Poverty is not new to contemporary society. Throughout the Old Testament the presence of the poor and God’s desire for His people to help them are evident. “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed” (Prov. 19:17). “If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday” (Isa. 58:10). “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you” (Lev. 25:35). In these and many other examples from the law, the prophets and the psalmist, God is characterized as a generous God who expects generosity from His people as well.
Biblical illustrations
In the New Testament, Jesus uses a widow (Luke 21), a poor man named Lazarus (Luke 16) and a rich young man (Matt. 19) to illustrate the often uncomfortable relationship between wealth and faith. In three of the four Gospels, Jesus even acknowledges that the poor will always be with us (Matt. 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8). If Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy 15:11 here, as many scholars believe, the rest of that verse in which the Lord commands His people to “open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in your land,” continues to have relevance to contemporary believers.
For Montgomery’s Community of Hope ministry, opening a hand includes feeding 100 children a day who otherwise might not get anything to eat because their school is out for spring break.
At Harvest Evangelism in Opelika it includes providing a home, transportation to work and GED classes to a couple and their young daughter who live in New York, rescuing them from a life of homelessness.
At M-POWER Ministries in Birmingham, it includes health services and job training.
The list could go on and on, since churches and ministries throughout Alabama are finding ways to help ease the effects of poverty in their communities and around the world. Yet poverty still exists and Christians continue to ask what more can be done. The challenge is turning that questioning into action. The first step toward action is prayer, said Ryan Hankins, executive director of M-POWER Ministries, a faith-based social services agency.
“When you look at the gospel account, there is less accounting of what Jesus said and more of what He did,” Hankins said. “We can’t minimize the importance of praying for the poor and praying for us to be affected by things going on in our world.”
Our response cannot stop at prayer, however, Hankins said. Concern for the poor must result in action.
Jake Brown, pastor of Sonrise Baptist Church, Mobile, said, “I believe many Christians have the desire to help the poor but they are not sure how to do it. They may not know what resources to trust. They may think foreign governments are too corrupt. They may not believe ending poverty is possible.”
Statistics published in 2014 by the Barna Group show that ending poverty is possible. In fact the percentage of people in the world who live in extreme poverty has decreased by more than half, though 84 percent of Americans are unaware of the decrease, according to Barna. Practicing Christians are significantly more likely than the general population to help the poor, and in 2013, more than half of Christians surveyed by Barna donated to a nonprofit organization to help people in extreme poverty.
Still there is more to do and awareness is a great starting point, Brown said.
“Christians need to be made aware of organizations like Baptist Global Response, Compassion International, International Justice Mission, Never Thirst, Samaritan’s Purse and others that are making an honest effort to make a difference to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the poor,” Brown said. “As a Church it’s time we join with those who are taking Matthew 25:31–46 seriously and take the lead in loving our neighbors as ourselves.”
Loving our neighbors is about living lives that are missional, said Bethany Rushing, director of development at M-POWER. People get excited when they talk about missions projects but we are called to be Christians on mission every day of the year not just on trips. “It’s about how we respond when someone asks us for money. It’s about engaging in conversations that can build relationships and dignify the person who needs help. It’s about looking for those who are suffering by driving a different way home from work or going to a different grocery store rather than avoiding areas where we might have those encounters.”
‘Created in God’s image’
Our tendency is to insulate ourselves from situations and people we perceive as different in order to keep ourselves safe, Rushing said. To act differently requires an intentional effort.
“Even if you tell that person on the street, ‘No, I can’t help you,’ you can make eye contact. Acknowledgement is dignifying. It’s treating them as humans created in God’s image who are loved by Him,” Rushing said.
Missional living requires closing the gap between us and those who are suffering, she said. It also requires putting aside our negative attitudes and false assumptions about the poor.
“Everyone wants their family to be okay, even the poor,” Rushing said. “To help the poor we have to put aside our fear of being taken advantage of and our need to know all the facts. We have to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, get out of our comfort zone and share our lives in a way that shines a light for the cause of Christ.”
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