GOD'S WELFARE?

CHRISTIANS AND THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY

I want to state two facts as plainly as I can:

1. Every Christian is called in some way to care for the poor. Period.

Biblical basis? Psalm 35:10, Psalm 41:1, Psalm 72, Proverbs 14:20-21, Proverbs 14:31, Proverbs 17:5, Proverbs 19:17 (Because there are so many references in the Old Testament, I am limiting my citations to these two books, but if I wanted to I could write a list of literally hundreds more verses)

In the New Testament there is Matthew 5, Luke 6, 1 John 3:16-18, James 1:27 just to name a few. It is absolutely clear: As Christians we must care about the poor not just in the rest of the world, but right on our doorstep. We are called to actively seek the poor's welfare.

With that being said....

2. Christians are not obligated to follow any one policy prescription to fight poverty.

Care about poverty we must; fight poverty in some way we must. But when it comes to the how of fighting poverty, there are many different alternatives. One Christian thinks that we should raise the minimum wage in this country to help the poor. Another Christian thinks raising the minimum wage is a terrible idea because it just causes companies to hire less employees, and therefore less people in that wage bracket have jobs, etc. Both men are Christians loved by God desiring to alleviate poverty, they just disagree about the best method to do it. The tension, the disagreement, the debating is good; this is how the best ideas are formed!

So what's the problem? The problem comes when Christians on both sides of the political aisle begin to make the claim that because one person holds a certain view of how to alleviate poverty, that therefore they don't care (or they care more) about the poor. For example, let's say one Christian in the name of helping the poor wants to extend unemployment benefits for another six months. Another Christian comes along and says he won't support that because he thinks it may end up doing more harm than good, or something to that end. Instead he supports giving more tax breaks to charitable organizations who help the unemployed find jobs.

Well, the first Christian says, "How can you be against helping the unemployed by extending their benefits?! That doesn't sound like a very Christian attitude to me?!" The second Christian says, "God says we're called to be good stewards with our money, and I just don't think it's the best use of our money to extend benefits! How can you be so irresponsible with money and call yourself a Christian?!!?"

I wish I could say that this sort of conversation is pure nonsense and would never happen, but of course we've seen arguments play out between Christians just like this right?

Here's what should be our guiding principle: Unless God clearly says in His Word which policy He prefers, than don't say it's a "Christian Policy." God doesn't tell us the best way in the 21st century to get rid of poverty in Zimbabwe or North Korea. We must use the best of our reason to figure things like this out. The question we should ask before we start thinking up ways to systemically fight poverty is "What will work best to fight poverty without compromising other Biblical principles?" Not "what will make me feel good," or "what will make others happy," but "Is this a wise way to actually help poor people?"

Next week we'll talk a little bit about some organizations that are doing great work to help the poor, and for that matter give you ways that you can get involved....

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING FROM CHRIST....GROWING IN CHRIST....GOING WITH CHRIST....