer is in Psalm 33:18-19.
 18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
      on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death
      and keep them alive in famine. Â
Those who are in famine are to fear God and put their hope in Him and His unfailing love. That is done through missionary work and prayer for such people, and those faithful living in famine on earth, will be the richest in Heaven. If you think about it, when the help of western society reaches out to eradicate famine in a new area, it often turns out that God was their all along, getting them through it and teaching them to love even in the harshest conditions. God got there first, via missionaries, who teach such people to put their faith in God over food, over famine, and over death. They learn to celebrate the new lives that are born to them, and are shown better ways to feed themselves, through farming and remaining able bodied through medicine and hygiene. And so God delivers them from death and keeps them alive in famine. In some ways many westerners would call this cruel… keeping people alive in famine instead of solving it; far better to eradicate it, and so we try… and spend ourselves into recession to get there! But God’s plan is far better… using the conditions of this life to prepare for the next, when frankly the more we have the less we rely on God. What seems the most compassionate is the least compassionate of all. Yes, let’s feed. Yes, let’s care, but let us not lose sight of why… because God loved us, and loves those we are helping. So, let us help, but let us do it properly, without going into debt, and not with the goal of eradicating famine, but of spreading God’s love. If I may paraphrase, what does it gain these people for us to bring them the world, just for them to lose their own soul? We love people enough to try eradicating their famine, though we are not successful; God loves them enough to comfort them through it, and sent His Son to die so that they might live better in eternity than they did on this earth. When you think about like that, who is more compassionate? Us or Him?