I find this a little perplexing in light of the claim of "moderate Christians" that our primary concern ought to be the poor. Jesus's disciples made the very same objection that some of today's Christians are making. "Our #1 priority ought to be to the poor!" Jesus thought otherwise. In fact, Jesus said, "You always have the poor with you."
Some well-meaning Christians believe that it is our duty to work at stamping out poverty in the world. I think it's a nice idea ... but impractical. And if the task is impractical and impossible, is it really our job to pursue it?
So, if the Bible did not command us to elminate world poverty, what are we instructed to do? It seems to me that the commands in Scripture regarding the poor are not on a global or, especially, impersonal scale, but in the realm of the personal. Look at some of these commands:
"Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you" (Matt. 5:42).Two important points: 1) We are commanded to be concerned about and to take care of the poor. There is no doubt about that. And there is no doubt that we aren't doing this. 2) The poor that we are commanded to be concerned about and to take care of are those with whom we have contact. Notice that nothing is said about "food banks", taking care of people we don't know, fighting poverty, or any such thing. All of the commands in Scripture for Christians to take care of the poor are for Christians to take care of the poor with whom they come in contact, not the poor "in general".
"For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me" (Matt. 25:35-36).
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world (James 1:27).
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that (James 2:15-16)?
Whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him (1 John 3:17)?
I'm not against working against poverty. I'm not against supporting organizations that feed the poor. I'm not suggesting in the least that this isn't a "Christian thing to do". What I'm suggesting is that the commands of Scripture are to individual Christians to tend to individual people in need -- the ones with whom the individual Christian has contact. When some try to force on Christianity a command to stamp out poverty or tend to the poor in general, I think they're pressing on Christians a command that God hasn't given. They may be led to do so, and they must, then, act on that, but to suggest that the Bible requires all Christians to work on eliminating worldwide poverty isn't supported in the pages of Scripture.
7 comments:
Proverbs 31:8-9 – Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Jeremiah 22:16 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.
Proverbs 29:7 The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
Gleaning, the 3rd year tithe to the poor and Jubilee laws were all instituational systems established by God which were forms of aid to the poor when no direct contact was implied.
Stan, I sincerely hope you seek the face of God about this issue. You want to paint out poverty assistance as similar to socialism but that is not the point and it is not an accurate reflection of most "moderate" Christians who place a large focus on poverty.
No doubt your recent post is in part due to recent "discussions" with me. I never claimed that poverty should be the #1 issue. I never claimed money should be forced out of the hands of the rich as a means to fix poverty. I never suggested it was our mission to stamp out world poverty.
To be absoutely clear - the bible is not a social gospel - it is a book of redemption between a lost mankind and a perfect creator loving enough to redeem the sinner. That does not deny they fact that there is a strong focus of social responsiblity throughout scripture. I believe your political leanings are blinding you to an obvious truth in scripture.
The point of the Matthew passage was not to point out that we should not have concern for the poor. The reason it was a statement made is because caring for the poor would have been so obvious to the disciples as it was a focus of Jesus' ministry and Judus took this opportunity to express his jealousy with a "good sounding" rebuke. He was thinking in the temporary, not in the long term. One of their jobs in the long term was to care for the poor (the reason the statement was made that the poor will always be there - to help but since the Savior was present and soon to be sacrificed, rebuking a woman for worshiping God was inappropriate.
Thankfully, John 12 helps us understand Judas' true mindset
"He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it."
The primary focus in our life should not be social justice issues - it should be Christ himself and bringing a lost world to Christ - Just as it was for Mary at that time. And yet, we are his example on this earth (his hands and feet) and as such have social justice concerns - just as Jesus displayed in his ministry.
As long as there are those in need, we (The Church) are not doing enough. Whatever tool best helps those in need, I will be behind. It is sad to me that so many Christians will fight against institutional measures to address poverty when clearly the Church is failing at its job.
Let the Church prove it is able and I will be the first person to request the ending of social safety nets. Until then, my concern is for the poor - not my effective tax rate.
Let me offer you some scripture to back up my "well intentioned" focus on the poor:
References to government addressing the poor:
Proverbs 28:3
Proverbs 28:15-16
Proverbs 29:14
Psalm 72:1-13
Psalm 107:39-41
Isaiah 1:10-17
Isaiah 1:21-23
Isaiah 3:14-15
Isaiah 14:32
Daniel 4:27
Matthew 25:31-46 (Notice in this passage, Jesus judges the nations).
Other passages that show God’s special concern for the poor/marginalized…
Deuteronomy 15:7-11
Deuteronomy 22:1-3
Deuteronomy 27:19
Proverbs 3:27
Proverbs 17:5
Proverbs 21:13
Proverbs 22:9
Proverbs 28:27
Proverbs 29:7.
Lamentations 4:3-4
James 1:27
James 2:15-16
1 John 3:17-18
Just a few quick notes, Brian, to avoid further arguments.
First: "No doubt your recent post is in part due to recent 'discussions' with me."
Actually, no. I wrote this post several days ago, before any discussions with you. I posted it today because it was ready to "release".
Second: "My concern is for the poor - not my effective tax rate."
I suppose it's my fault. The two posts are so close together, so you have made a connection ... a connection I didn't intend. I wasn't thinking of any connection between "concern for the poor" and "my effective tax rate".
Finally: "Other passages that show God’s special concern for the poor/marginalized."
Please note that I said, "We are commanded to be concerned about and to take care of the poor. There is no doubt about that. And there is no doubt that we aren't doing this." Please be aware that I said, "I'm not against working against poverty. I'm not against supporting organizations that feed the poor. I'm not suggesting in the least that this isn't a Christian thing to do." I agree that Christians aren't doing enough about poverty.
I agree that too many Christians are ignoring this apparently important command from Scripture to care for the poor. I simply said that I don't believe it is the main cause of Christianity to eliminate poverty in the world. You agreed. We're in agreement here.
Let me try to articulate what concerns me about your post. It is summed up with the following that you stated in your post:
"Some well-meaning Christians believe that it is our duty to work at stamping out poverty in the world. I think it's a nice idea ... but impractical. And if the task is impractical and impossible, is it really our job to pursue it?"
Is it practical that we will end abortions? No, so why pursue it? Is it practical that we will end crime? No, so why pursue it? Is it practical that we will win over every soul to Christ (wiping out unbelief as it were). Clearly no, so why pursue it? We pursue these things because they are the right thing to do.
You seem to want to turn the New Testament gospel of grace into a set of commands or perhaps the converse - if a command does not exist, no practical reason to pursue it.
All Christians should have concern for the poor and seek out God's direction about how to address it. The ultimate question is whether we should stand in political opposition to social safety nets that assist the poor - particularly ones that are already in existence. As a far right Republican for the majority of my life, I am very familiar with the argument against social safety nets - particular their ineffectiveness or their "trapping effect".
Problem is, I have spent too long working with the poor, studying the issue both in Scripture and academically. What I know now that I did not understand then is that whatever the % of truth that exists that there are those who abuse the system, whatever the % of truth that people are trapped in poverty - both percentages are much less than 50% (I would content lower than 20%). This represents a massive number of people and a lot of tax $$ waste. And yet, if we make haphazard cuts to social safety nets, it is the other 50+% (I contend 80+%) that are hurt by the cuts. If someone is asking my opinion, I say this is the wrong direction for a country who touts themselves as a "Christian Nation".
I am a Christian so will always defend that caring for the poor would be best addressed by The Church through charity. This gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ that could never be demonstrated through government assistance. What I also know is that The Church is pathetic at this responsibility.
I have been involved with several large church budgets and am always saddened at the lack of priority those Churches have shown (by $$ spent) on poverty/social justice issues.
I wish my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ could understand the perception they are leaving with a large portion of the poor in this country and around the world. No doubt, the majority of Christian regular church attendees currently support the Republican Party who have made deliberate attempts to cut social safety nets. Even if not always fairly portrayed, they are not known as being the party representing the poor. The perception that is left by a group of conservative Christians is that "my money is my money and I earned it and it is no body else’s" - "the poor should just pick themselves up by their bootstraps". This of course ignores that the vast majority of those who are poor in this country are below the age of 18, over the age of 65 or disabled. It also ignores that there are those who work who can't make ends meet and there are those who need our help until they can get on their feet. What is being demonstrated to the unsaved world about the compassion of The Church?
I am saddened to read a fellow brother in Christ take the time to write a post implying that our generosity should not be directed to "food banks, taking care of people we don't know, fighting poverty, or any such thing".
And the time you spent on the post was predicated from a verse addressing the need to care for the poor. No doubt this was understood by the disciples - hence the reason the statement was made. This is also obvious because John 12 points out that Judas was not really concerned about the poor (implying that even in this context, if he had been truly concerned about the poor, the statement wouldn't likely have been made or perhaps Jesus might have responded differently). It is also pointing out that the "falsely expressed" concern for the poor was something that should be considered after Christ was not with them. This is especially true putting it into context with any other scriptural reference related to the poor. There is a reason political conservatives consistently gravitate to this one passage. It stands alone as a supposed relief of responsibility from caring for the poor (when it doesn't say that in the least).
We were freed from a written code (thank God) - why must it take a command to have Christians respond as we both know God would have us respond with regards to the poor?
It seems obvious that your issue is taxes being used to address poverty - which you would rather see as taking from the haves and giving to the have nots. I am sure it is not a surprise to you that I think this is an inaccurate portrait of what is happening. The amount that represents some truth to the sentiment, I contend, is a small price to pay to help the least of these.
Currently the US spends roughly $200 - $300 Billion on programs that go exclusively to the poor (do not also benefit other classes). This represents roughly 5% to 8% of the federal budget - is that really too much? If so, which one's should be cut from the $3,747 Billion federal budget (keeping in mind that budgets reflect priorities):
Food Stamps - 27.7 Billion
Temp Aid to Needy Families - 16.8 Billion
Housing Assistance - 17.2 Billion
WIC - 4.7 Billion
Head Start - 6.8 Billion
Low Income energy assistance - 1.7 Billion
There are other programs that the poor get benefit from that others do as well (Medicaid, SSI, Pell Grants, Earned Income Tax Credit, School lunch and breakfast programs). Total $235 Billion - poor receive ?% (I would say perhaps half to three quarters).
Let us assume for a moment that those who want social safety nets removed are successful? What would you do to address the children, elderly and disabled who are in dire need of assistance? How do you help those not in immediate contact with a Christian willing to be charitable? What of Christians who make no effort to put themselves in contact with those who need help (or perhaps even avoid it)? How many Christians have you come across training people for work, providing jobs, subsidizing housing, anything more than donating used clothes, a few (often label-missing) cans of food or a couple of dollars here and there. How many Christians do you know taking on the issue as directly as the social safety nets in this country are attempting to do (even admitting there is waste and fraud).
If it is a Christian thing to help the poor, how to we effectively do this?
I am also curious, why is it that God held Kings and Princes accountable in the OT for not caring for the needs of the poor if this is only an issue of personal charity? These Kings are not likely to have direct contact with those in need and represented the head of a government. As we are voters in a representative democracy, are we not as responsible as those kings for how our nation's poor are cared for?
Let me tell you what concerns me about your attacks on my statements.
What concerns me as that you are not paying attention to what I said. I have not argued against food banks or the like. I have said that they're not the primary emphasis of the Scriptures. I have said that we need to be personally responsible for the poor. Nor have I argued that it is only an issue of personal charity. It is the job of government to protect the well-being of its constituents.
What concerns me is that you have decided to ignore what I've said. You're still linking taxation (a previous post) to poverty (this post), despite the fact that I specifically said I made no such link.
But what concerns me most is that those who have a particular heart toward fighting poverty on a grand scale like you -- and I'm not saying in the least that this is a bad thing -- seem to believe that every Christian should have the same heart. How sad that the eye has no need for the foot, and that my plea for Christians to be personally responsible for taking care of the poor is perceived as an attack.
I have to respond on Brian's last comment. While I do not care for poverty, I have lived most of what you are addressing and struggled in the midst of it for several years. At one point to keep safe and alive my children and me had to sleep in my vehicle up in the foothills and our food was peanut butter and honey sandwiches for months. I needed help and could not get it from the government most of the time, but all the "addicts" knew how to work the system.
When I used to live in Southern California, the VAST majority of people I knew on "welfare" were speed addicts or alcoholics. They would NOT work and they often used their cash assistance for more drugs. They traded their food stamps for drugs. Their kids got their food at the public schools and other places that serve meals, if they ate. I served at a church where we had a food bank and clothing that we gave out free to those in need on a daily basis. Guess who showed up all the time? Those abusing the welfare system. We did them no favor, we enabled them to continue in their sin and the destruction of their children. It was amazing how most of them smoked cigarettes. They could afford cigarettes, but not food or shelter.
Our welfare system has serious issues. We do not rehabilitate those truly in need of a safety net to stand on their own two feet. In right to work states, we make them go get a minimum wage job and give them a free year of childcare assistance. As if this will work. Soon as the childcare assistance runs out they are in the same boat as before.
The majority of people on welfare are also allowing others to live with them without being honest in their reporting these facts. So Ms. Jones' boyfriend gets a free ride too, because he is too lazy to work.
Yes, you have people sick of handing out their hard earned money for somebody to abuse it. Yes, you have a system that does not help those who truly need and want help. We need to give them a hand-up, not a hand-out. We should immediately assess their skills and get them whatever education they need to be able to make it on their own. We need to encourage them to "grow up" if they are immature or "become educated" if they are inadequately educated. We need to stop the generational curse of more people expecting something for nothing.
Our system is such that even to get help for Christmas if you have children, you have to sign up months before. As if the average person who is not an abuser of a system is going to know they are going to need help months before. When I sought help for my children for Christmas one year, I could find none, except a little from one church, because I did not sign up months in advance. I cried, because here I was living in hope of finding a way to get us on our feet and not have to ask for help. No Thanksgiving or Christmas, just because we did not know how to abuse the generous.
The same issue exists for domestic violence. You put women and children in a shelter for a month or two, get them on welfare and then send them out to fend for themselves. They cannot do it in the majority of cases. So they return to the abuser, because at least their family had food and shelter then.
These women desperately need an education and counseling long term. They need a support system that gets their family on their feet so they don't have to return. It is difficult enough to deal with the emotional aspect, they don't need to suffer with how to survive poverty. Give them skills that can demand enough to live on.
Of course none of this abuse will ever change if we cannot even teach our children morals and values (and empathy) in public schools. Another failure of the government. We are now raising more sociopaths per capita than ever before in known history.
In my experience most church programs have a much higher degree of success of helping those in need or on drugs than our government funded agencies.
I am blessed. God put it on the heart of my family to help my children and me while I worked and went to school to get us back on our feet. We are still struggling. Yet our God is gracious and He is sufficient.
I am sorry, but my heart is not much with the abusers of our government system in the US, nor with the politicians that push for such a system. Though I would love to see a reformed system that actually "helped." I much rather give money to my persecuted brethren in other countries, such as offerings were taken up for our brethren in their time of need in the New Testament.
I am sorry, but my heart is not much with the abusers of our government system in the US, nor with the politicians that push for such a system. Though I would love to see a reformed system that actually "helped." I much rather give money to my persecuted brethren in other countries, such as offerings were taken up for our brethren in their time of need in the New Testament.
I do not believe for one second I offered or implied that my heart was with those who abuse the system. I previously acknowledged that there are far too many abusing the system. However, I would challenge you to find one reputable study that puts the abusers of the system at higher than 25%. That would perhaps put 75% who are not abusing the system. What of them?
According to the 1994 Green Book, U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - "In 1991 less than 5 percent of all welfare benefits went to persons who were not entitled to them, and this figure includes errors committed by the welfare agency."
I do not challenge the notion that the abuses are higher than that but I have spent the last decade studying the issue and can tell you that there is very very little statistical evidence to support what you are saying.
You seem to be speaking from experience which might very well be your experience but does not serve as a good representative of the whole. The fact remains that the majority of those receiving assistance are under the age of 18, over the age of 65 or disabled. Demanding the ending of social safety nets does not help those.
I must say my experience has been considerably different. I have spent the last decade or so around the homeless and the very poor. I have met dozens if not hundreds of people who are looking for a handout (nothing more). I would say for every one "handout" person I meet, there are 10 others truly looking for a way up and out of poverty.
I never once suggested the government was better at this or addressing the spiritual needs of those individuals - the Church is infinitely more able to do this. I am also aware that there are very few Churches making an honest attempt at helping. If a Church really wants to help, they should set up alternative day centers at the very least with showers, food, clothes, medical assistance and eductation possiblities. These day centers exist outside of the Churhc and they are quite effective (sadly generally underfunded).
You seem to misread what I am saying - my concern is not to support a welfare state or a large government - my concern is with those who need our help. I would glady let those 25% waste my tax money if 75% are truly getting my help. I would like a better system as well - but it is the system we currently have and it cost less than 10% of our Federal budget. There are plenty of other places to look for cuts if you want some tax money back. Once the Church steps up to the plate and actually makes the difference Christ asked us to make, I will be right by your side asking the government to stay out of it.
The church has failed and the government safety nets are helping millions - it is as simple as that!!
I would glady let those 25% waste my tax money if 75% are truly getting my help.
The true stats are the other way around. 75% of state welfare collections are wasted and 25% get to the end user on a good day. Private charities average 80% to the end user, 20% to administration. Food for thought. We should be allowed to defer more of our tax dollars to these more useful organizations. Perhaps the reason they don't work is that the government confiscates too much wealth.
The fact is that Mary was glorifying God. Judas Iscariot showed a poverty of spirit in saying that the perfume used to glorify God could be sold to feed the poor. If you feed the poor and ignore God you're wasting your time. That is what Jesus was saying.
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