Taking Care of the Poor

Christians are supposed to care for the poor. There are two problems with that for the American church. First of all, the government has decided to take over that role, so where does that leave the church? Second, there are actually very few poor in America. The vast majority of the poor in America are not poor -- they are addicted to sin, ignorant about managing money, or alergic to work -- in most cases all three. When does compassion become enablement? I believe the early church had a very different view of the poor than we do today. (You ought to read Timothy some time and check out the church's policies on caring for widows.) The church didn't give to every hobo who came asking for money. They didn't give to the poor in order to get attention and convince the community they were relevant to society. And they didn't give to the poor to prove to the community that the church is full of nice people. They gave to the poor because God commands His church to care for the helpless. We shouldn't stop doing that, church. Our challenge is to discern who the helpless really are, and then display supernatural generosity and compassion that displays the love of God. Who cares if the community thinks we're compassionate or relevant? All we need is the Gospel to be relevant. But Christ commands us to look after the truly helpless. Let's be careful that we are devoting our compassion and generosity to them. And let's stop being in the rescue business. People need to experience pain if they're to wise up and progress. You allow your children to experience pain. God lets you experience pain. I think a little pain would go a lot further than a handout -- from the government or the church.