The Believers’ Responsibility: Caring for the Least of These Part Four

            The price of indifference is too high to pay. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus provided four insights into why the believer cannot be indifferent to those in need. First, believers cannot afford to be indifferent towards Jesus and His return (Rev 16:15; Matt 24:43; 1 Thess 5:2, 5:4; 2 Pet 3:10). Second, believers cannot afford to be indifferent towards the resources of time, talent, and treasure that God gives them to assist those in need (Matt 24:45-25:30). Third, believers cannot afford to be indifferent towards the needy people all around them (1 John 3:17). Fourth, believers cannot afford to be indifferent towards a lost humanity that will stand in judgment (1 John 4:20).

Believers share great responsibility to the poor, which includes understanding that the deeds performed do not result into entry into the kingdom, but merely manifest God’s grace in their lives. James says that the deeds are evidence of saving faith by those who claim to have faith (2:14-26) because salvation is not based on works, but on faith (Eph 2:8-9). Additionally, Jesus pointed out to His followers that the poor would always be with them. (Matt 26:11). In other words, a responsibility of the believer is to take advantage of the opportunities to demonstrate their love toward God by responding to those in need. Ministry to the homeless will open doors for the gospel message (Luke 4:16-19; Jas 2:15-17).

A theology of homelessness recognizes that many in such a state are desperate; they need the love, grace, and the hope of the gospel with physical needs taken care as well. From a biblical perspective, inaction and apathy are unacceptable. A biblical perspective acknowledges that there is something inherent and God-given in people to desire a safe place to stay and to have help extended to those in need. Churches need Christians to be the ones who fight the hardest for the resources necessary for the success and retention of homeless college students on college campuses. Just as Jesus said in Matthew 25:42-45:

For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me. Then they also will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?” Then He will answer them, saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.”

Jesus and the Poor and A Biblical Worldview of the Homeless Part Three

Jesus and the Poor

            Second Corinthians 8:9 says that Jesus, though He was rich, became poor for our sakes, so that by His poverty we might become rich. Jesus was born into a poor family (Lev 5:7, 12:2-8; Luke 2:24). He later in life told a scribe that the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head by painting a less glamorous picture of what it was like to follow Him (Matt 8:20). Basically, He was homeless, even though the homes of others, such as Peter, Andrew, Lazarus, and various religious leaders (Matt 8:14; Mark 1:29; Luke 7:36) were opened for Him to rest, teach, eat, and get away from the crowd (Matt 17:25, Luke 10:38-42; Mark 7:24). His ministry extended to teachings on the topic of hunger, by admonishing His followers to share their food with the poor (Luke 3:11) and by feeding the multitudes out of compassion (Matt 14:13-21, 15:29-39).

The Biblical Worldview of the Homeless

Homelessness involves human beings. Human beings, by virtue of their creation, are valuable (Gen 2:7; Heb 2:7). They are the object of God’s concern as Creator and Redeemer of the world. Since human beings have a value and dignity as creatures of God, then they are due a proper recognition and proper respect for that fact. In dealing with the homeless, they should be treated as human beings, not as problems to be solved. They should be able to retain their humanity while receiving help. They should be treated with compassion and not condescension and should not be reduced to a means to a professional or societal end (Jas 2:1-9, 14-17). And there should be no strings attached to the provision of help (Luke 6:35-36). First John 3:17 states, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”

The Poor in the Old and New Testament Part Two

The Poor in the Old Testament (OT) 

            There are many applicable passages in the Old Testament dealing with the challenges and treatment of the poor. With special concern to prevent permanent and hopeless poverty, God gave specific commands to His people, Israel, regarding the poor. If a man’s need caused him to be sold into slavery, he must be freed after six years (Exod 21:2). They were to sow the land and gather its produce for six years, then on the seventh year let it rest and lie fallow, so the poor could eat (Exod 23:10, 11). In Exodus, the poor were not to be exploited (22:25), mistreated or oppressed (22:21); nor oppressed in the courts (23:3, 6). God stood as protector of the poor and by legislation sought social justice for the poor (Exod 22:25, 23:3; Lev 19:10, 23:22). In Leviticus, the brethren who became poor had to be helped like a stranger or a sojourner. According to Spencer (2019), the Hebrew term for sojourner and its translation convey the basic idea that a person or group who are residing, either temporarily or permanently, in a community and place that is not primarily their own and is dependent on the good-will of that community for their continued existence. In other words, a transient.

            The Hebrew monarchy brought economic development and prosperity for some, but poverty for others. As the situations of the poor worsened, the prophets took on their cause, especially criticizing forced labor (Amos 5:11, 12), the enslaving of fellow countrymen (Jer 34:8-11), and the depriving of widows, orphans, and the poor of their rights (Isa 10:1, 2). The socially strong were guilty of oppression (Amos 2:7; 4:1; 5:11) and an unreasonable desire to increase wealth (Isa 3:15; Amos 8:4). Their hunger for land was driving the poor from their inheritance (Isa 5:8; Mic 2:2). The injustice was so great that God used terms for the poor, such as “My” and “His” for the people (Isa 3:15; 10:2; 14:32).

            The situation of the poor often seemed hopeless, but God would not forget them (Ps 9:12; 40:17). He pities them and comforts them (Ps 34:6; Isa 49:13). The OT king likewise had a special responsibility to the weak and poor (Ps 72:4, 12) and he established his throne by fair treatment of them (Prov 29:14). God shows personal interest in the treatment of the those in need. In Job 34:28, their cry goes out before God and God hears them. Anyone who has a concern for the poor is a blessing and rewarded by God (Ps 41:1; Prov 14:21), and to honor the poor is to honor God (Prov 14:31).

The Poor in the New Testament (NT)

The Greek word (πτwcoς) for poor means to be unsteady, unsettled, homeless, a vagabond, and those who have no certain dwelling-place (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, 2004/2021). In the NT, it is used of beggars (Luke 16:20) and those who are poor in a material sense (Luke 19:8). Christ Himself became poor (πτwceiw) to make others rich. Often the poor are singled out as having the good news preached to them (Matt 11:5; Luke 4:18, 7:22). Sometimes the term is used figurately for the poor in spirit, who are considered especially blessed (Matt 5:3; Luke 6:20).

            Jesus was a realist when He said that there would always be poor people (Matt 26:11), but this did not diminish His concern for them and aid to them. He preached the Good News to the poor (Matt 11:5). He and His disciples had a common treasury from which contributions were made to the poor (John 13:29). He encouraged the rich man to distribute his wealth to the poor (Matt 19:21) and taught about the attitude of mercy toward those in debt (Luke 7:41). The guests for a banquet were to be the poor, maimed, lame, and blind, because they could not repay (Luke 14:13, 14). Likewise, in the parable about the heavenly banquet, God has a great desire to fill His house with the wanderers and outcast (poor and needy) to experience His riches. They must be convinced that they are welcome and compelled by the love we show them through our actions (Luke 14:15-24).

            The Early Church in the Book of Acts cared for its own poor (2:45; 4:34) and its widows (6:1). The Apostle Paul was anxious to remember the poor (Gal 2:10) and to promote the collection for the poor (Rom 15:26; 2 Cor 9:1.9) in his letters. James criticized the disrespect shown to the poor by the Church in contrast to their attitude toward the rich (Jas 2:2-7). Here the poor are considered to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom of God (Jas 2:5).