Giving Generously to the Poor is a Moral duty in a Fallen World
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Introduction
Introduction
We live in a fallen world, consequence of which is the existence of human suffering. The Theology of Work Project reports that 1.4 billion people live in extreme poverty, meaning they lac the resources for basic provision. A further 1.1 billion people live at subsistence level, “on a kind of hand-to-mouth existence.” These statistics imply more than one of every three humans alive today live in poverty. (; ).
Failing to support the poor is a sign we do not “know
Be Kind to the Poor
Be Kind to the Poor
“When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.
Give Liberally to the Poor
Give Liberally to the Poor
“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 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.’
Help Meet the Needs of the Poor
Help Meet the Needs of the Poor
Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor
will himself call out and not be answered.
She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
Love the Poor
Love the Poor
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Respect the Poor as Fellow Creatures
Respect the Poor as Fellow Creatures
The rich and the poor meet together;
the Lord is the Maker of them all.
The poor man and the oppressor meet together;
the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.
Show Compassion to the Poor
Show Compassion to the Poor
And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
Did not I weep for him whose day was hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
Saint Augustine states: “Wherefore, as often as you are able to help others, and refuse, so often did you do them wrong.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
Failing to support the poor is a sign we do not “know” God—that we do not understand either His love for His creation or our role in implementing His purposes on Earth. Now that we serve as Jesus’ hands and feet, we must take up the mantle from Jesus in care for the disenfranchised (). We as Christians hold a moral duty to support the poor because the poor are fellow children of God and because supporting our fellow brothers and sisters reflects God’s nature, resulting in His glory.
Jesus Christ is the cure for poverty. Not saying that because you come to Jesus that you will be wealthy or rich, but if we sincerely come to Jesus and give Him all; that we will have all of our necessities taken care of and if all Christians did their part, we can make poverty less burdensome in the world.
RA Torrey states and I agree, “There will be poverty still, because there will still be cunning greed on the one side and improvidence and laziness and waste on the other side. But when Jesus comes again to reign He will banish poverty. Love will reign.”