DIFFERENCES IN SOCIAL CLASS

I have lived in lower class housing for the past 2 years, and as I am getting ready to move, I notice the obvious differences between lower and middle class that are apparent constantly as I interact with my new apartment, landlord, and neighborhood. I chose to live in lower class housing because I wanted to live among the reality in which most of the world lives. And I am moving because God is calling me to live in the neighborhood where I worship. Where I live now, there is trash everywhere on the ground, not just because the residents don't care, but because there is trash overflowing in the trash dumpsters. So when its windy, which it often is in the Midwest, trash blows all over the place, so much so that it is overwhelming to try and make a dent in it by picking it up. Another dynamic of living in places that the lower class can afford is that there are a lot of bugs that crawl in to my apartment through cracks in the walls or gaps around the doors. And just like the stove that I have here that only has 1 burner that works (and only on the high setting), the bugs are never addressed by the landlord, even if you ask for 2 years straight, I guess because there are plenty of lower class people who just need a place to live and who can't be picky about whether their landlord listens or not. Its not like they are going to just move and be able to pay more for better service somewhere else. So the kids who live here grow up in an environment where living like this is one more way that demonstrates to them that others will not care for them very well. I am going to move to a place where the landlord exterminates the bugs, where there are lids on the trash cans, where there are no drug busts next door. Because I can afford it. I have more choice than many as to where I can afford to live. This is not a political statement that I am trying to make in this blog. Jesus does not endorse Republicans or Democrats, he endorses Biblical world views. And in his Kingdom, kids don't run around in the afternoon and evenings among the trash because their parents have to work late every day. I want to dialogue about this because it is one of the real issues that the vulnerable church encounters. As we reach out to our communities then we encounter the poor. God's Word contains thousands of verses about with helping the poor and the needy. These are things we need to think about and not shove aside just because there are no easy answers. Jesus came to seek and serve the lost. And the sick and the poor and the needy.