Fair go this Christmas

The gift of God in Christ remembered at Christmas helps focus and direct our giving in three area.
1. Compassion. In our day, we are expected to give gifts to everyone and we end up spending mountains of money buying gifts for people who don't need them.
Rather we can focus Christ's love on the genuinely needy by giving to the poor. We could even ask people not to buy us presents, but instead to give to the needy.
Organisations like Fair Trade, Tear, WDR etc, give us amply opportunity.
2. Sacrificial. We love bargains, but realise that there are prices we are not willing to pay to have them, such as buying stolen goods. Some goods (especially chocolate and coffee) may come cheeply to us, but are produced through extortion, slavery and unjust wages to workers. We ought not be willing to buy them on account of their origin. However, it may mean that we will pay more if we buy them under fair trade conditions. But, in the likeness of Christ's sacrificial gift we ought to be willing to pay sacrificially in order to help the poor.
3. Wisdom. The practice of simple giving is important, especially in emergencies. Yet this approach is not always the wisest thing to do and can even do more harm than good. As is often quoted, "it is better to teach someone how to fish, than to give them fish." As Christians we ought to look for opportunities to support justice and structural change as wise strategies for the long term relief of poverty.
It is our view that fair trade can be an effective vehicle for Christian giving since it enables us to focus our giving in these ways. As a church and as church leadership we are supporting it and encourage others to prayerfully do the same. Full details of the fair trade organisation can be found at http://www.fairtrade.com.au.