What About Live 8?

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble (Psalm 41:1)."

Several days ago I was asked what my thoughts were regarding the upcoming Live 8 concert. I had to confess that I did not know much about it at the time. Of course, one portion of the world-wide concert is being held in my home town (Barrie, Ontario) and I should have had more of a clue, but other matters had occupied my attention so I did not really think much about it until the question pressed me to do so. I believe that to answer a matter before hearing it is foolish and shameful (Proverbs 18:13), so I did not reply in ignorance. I simply said that I did not know.

Since then I have been confronted with the concert(s) every evening in the news as my home town has both geared up for the influx of people from around the country and made physical preparations for the concerts itself, and I have thought through certain of the issues that surround it. Of course, as you probably know, the concerts held around the world are free concerts organized for the stated purpose of raising awareness of the impoverished situation specifically, but not exclusively, in African nations. In hearing further interviews with the organizers, I have come to understand that their desire is not simply to raise awareness on an individual lay level, but to pressure the major economic powers of the world (G-8 nations) to change or adjust certain policies in order to eliminate poverty. One specific policy that the organizers would like to see enacted is a cancellation of all debts owing from these underdeveloped nations to the G-8 powers. Theoretically, the money that would have been used to pay off the debt would then be directed to humanitarian efforts. From what I have heard and observed, a major sentiment seems to be that the great wealth of these G-8 nations is morally wrong in contrast with sad situation in Africa. The organizers have not sought to make money at these events, and have barred charities that work directly in these impoverished nations to seek to raise funds for their charity efforts at the concerts.

After having spent some time considering Live 8, these are my thoughts.

First, the raising awareness of extreme need has been eclipsed by the emphasis on the stars and their music. I am not suggesting that this emphasis is a motivation to all of the stars for being involved in the concerts, but it has been a major result. The attitude of the vast majority of concert-goers in this area seems to be a star-struck, "Dude, where else could you go to a concert with Bryan Adams (or whoever) for free?!" Despite the fact that most of the artists are including comments about the great need, the message seems to have had little effect on the average concert-goer. I would be interested to see if there is much of an increase in charitable giving to help in these nations, and how long such an increase in giving will last. This leads into my second observation.

Second, the concerts seem to send a confused message regarding poverty and riches. If my observations are accurate, the organizers and many of the artists seem to have cast aspersion on the richer nations in the world becuase of their riches in the face of the poverty of other nations. Yet those performing on stage are fantastically wealthy! To vilify wealth in the face of poverty on a national and international level while ignoring it on a personal and individual level is somewhat skewed. If you accept their proposition that it is wrong for one nation to have extreme wealth while other nations have little or no wealth, does this not have philosophical repurcussions on an individual level?

Third, it seems that their propositions for the elimination of poverty are overly simplistic. To simply cancel a debt to an under-developed nation will not raise their status. There are many other factors that must be elevated for this to occur. Advancements in the areas of technology, agriculture, education, and medicine seem to be much more needed than a cancellation of debts. The G-8 nations constantly increase their own debt from year to year in the form of budget deficits, among other things. This has not caused extreme poverty. I am not saying that it theoretically should not. The global economic system today does not work off of the old simplistic money in/ money out ideals. What I am saying is that personal poverty has not increased because of incredible governmental debt load in major industrialized countries. Furthermore, the poor nations in question are not really seeking to pay off the debt. They are absolutely unable to do so! The debt that hangs over their head at this time is not what is causing them to sink into the mire of poverty. So many factors other than national debt play a much more major role. When a monetary gift is given (I realize that charity can be given in other more specific forms, but we seem to have a history of simply throwing money at problems) there is an incredible likelyhood that the money will not reach its proper destination due to governmental corruption. So there are major needs in the area of governmental reform. Of course, many nations are seeking to do such and have been mired in destructive civil wars that seem to be interminable. Often the physical geography of a country plays a major part, particularly in African nations where desertification of prime land is inceasing. So there are major needs in terms of agricultural education and technology for the purpose of geographical ammendments. In many of the nations the health of the people is terrible as wave after wave of horrible disease sweeps over them. When individuals are unable to produce because of poor health, the nation is not likely to be able to produce. Thus there is extreme need for advances in health care. The current health crisis in many of these nations is often due to contaminated water sources, and there is great need for new wells and water purification systems. And these are only a sampling of needs! Perhaps we can see why our Saviour said, "The poor you have with you always."

Fourth, the concerts place undue emphasis on governmental involvement at the expense of emphasis on personal kindness and charity. The situation calls to mind the not so distant tsunami relief effort in Southeast Asia. The media cried loudly about the great need for governments to give more and more money to the effort, but it was the contributions of individual citizens that made the greatest impact. My impression of the concert's emphasis has been that one could go and listen to all the songs and artists, be personally gratified by the free musical entertainment, get a little piqued a the governments of wealthy nations, and yet leave feeling little personal responsibility to help. It seems to me that this is reinforced by the concert's barring of charities seeking to raise funds for relief in these countries.

Fifth, the concert obviously ignores the deepest need of these nations- their spiritual need. These countries are buried beneath a great poverty of soul. They need to experience the grace of God that brings salvation. "How shall they hear without a preacher?" asked Paul in the book of Romans. I pray that God might move in the hearts of His people that we might see and be moved by not only the physical poverty of the needy in our world, but also be moved by their spiritual poverty. May such concern be not merely grounded in our emotions for the people of these nations, but by the overwhelming desire to see the glories of our Saviour's name spread through all the earth abroad! May God send a multitude to these needy areas with the burning passion to display the supremacy of Christ. Perhaps these impoverished souls will see in them the surpassing glory of Christ as Christains give of themselves to clothe and feed and care for the downcast, not seeking their own personal comfort. I am not suggesting that these activites be performed apart from the passionate proclamation of the Gospel, but that the Gospel be lived out before the needy visually as it proclaimed to them verbally. And may God use the efforts of His servants to magnify His surpassing glory.