There was one intellectual who had great concern for poor. He studied the bible and read the incident in which Lord Jesus is anointed with an expensive perfume. Some people were wondering why this waste. Judas said, it could have been given to poor. (John 12:4-6) However, Lord Jesus said: “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.” (Mark 14:7) As he was following a political utopian ideology of creating a world without poor, he could not accept this. Hence, he refused to read further and decided to be life-long atheist. Sadly, he missed to understand God’s concern for poor, needy, marginalized and defenseless.
1) Imperfect world: The world is imperfect as curse of sin came upon the universe. There are no perfect humans, systems, structures, governance or values.
2) Selfish world: Human tendency is to gather for oneself, even to the point of hoarding and depriving others of basic needs. In the rich man’s parable, he wanted to make bigger barns to store the bumper harvest and enjoy for many more years. (Luke 12:13-21) It did not occur in his mind to share with someone who is less fortunate.
3) Unrighteous Structures: There are unjust structures created by people or culture or religion or government that deprives few people from getting opportunities, keeping them illiterate and poor.
However, Bible mandates His people to be concerned about poor. God commanded Israelites not to harvest to very edges, instead deliberately leave for the poor. Also do not go for the second time to harvest in your vineyard, rather leave it for the poor. (Leviticus 19:9,10) Boaz follows this principle and even commanded his laborer’s to deliberately leave sheaves for Ruth to collect. (Ruth 2:15)
Poor are there to challenge and test believers for stewardship. They are in our midst to show generosity and reveal God’s love in this world. It also challenges us to make sacrifice to help the needy.
What is my attitude towards poor?