Why Care for the Poor? (If you've ever said, or heard someone else say, "They just need to get a job," or "The poor will always be with us," then this is for you; You are in good company)

Hello Friends!

It's not Monday, but I couldn't wait to post something that's on my heart. I don't know where you are on your journey of life, but with the post I shared before, you may be wondering, why care for the poor? To some it may be obvious, but let's face it, if you've grown up in the United States, you have most likely been influenced by narratives like The American Dream and Rags to Riches stories-- ideas that if you work hard enough and try hard enough, anything can happen--you can rise above the bleakest circumstances and make all your dreams come true. Hand in hand with these narratives is the idea of rugged individualism, a sort of every-man-for-himself mentality. Unlike many societies, American society in general is all about individualism, about expressing yourself however you want to, and about carrying your own weight. All of these can be good things, but one of the problems that arises from such ideologies is that those who can carry their own weight tend to project their own experiences onto others--people who may have not had the same advantages and successes that they have.

I am reading a book right now by Scot McKnight entitled One.Life: Jesus Calls We Follow. In his book McKnight talks about something he learned during a brief time he spent in South Africa. He says, "There is something that gives [Africans] one history, a powerful memory and identity, something that gives them hope and a dream. That something is found in the word Ubuntu." McKnight explains that the Bantu word Ubuntu is derived from the following phrase: Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, meaning, "A person is a person through [other] persons." McKnight goes on to say that "We are not alone, and we run the risk of ruining ourselves if we try to be alone. We are designed to connect to others who are also designed to connect." The problem with American individualism is that it fails to take into account how interconnected we all really are. How we need one another. At it's core is a pride that says, I got here on my own and I don't need anyone's help, and a selfishness that says, if I can do it, then so can you, and I don't need to help you. All the while such individualists forget that surely someone helped them along the way to get to where they have arrived. Did they have parents who raised them? Did they receive a scholarship? Was there a janitor at their schools who cleaned the toilets? Was there a whole city infrastructure that allowed them to take a bus or drive or walk on paved roads? How foolish we are to think that we ever really accomplish anything completely on our own! We as Americans could stand to learn from the African wisdom of Ubuntu. Truly, a person is a person through other persons. And other people need us just as we need them.

I have a confession to make. There was a time in my life when I looked at homeless people and thought, why don't they just get a job? I called them "bums," and even if I did help them out in some way, it was with a condescending attitude. I had no idea how complicated each of their stories could be, and I assumed that "just getting a job" would fix all their problems. I remember also when one of my close friends was very passionate about the plight of the Invisible Children in Africa, I mentally gave her a pat on the head, thinking her passion was misguided and juvenile, and after all, didn't Jesus say, "The poor will always be among you"? Raise your hand if you've ever used those words of Jesus to excuse yourself from helping the poor. If you haven't used them yourself, you've probably heard someone else do it. Where in the world do we get this idea? Was Jesus bipolar? After all, in Luke's gospel he announces his ministry by saying:

                     "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
                     to proclaim good news to the poor.
                     He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
                     and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
                     those who are oppressed,
                     to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4-18-19).

I'm no Bible scholar, but it seems to me that Jesus' statement about the poor always being with you (you can read about it in Matthew 26:6-13) is more of an assumption that we will always have a responsibility and opportunity to care for the poor, than it is an "out" for not caring for them. Matthew's account seems to be a special circumstance in which Jesus is honoring and defending a woman for her lavish and heart-felt worship. Much like Jesus' disciples not fasting while He was present with them in bodily form, Jesus encouraged certain behavior while He was physically with his disciples, knowing that things would change after he ascended to his Father. So, now we fast, because the Bridegroom is not here with us in human form, and now our lavish worship, is caring for the poor rather than pouring out expensive perfume on Jesus' actual feet. In fact, Jesus says as much in Matthew 25: 34-40:
          
                  Then the King will say to those on his right,
                 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, 
                  inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 
                 of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food,
                 I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and 
                 you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me,
                 I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
                Then the righteous will answer him, saying,
                'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, 
                or thirsty and give you drink? And When did we see you a stranger 
                and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 
                And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? 
                And the King will answer them,'Truly, I say to you, 
                as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

So, why should we care for the poor?

1. We need each other. Ubuntu.

2. It was part of Jesus' mission. And if we want to follow him we should be about what He was about.

3. Jesus tells us to (this should be #1), and in doing so we actually end up serving and worshiping Him.

There is a whole lot more that could be said about this issue, and many more places in the Bible that talk about caring for the poor, but these are the things that come to mind, and I think might be a good place to start. And if we had no other examples in Scripture, and no other insights into culture, I think Jesus' command to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39) should be motivation enough to step down from our little thrones and to lay our lives low in love for others.

If all you knew to do was to love your neighbor as yourself, how would you respond to the needs of the world?