“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Isaiah 58:6
“Ninth, reject anything that breeds the oppression of others. Perhaps no person has more fully embodied this principle than the eighteenth-century Quaker tailor John Woolman. His famous Journal is redundant with tender references to his desire to live so as not to oppress others.
“Here I was led into a close and laborious inquiry whether I…kept clear from all things which tended to stir up or were connected with wars…my heart was deeply concerned that in [the] future I might in all things keep steadily to the pure truth, and live and walk in the plainness and simplicity of a sincere follower of Christ…And here luxury and covetousness, with the numerous oppressions and other evils attending them, appeared very afflicting to me…”
This is one of the most difficult and sensitive issues for us to face, but face it we must. Do we sip our coffee and eat our bananas at the expense of exploiting Latin American peasants? In a world of limited resources, does our lust for wealth mean the poverty of others? Should we buy products that are made by forcing people into dull assembly-line jobs? Do we enjoy hierarchical relationships in the company or factory that keep others under us? Do we oppress our children or spouse because we feel certain tasks are beneath us?
Often our oppression is tinged with racism, sexism, and nationalism. The color of the skin still affects one’s position in the company. The sex of a job applicant still affects the salary. The national origin of a person still affects the way he or she is perceived. May God give us prophets today who, like John Woolman, will call us “from the desire of wealth” so that we may be able to “break the yoke of oppression.”
Richard Foster (b. 1942) in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 94-95.
In America we like living on top of the proverbial global economy and want to keep it that way. After all, society says we earned it. Alternatively, I love the buy local emphasis I see across America.
It supports local people who do honest work. Though things often cost more, our purchases redirect resources from larger companies who tend to oppress workers worldwide. Imagine if Christians everywhere changed spending habits accordingly.
Think about it. Why would Foster say this emerges in our view as the most difficult and sensitive of issues? We justify getting a good price as good stewardship though it might come at the expense of others.
I see this in my global travels. Oppressed cultures have debt that jubilee would forgive, and people never have a chance to rise out of destitution. Rather than break the yoke of oppression, what do Christians do?
We give handouts that create ongoing dependency rather than a hand up to build disciples. We support the corrupt structures inadvertently through our purchasing of wares that oppress workers.
Why lean into such challenging topics with Foster? You and I will have to one day give an account for our stewardship to God.
Let’s spend in such a way that we can say we tried to do what we could to break the yoke of oppression.