Thread by @tisaiahcho

A good deal of the sermon applications & pew-talk for upper-middle class Americans can be especially damaging for Christians who come from lower-income situations. Being able to preach carefully and pointedly to both is a sign of wise and contextual preaching.

A couple examples:

Telling families barely surviving on food stamps that wanting a better life is a sign of ungodly discontentment and distrust in God's provision.

Reassuring congregants that the discipleship resource, retreat, or event is *only* such and such and is a *small* cost for growth.

Talking matter-of-factly about inheritance, having parents help with down payments, protecting investments, and insuring assets.

Shaming families who don't observe a sabbath rest, even though one or both parents may have to work on Sundays just to survive.

Assuming that people work overly hard only to "keep up with the Joneses" rather than to avoid being unable to pay the rent one day.

Assuming that families can just trim their budgets of superfluous wants when they can barely afford to buy secondhand clothing for their children.

Paint hospitality as something only people with big houses and deep pockets can do successfully.

Condemn public school education when families can't afford private schools or the parent(s) is/are hard at work making ends meet that they can't homeschool.

Speak about mercy ministry recipients in patronizing ways when people in similar situations may be in your church.

Put down youth ministry when families need it to supplement their family ministry because the caregivers don't have enough time in the week because of long hours.

Speak of poverty exclusively as individual fault instead of systemic brokenness.

Talking fatalistically about Providence, as though one's current situation is their lot in life that they should be grateful for.

Recommending too many books or resources to buy, as though everyone has a discretionary budget to do so.

Making people feel bad for not tithing and claiming that they're not trusting God when they're using the money to feed their children instead.

Assuming that people who live in certain neighborhoods can afford to do so, when in fact they may be living in multi family situations or other living arrangements just to get by.

Talking about entitlement and welfare in the same breath to make a sermon illustration.

Shaping discipleship and ministry off of white collar holiday and vacation schedules as though blue collar folks don't need to be ministered to as much.

Shaming people for being in huge amounts of college loan debt when they were the first to go to college in their families.

God applies the same truth to different people from different situations in different ways. We end up muting the multivocal & multitonal Word if we assume that the hearers are all from the same socioeconomic background. Some need to be gently lifted up while others rebuked.