Positions for Healing Grace in an Election Year #7

#7 – We take action on God’s directives to care for the poor and needy.

Throughout scripture we are repeatedly told…

Deut. 15:11 “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in the land.”

Lev. 19:9-10 “during harvest don’t reap to the very edges of your crop" or go over your fields, groves or vineyards a second time instead “Leave the gleanings and the fruits that have fallen for the poor and the alien.”

Psalm 82:3 “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.”

Prov. 14:31 “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”

I John 3:17-18 “If anyone has material possession and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

This is just a few. Did you know that racial equality, gender equality, care for the immigrant, care the infirmed, care for the uneducated, care for the poor, all came from scripture and Christianity. They didn’t begin with well-meaning atheists. While Christianity hasn’t always executed correctly on the ideals of scripture, it was the early Christians who cared for the sick and later Christians who started hospitals. It was the Church that created orphanages for the parentless and schools for everyone. It was the church that opened the rescue missions and first treated drunkenness and addictions. The first care for the mentally ill or mentally disabled came from the church. It didn’t come first from government. And yet today, government has been given the primary responsibility in all of those areas – from education to immigration, from healthcare to poverty. Why? Because while the church still does these things, we would rather pay the government to take care of it through taxation than for Christian organizations to take care of it through our giving. We should pay taxes and the government should provide protection, infrastructure, oversight. But taxes have gone up, and giving to Christian charities has gone down. What came first, higher taxes or less giving, I do not know, but what I do know is that the Bible emphasizes the importance of generosity and helping those in need. This, however, is best achieved through voluntary acts of charity rather than through government intervention. 1 Cor. 9:7 “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Socialism is not God’s way. God has called us as individuals and communities to decide how and when to give to those in need, rather than being forced through government regulations. Biblical teaching emphasizes individual responsibility where people have the freedom to use their talents and resources to create wealth and improve their own lives, while also encouraging generosity and improving the lives of others. There is no biblical mandate that expresses that everyone is entitled to have everything they want. No, the poor will always be around, but we (Christians, followers of Christ) have been given so that we might give. #7 We take action on God’s directives to care for the poor and the needy. Whether by willingly, personally contributing to organizations that assist or by opposing initiatives that raise taxes or create forced giving.