During the mid-1990s a U.S. congressman* stated publicly that churches needed to take on a larger role in helping the nation’s poor. The public response to this idea was far from positive, especially in the congressman’s district. People wrote to newspapers saying that it was not the Church’s job to care for the poor. What made such a response surprising is the fact that the congressman’s district is famous for its many churches and Christian ministries. What could have triggered such a response? Was the congressman wrong? Is the Church free of any responsibility to the poor? Or are the congressman’s critics ignorant about the Bible’s teachings? The only proper way to answer these questions is to look to the Word of God. What follows is an examination of what the Bible says about poverty. You decide the appropriate conclusion.
The Torah (a.k.a. Mosaic Law) contains the commandments and regulations give to the Children of Israel after Moses led them out of Egypt. It tells us what is important to God.
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.” – Leviticus 19:9-10
“When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.’” – Deuteronomy 26:12-13
The alien, the fatherless and the widow are given favorable treatment in the Torah. Theologian David F. Payne discusses the reason why in his commentary on Deuteronomy:
“In a mainly agricultural society, the loss by death of the man in the family would deprive it of its chief breadwinner, and the widow and the fatherless (mentioned in several verses) were usually in great poverty. The sojourner is bracketed with them; many foreigners who came to reside in Israel must have done so because of debts, injustice or oppression elsewhere, so they too were poor.”
If the Israelites were ever reluctant to help the poor, then they had this law to contend with:
“For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’” - Deuteronomy 15:11
Although many Christians are not familiar with the Torah, most Christians are familiar with the letter to believers written by the Apostle James. James is famous for giving concrete examples of how Christians should behave. What does he say about helping the poor?
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” -James 1:27
“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” – James 2:15-16
The authority of the Apostle Paul is rarely questioned by Christians. His regulations regarding proper worship are frequently cited by ministers. Now consider what Paul wrote to the Christians living in Corinth.
“Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.” – 1 Corinthians 16:1-3
Theologian William Barclay comments on these instructions of Paul:
“Quite frequently Jews who had gone abroad and prospered sent their envoys to Jerusalem with contributions for the Temple and for the poor. Paul did not want the Christian Church to be behind the Jewish and heathen world in generosity. But to him this collection for the poor at Jerusalem meant more than that. It was a way of demonstrating the unity of the Church. It was a way of teaching the scattered Christians that they were not members of a congregation only, but members of a Church, each part of which had obligations to the rest. The narrowly congregational outlook was far from the Pauline concept of the Church.”
Paul was one who practiced what he preached:
“Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.” – Paul, speaking to Governor Felix, Acts 24:17
The ultimate authority on Christian conduct is the Lord Jesus Himself. If one doubts that the Messiah addressed the issue of poverty, then one only needs to read His parable about the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). Only a portion will be quoted here:
“Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. . . Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
Do you recall the congressman mentioned at the beginning of this essay? Was he right, or was he wrong? What is the Christian response to poverty? How will you respond to those whom the Lord calls the least of these?
*The congressman was Steve Largent of Oklahoma Congressional District #1. The district has often been described as being the buckle of the Bible Belt.
Quote Sources
Barclay, W. (1975). The letters to the Corinthians. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Payne, D.F. (1985). Deuteronomy. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.