Since this fact is as demonstrably true today as it was in eighteenth century France, we Christians must consider how much our personal lifestyles are dependent on the poor and disadvantaged – those who grow our food and are forced to sell it at almost cost price, those who make our clothes in sweatshops, or those whose only available work means risking their lives in mines, on fishing boats or in dangerous factories. We must also be aware of the cost to society when there is an imbalance of wealth, and of our responsibility towards the poor.
Half the world’s wealth is owned by one per cent of its people.2 Such statistics are shocking. Some say, though, that social justice should not be the stamping-ground of Christians. Many consider the Bible to be only about eternal life, and Christians who speak out about poverty are thought to be interfering in things that do not concern them. Andrew Brown wrote in the Guardian under the heading ‘Archbishops try to inject Christianity into welfare state with equality attack’3 – after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York challenged the government to do more about inequality in our society – as if Christianity has no relevance to people’s welfare. In reply, Justin Welby said that ‘proclaiming the good news of Jesus and transforming society are indistinguishable’.4
