The righteous considers the cause of the poor. –Prov. 29:7a

What does the word poverty make you think of? Some of you might instantly think of starving, orphaned children in Africa. For others, a war-torn country may come to mind. Others might think of a natural disaster where victims have been stripped of all earthly possessions. Someone else might be thinking of the homeless people they come into contact with on the streets.

Webster’s dictionary defines poverty as “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.” On the surface, this definition sounds sufficient. Indeed, poverty is connected to a lack of material wealth, but there is an important aspect missing from this definition: the spiritual.

If you look at poverty solely from an economic point of view, you miss the big picture. It is like taking the “John Wayne” approach of picking yourself up by your bootstraps. Just work harder and you will succeed. Well, who is then left to get the credit? We have nothing to do with where we are born, who we are born to, and what kind of economic condition and opportunities or obstacles are placed in front of us. We need to recognize God’s divine providence and sovereignty in placing us in the circumstances that he has. It is important to honor God for being “the giver of all good things” (James 1:17). Not to acknowledge this is to make yourself god, a form of idolatry and an example of a broken relationship with your Creator.

This broken relationship is the underlying foundation of why people are in poverty to begin with. When Adam sinned, man’s relationships with God, other humans, himself, and creation were all broken. Sometimes we forget how devastating the effects of the Fall have been because we do not know what it is like to live without them. Our society tells us that most people are relatively good. They don’t recognize the truth of Scripture when it says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10–12, English Standard Version). The first thing that we must recognize when speaking about poverty is that without a real relationship with God the Father, through the work of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are all poor.

The Bible recounts many instances of physical poverty. The story of Joseph tells us about the events surrounding a large-scale hunger relief project that served in the preservation of the lineage of Jesus Christ. Hunger relief projects can be done well and can be an instrument to save many people from starvation, but they can also be executed poorly. In this account of the famine in Egypt, access to food was used to hold power over the people. Ultimately, many people ended up handing over all of their money, their livestock, and their land to the government so that their families could receive grain to eat. Sadly, this still happens today. Some governments thrive while their people starve. Often times, in order to buy their loyalty, corrupt leaders will make sure that their military forces are well fed and do not care about the well-being of the rest of the people in their country.

Later on, in the Old Testament, we read of how the Lord makes provision in the law for those who are in need (Lev. 25:35–46; Deut. 14:28–15:15). It is interesting to note that each family was to share in the Promised Land but, whether by famine or through bad decisions, some would lose their portion of it. In Leviticus 25, we read about the laws surrounding the Year of Jubilee. Every fifty years all land that had changed ownership would be returned to its original owner, even if it had been given as a payment of a debt. Here we see that the Lord provides in each situation by his gracious hand. In his infinite wisdom, the Lord ordained that the poor would always be with us here on earth, but he also instituted laws that would help to provide for them.

Leviticus 19 outlines another practice that was instituted to help provide for the poor. The gleaning laws of verses 9 and 10 give the landowners instructions to leave some of their gleanings in the field so that the poor and the sojourner could gather them. Notice that the poor have to work for their food and harvest it themselves. The Lord calls them to work for their bread and be productive, as described in Proverbs 6:6–11 (New King Jam Version), “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.” Man is called to be productive even in poverty. We read in the book of Ruth of how Naomi instructs her daughter-in-law to go and glean in the field of Boaz. It is because of the provision of this law that Naomi and Ruth were provided with food. While gleaning food in Boaz’s field, Ruth was introduced to, and eventually married, Boaz. Ruth later gave birth to Obed, the grandfather of David. And so, we see how God again provided in the preservation of the lineage of Jesus Christ.

The New Testament also gives us insights into how we should consider the poor. James 2:14–26 is a passage that speaks to the heart of the matter. Verses 15–17 (New King James Version) instruct, “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Christianity is a belief, but it demands action. One of the actions we are to take is to care for the needs of others. Simon Kistemaker, speaking on this passage, put it this way: “At times, Christians proclaim the gospel of the Lord without regard for the physical needs of their hearers. They tell the people about salvation, but they seem to forget that the poverty-stricken people need clothes and food to make the gospel relevant. Unless word and deed go together, unless preaching of the gospel is accompanied by a program of social action, unless faith is demonstrated in loving care and concern, faith is dead” (James–Jude, New Testament Commentary, 89).

Jesus defined his ministry in Matthew 11:2–6 in an interesting way. While in prison, John the Baptist sends two of his servants to ask Jesus if he was the Messiah. John was Jesus’ relative who had previously baptized Jesus. He saw the spirit of God descending, he heard the voice proclaiming, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17, New King James Version). In relation to these facts, this is a bit of a puzzling question. Jesus answers the question by using words from Isaiah: “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” He could have easily answered with a simple yes, but instead, he answers by describing the physical care that he is providing the people. He is preaching to them, but he is also tending to their physical needs. He is defining who he is by how he is caring for people. Is that how we define ourselves as Christians?

All of the passages mentioned in this article show us how God cares about the physical needs of all people. Man is the crown of his creation. Man is created in the image of God, and sin has brought pain, suffering, and hunger to mankind. The reasons that people are physically poor vary. Sometimes their poverty is a result of a disaster or unforeseen circumstances. Other times people become poor due to bad decisions that they have made. And sometimes, people are poor due to the circumstances they are born into. We have noted that governments and rulers can play a major role, either good or bad, in the physical circumstances of people. We know and are humbled by the fact that God has ordained all of these circumstances, just as he has ordained my circumstances and your circumstances (1 Sam. 2:7).

In light of all of this, we have to make sure that we are taking a biblical approach in providing for our brothers and sisters at home and abroad. It is important that when providing for the physical needs of the poor, we are also providing for them spiritually. We need to train local leaders, those who have the greatest spiritual influence, to be involved in the physical and spiritual well-being of the people in their communities. These are the people who will have the greatest impact for the gospel. Through dependence on God, it should be our goal to move people away from dependence on others, toward self-sufficiency in Christ (like the ants of Proverbs 6). These are the principles that guide the work of word and deed.

The starting point in helping the physically needy (or anyone) is to bring them the message of Jesus Christ. If you do not present Christ as a means to relieve people from their poverty, then you are merely presenting yourself as a means of relief. What good is that for the soul of the person whom you are trying to help? How is Christ glorified? How is God’s kingdom extended? When we recognize our own poverty, then it becomes much easier to bring the gospel to others as we are called to do (Ps.105:1; 1 Peter 3:15).

As we move closer to the Thanksgiving season, we tend to spend extra time focusing on thanking God for his many blessings in our lives. Churches will often have special offerings on Thanksgiving day for Christian organizations that work with the poor. After reading this article the question remains, How do you consider the cause of the poor? It is my hope that after reading this article, you will be challenged and encouraged to pray for and get involved with those who have physical and spiritual needs in your community and abroad, recognizing poverty as not just a lack of money or material possessions but also as a lack of relationship with God, our ultimate Provider.

Bibliography

Corbett, Steve, and Brian Fikkert. When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself. Chicago: Moody Publishing, 2009.

Mr. David Vander Meer works for Word & Deed Ministries (a Reformed international relief & development ministry) in both public relations and projects. He is a member of Cornerstone URC in Hudsonville, MI. Dave may be contacted at dvandermeer@wordanddeed.org