The Sept. 22 editorial supporting the World Hunger Fund offering, sponsored annually by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), produced some interesting and, in some cases, surprising responses.
Some questioned why Southern Baptists even collect an offering since whatever condition one experiences is God’s will for him or her. Help from Southern Baptists, the argument reasoned, is contrary to God’s will for that person.
Others complained that providing help to the hungry destroys individual motivation for work. One writer observed that there is no difference between government programs to help the hungry and religiously motivated charity and that both are destructive.
Still another protested that the so-called “victims” of hunger, especially in the United States, are really “parasites” on society and deserve to be left behind.
Evidently the economic angst among God’s people must be high because it seems anger and fear characterize our reactions rather than a rational understanding of His Holy Word. Unfortunately that happens frequently in times of great uncertainty. The sin of selfishness seems to be on parade in times like these.
To blindly accept every circumstance of life as God’s will makes nonsense out of many of the Psalms. There one repeatedly finds David pleading with God for deliverance from circumstances in which he finds himself. There is no blind resignation to fate. Instead there is protest. There is self-defense. There is supplication for deliverance.
And there is praise. Sometimes Christians misread 1 Thessalonians 5:18, which says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the Lord’s will for you in Christ Jesus,” to mean that every circumstance of life is God’s will rather than understanding that in every circumstance of life, His will is that one gives thanks. That is the truth one sees over and over again in the Psalms and throughout Scripture.
That attempts to help people, whether through government-sponsored programs or church programs, sometimes have negative consequences cannot be denied. All of us know such stories. But do others’ possible misdeeds negate Christians’ responsibility to offer care to the hungry, aid to the sick, clothes to the naked or friendship to the lonely? Not as I read the Bible.
Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25–37 does not tell us what kind of reaction the victim had to the good Samaritan’s assistance. Instead Jesus focused on the rightness of providing aid to the one in need.
Indeed an attempt to reason away the responsibility to assist a needy person cannot help but remind of the priest and Levite who explained away their responsibility as they “passed by on the other side.”
Obviously Christians must be wise when offering ministry. One should not give a drunk money for more alcohol, for example. Instead one may buy that person a meal. But what someone else might do never determines what Christians should do when faced with a ministry opportunity.
Thankfully all of us also know how God used a fellow believer’s compassion to bless us and others. That is what God intended.
Those who call the hungry, poor or needy “parasites” have never listened to the words Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount, in which He declared, “Whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them — this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12).
The SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has on its website (www.ERLC.com) a paper titled “The Bible Speaks on Hunger.” While space does not permit a detailed account of the paper, the titles of the sections are informative. Section one is titled “God cares greatly about the poor and hungry as shown in both the Old and New Testaments.” Section two is titled “God works through His people through the discipline of regular gleaning to provide for those in need.”
Those sections are followed by such sections as “God calls His people to be actively involved in ministry to those in need,” “Ministry to the poor is a service to God,” “Ministry to the poor yields great joy,” “Turning a deaf ear to those in need stifles the spiritual life,” “Mistreatment and neglect of the poor results in God’s judgment,” “Caring for the poor leads to a change in the life of the giver” and “Ministry to those in need demonstrates the reality of being a follower of Jesus Christ.”
There is no question about God’s command to help the hungry, poor and needy. This has been a hallmark of the Christian church since its founding, and only a gross and intentional misreading of God’s Holy Word attempts to deny that fact.
The Christian faith has both a vertical and horizontal plane. Of the Ten Commandments, the first four deal with one’s relationship to God (the vertical plane). The other six deal with one’s relationship to his or her neighbor (the horizontal plane). As Christians, we have a relationship to God and one another. Perhaps that is why Jesus joined together two other commandments when responding to the question about the greatest commandment.
His answer was to love God and one’s neighbor as one’s self (Mark 12:28–34).
Love is expressed in individual action, to be sure. It also is expressed in corporate action as one works for a community where the welfare of others is valued. That may mean working for public policies that reflect God’s love for the hungry, poor and needy as well as giving a donation to the SBC World Hunger Fund offering.
As pointed out in the Sept. 22 editorial on world hunger, a financial gift to the World Hunger Fund offering is needed to help with immediate needs. SBC representatives serving in the Horn of Africa also noted the need for system solutions that can help rectify long-term problems. Participating in finding those solutions (often through the political process) also can be a way of loving neighbor as one’s self.
The conclusion of all of this is clear: Caring for the hungry, poor and needy is a God thing. It is a demonstration of God’s love for us all.
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