David Hilfiker is a physician and co-founder of Joseph's House. He's the author of "Not All of Us Are Saints: A Doctor's Journey with the Poor and Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen". I just listened to Krista Tippett's interview with him on Speaking of Faith. I appreciate his insight into the issues of poverty in America. He gave an interesting answer to Krista’s question about his faith, his uncertainty, and his difficulty in defining the nature of God?

"I can’t even answer the question. I don’t experience God in ways that I recognize from what others say about their experiences of God. So, while I’m a member of our faith community, I struggle with the definition of being a Christian. What I know is that struggling with the realities of injustice and living in a community of people who are also struggling with those issues and are unwilling to settle for pat answers - those two things make a far deeper and richer life than any I could imagine any place else. It is that depth of life that I sense is as close as I can get to defining God."

What a brave and honest answer. Having a pat answer for spiritual experiences is not a sign of faith. Instead, faith is the ability to follow in the absence of pat answers. Hilfiker goes on to quote the prophet Jeremiah and reference Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on the passage.

“He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me? declares the LORD.“ - Jeremiah 22:16

"It’s not just that caring for the needy acquaints you with God, but caring for the needy is God." - Walter Brueggemann

Hilfiker didn't seem very confident in his ability to understand. But for me, his life and work explains it perfectly. He went on to describe why charity is not enough. We have to work to change the systems which institute injustice so that charity will no longer be needed.