Why Should We Care About Orphans?

Marriage Memo from my INBOX today:

By Dave Boehi

In an age of instant communication, of hyper entertainment, of information explosion and saturation … how many of us know that there are now more than 130 million children orphaned across the globe?

That every 14 seconds an AIDS death causes another child to become an orphan?

That more than 500,000 children are in the foster care system in America?

FamilyLife is joining forces again this year with Focus on the Family, Shaohannah’s Hope, and many other orphan ministries for the “Cry of the Orphan” campaign. This reflects a growing emphasis at FamilyLife in calling attention to the plight of orphans around the world and in challenging married couples to consider adopting children or getting involved in other ways to help.

Why should we care about orphans? Why should we get involved?

Because orphans matter to God.

If you spend much time studying God and His priorities and passions—what He likes and dislikes, what pleases Him and what angers Him—you will learn about God’s priorities. As C. Thomas Davis writes in his book, Fields of the Fatherless, "If you searched the Bible from front to back, you'd find many issues close to God's heart. But you'd also notice three groups of people coming up again and again. They appear so many times, in fact, you have to conclude that God mentions them purposely to make sure they are at the top of our priority list."

Who are these three groups of people? They are orphans, widows, and aliens (or strangers). They are the fatherless, the helpless.

God’s compassion for the helpless

Scores of passages throughout the Bible reveal that God has a special place in His heart for the helpless in our society. Here are just a few of these Scriptures:

"For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing" (Deuteronomy 10:17-18).

The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow … (Psalm 146:9).

"You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan" (Exodus 22:21-22).

Why does God show such special concern for these groups of people? Think of what the orphan, the widow, and the alien have in common.

An alien or stranger is isolated from his friends and family in an unfamiliar town or country; he could easily be robbed, defrauded, or oppressed. (If you've ever traveled overseas in a country where you cannot speak the native language, you know what it feels like to be a stranger in a strange land, and how grateful you feel when someone helps you.)

Likewise, a widow has lost the provision and protection of her husband. And an orphan (especially a young child) may be the most helpless of all. He has no father or mother to protect him.

God's concern for the orphan is reflected in our relationship with Him

Any follower of Christ should be able to identify with the orphan, though many have not realized this. We are naturally selfish, prideful, and sinful—estranged from God. We rebel against God, and choose to go our own way. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

In other words, we were separated from the love of God the Father just as an orphan is unable to enjoy the love of an earthly father. But God reached down and made it possible, through the death of Jesus Christ for our sins, for us to become His children. 1 John 3:1 tells us, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God …"

That's why the Scriptures on several occasions compare our salvation to the act of adoption. Ephesians 1:3-5 says:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.

A special part of God’s plan includes caring for the orphan

Understanding how God has adopted us as His children helps us understand in a personal way why He is so concerned about the orphan … and why the Bible contains so many commands for us to be involved.

The Scriptures are clear that God gives the family of God the responsibility to care for the orphan's needs. Psalm 82:3-4, for example, says, "Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked."

The purpose of the Cry of the Orphan campaign is to help inform the Christian community with the news that God has a plan for orphans and educate them on ways to get involved. Both FamilyLife Today and Focus on the Family radio broadcasts are devoting this week (November 17-21) to the subject of adoption and orphans.

And if you are interested in learning more about how you can be involved, FamilyLife’s website offers a host of resources and testimonies about adoption and orphan care at our adoption page and also at the homepage for our orphans ministry, Hope for Orphans. You also could check out some of these highlights from the FamilyLife Today broadcast archive:

• “A Biblical Mandate”: Rick Warren, best-selling author and pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California, talks about why Christians should be concerned about orphans, and then describes how he and his wife, Kay, were called to speak up for orphans in Africa.

• “The Adoption Option”: On day one and day two of this series, couples describe their adoption experiences. The final day features Dennis Rainey, pastor John Piper and recording artist Danny Oertli talking about the joys and challenges of adoption.
  
  
• “Adoption—God’s Prescription for a Happy Home”: Larry and Joy Crain had four children, but decided to expand their family by adopting twin girls from the Ukraine. (Day one: “Fulfilling a Heart’s Desire” … Day two: “Seeing Double” … Day three: “Home at Last”.)"