Eyes on the Poor

We are called to reflect the principles of the Kingdom of God, which are rooted in the love of God.  In the Bible, we see God's concern for and provision for the poor - and He uses His people in that mission. Luke 12 says:
32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.
34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I am thankful for so many local churches and missions organizations that do incredible work in selflessly reaching out to those in need at home and around the world.  In that Kingdom mentality, we can gain a sense of how God wants to love people and provide for them.  He'll use us as His hands and feet, and we have the opportunity to declare, through our generosity, our faith in Christ.  That's the beauty of missions: people can receive hope, even in crisis, and can hopefully be drawn to the Savior.

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The Bible reflects, throughout its pages, the love of God for those who are in need.  For instance in Leviticus 23, there is the concept of the seventh Sabbath, the day after it being the 50th day.  We can
read:
21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations
22 'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.' "

Summer does tend to be a time when, due to availability of time, people are involved in doing the work of missions.  Through short-term missions trips and Vacation Bible School, Christians are involved in helping others and radiating the love of Christ.

But, the act of doing ministry in communities around the globe is being carried on day-by-day, in many cases unnoticed.  Christians are often mischaracterized as being selfish and heartless, when, in fact, the opposite is true - the work of the Church is carrying on around the world as the message of Christ is being practically lived out.  As it's been pointed out, imagine what the world would be like without the charitable work of faith-based organizations...I contend the body of Christ is a significant part of that.

The Barna Group examined, in a recent survey, how the Church, and Americans in general, regard the poor, specifically, global poverty. Here are a few factoids from a recent survey summary, which states: "Christians, especially practicing ones, are consistently generous not only with their money, but with their hours."

Some examples:

...weekly volunteering is reported by one in three practicing Christians (33%), compared to 27 percent of non-practicing Christians. About a quarter (24%) has volunteered specifically to combat global poverty, as opposed to one in 10 non-practicing Christians (10%).

And, there's this:

...practicing Christians also more often report bringing food to a family in need (75% vs. 55% have done so in the past 12 months), directly donating goods other than money to people who are financially poor (72% vs. 61%) and volunteering to help the poor (47% vs. 27%).

And, of course, in all these categories, practicing Christians (as opposed to those who apparently self-identify without "practicing") outpace the general population.  And, the report notes:

Survey results show in a few dimensions that practicing Christians particularly do not see fighting poverty as a zero-sum game, where either American or overseas children must lose. In other words, there does not seem to be a tradeoff between interest in global poverty and in local poverty: Those who rank global poverty as a priority are more likely to also prioritize local poverty (92%) than those who don’t see global poverty as important (74%). 

The survey also indicates those that believe they can make a difference will make an effort to do so.  The summary states: "Barna observes that people who are hopeful that they can make a difference in poverty alleviation are those more willing to try. A majority of U.S. adults (57%)— 11 percentage points more than in 2011—says that knowing it is possible to end extreme global poverty would make them do significantly more to help bring that about. Among practicing Christians, the percentage climbs to 62 percent."

A follow-up report recently appeared on the Barna website and it explored, among other things, how people regarded whose responsibility it is to care for the poor.  The summary states:

While both liberals (37%) and conservatives (33%) feel the governments in poor nations are crucial in caring for their poor, liberals lean on non-profits (39% vs. 24% of conservatives), whereas conservatives are more likely than liberals to consider churches (7% vs. 2% of liberals) or individual citizens of that nation (12% vs. 6% of liberals) as an authority. Unsurprisingly, practicing Christians in each group are slightly more likely than average to place responsibility on churches (14% of practicing Christian conservatives and 6% of practicing Christian moderates and liberals).

Roxanne Stone, editor-in-chief for Barna, writes in the original survey: "Practicing Christians are the most engaged segment of the population when it comes to fighting poverty,” adding, “Local churches are already doing many things right in discipling Christians toward compassion for the poor. But there is more to do: Fighting poverty—both material and spiritual—will always be the mission of the Church."

I think this is a great jumping-off point to dive into some of the implications of this.  There is a Scriptural mandate to be involved in the lives of others.  And, again, we see Christians who are doing a tremendous job in reaching the poor in their communities.  We know that there are wonderful government programs that can help, but there are things that the Church can do in helping to address some of the poverty-related effects in our communities and around the globe.

There is a complex discussion about where the role of government ends and where the Church's begins, or vice versa.  The one principle that we can see is that we should be sensitive to and looking for opportunities to serve.  Locally speaking, we can help in holistic programs that develop the whole person - this includes encouraging personal responsibility, a strong work ethic, and training to help someone be a functioning member of society.  We can be positioned to not enable an entitlement mentality, but should help provide spiritual and material resources to help someone to develop meaningful life skills.

And, globally, we can look for opportunities to be involved with ministries who are carrying out the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, demonstrating the love of Christ, ministering the word of Christ, and helping to provide hope for people in desperate situations.  Through our attitude of charity, we can help to touch lives and teach people about their sufficiency in Christ.