Acts 29

There is a strong sentiment in the Bible, in the teachings of Jesus, about our responsibility to the poor.  Basically it goes like this:  followers of Christ help the poor, weak and the needy.  I’m not going to defend this assertion here.  Too many learned, educated people have made the argument before.  More interesting to me are ways people sidestep this obligation.  

Sometimes it is rooted in theology. God knows people are poor, He did it for a reason and He is working through that situation, so it’s not our place to interfere.    If you believe this, don’t ever call me if your car breaks down. God knew you were going to break down; I’m not going to mess that up.  Maybe God wants you to set up a church beside the interstate where you ended up. It will be a great missional opportunity for you to present the Gospel to other stranded motorists or hitchhikers. Any theological treatise that says we are supposed to leave the poor to their own devices dishonors Jesus.

For most people though, theology isn’t the root of ignoring the poor.  We are more prone to trying to be wise.   You know, using our rational abilities, our intellects to guide us to being the best followers of Christ we can be. This type of earthly wisdom leads to earthly conclusions:  We have to take care of ourselves and our families first, and then we can help the poor. That certainly makes sense. If we are all living in a van down by the river, how will anything ever get done?

This is contrary of the Gospel. Any thoughts, any plans that come from our broken, fractured selves will end up being about our broken, fractures selves. Only the Holy Spirit, God working through us can lead us to doing things for God.  Jesus tells us not to worry about our food or our clothes, focus on God instead. We say, “Let me work on my food and clothes and when that gets settled, I’ll be ready to focus on God. It’ll be better that way because then we can concentrate fully on God instead of being distracted by other things.”

Of course, this article didn’t write itself and my breakfast of bacon and eggs didn’t magically appear and jump into my belly. We do have to work and labor in this life.    We have to trust God for everything but we have to work to feed ourselves and our families.  It’s a fuzzy line that trips people up. That’s why it’s so much easier to classify disobedience as being “wise.”  But if I’m being wise by using all my time and resources for me and ignoring the poor, then the Gospel is foolish.

This humanly manufactured wisdom feeds upon itself in leading us away from God.  It’s not only a cover up for disobedience; it can also lead to something that Jesus really didn’t like: being self-righteous.  Basically, I’m doing right before God; you need to work on it.  It springs up like mad when talking about helping the poor.
John the Baptist lays out things for us early in the Gospels. The fruit of repentance is this: if you have two coats, give one to somebody who doesn’t have one.  Jesus explains it in different ways, tells parables and at the bottom the message is simple.  If you have more than you need of healthy things, share them with people who need them.  This is everything:  money, goods, time, friendship, love.   These are all things we hoard up, things we keep stored for lean times or things we are afraid of giving liberally for fear of wasting or not getting a return on the investment. It becomes a matter of security and trust.  

This is the heart of following Jesus. Do we trust Him or do we trust ourselves?  Caring for the poor, social justice, mercy ministries is the way we put it in practice.  Jesus says that what we do for the poor, we do for Him.  It would be great if we could soften it up, create some options, but it doesn’t always work that way.  Some things you can’t get around: You either believe Jesus was resurrected from the dead or you don’t.  It’s similar with caring for the poor.

Our attempts to be “wise” about sharing with the poor mutate the scriptures’ clear choice into being a matter of degrees. We think other people can afford to gamble these essentials because they have an excess. There’s never a clear definition of what constitutes having enough to give away, but it’s always people who are in income brackets higher than you are at the time.

Jesus consistently turned earthly wisdom upside down. The first shall be last, the greatest must be the servant. In a rush to defend our disobedience, in using our earthly wisdom, we confound accepted physical laws of the universe.  Among followers of Christ when talk turns to helping the poor, amazingly, crap starts to run uphill.  We become adept at spotting how disobedient other people are, and nearly always our wrath goes up economic and power ladders.

Most of us would say that rich people piss Jesus off.  They live in big houses, drive expensive cars, and take lavish vacations, whatever. And even if they do give to the poor, it’s for tax breaks more than compassion or obedience.  These are the guilty parties.  If I, middle class guy, had that kind of money, I’d do the right thing with it.  Furthermore, I’d give my time because I wouldn’t have to work so much just to get by.  

This feels pretty good until you realize that middle class guy is really rich.  And not just compared to people in Africa or the slums of India, but to people in their own cities.  This is a shot in the arm for lower class guy, who now has two classes of people to judge.  But lower class guy is still working out of earthly wisdom.  Driving a beater car and drinking lowly Dr. Perky instead of regal Dr. Pepper isn’t a note from Jesus excusing you from looking after the poor.  

At this point, the popular response is a philosophical one. What is need? My need and your need won’t be the same. Don’t try to impose your definition of need on me. The only way to answer this question is prayer and gut-wrenching honesty with Jesus.  Do we go in front of Jesus willing to give up whatever he wants, not holding back anything?  In the same breath, we have to be wary of instant, extreme asceticism. Many times it’s more about ego and personal satisfaction than really wanting to help the poor.  We follow Jesus to new places of obedience; we don’t say “I know the way, Jesus, so I’ll just meet you there.”

When we aren’t beating up on rich people, we turn to the powerful.   The real evil people are the politicians, the government officials who don’t do enough if they would really listen to Jesus, the poor would be taken care of (Sojourners, I’m looking in your direction).  They don’t even really have to listen to Jesus, if only they would recognize what it means to be a humanitarian. People in this camp genuinely care the poor, but they also are being guided by worldly wisdom.  They think that worldly structures and politics is how Jesus really wants us to care for the poor.   But it’s just another way of not changing anything personal, not sacrificing anything close to your heart, not doing the hard things Jesus call us to.

It’s a rigged game deciding who has enough money or time or power to help and who doesn’t.  We will never agree because everyone keeps moving the goal.  That’s why John kept it simple and said anyone who has two coats must give one away.  I’m not arguing that private charity can replace government aid or that no one can have nice stuff. I think the principle that applies is the kingdom of heaven is like the mustard seed that grows to great size.  

So here’s the deal, if you’re reading this, you have two coats. At the very least, you can read, you can navigate a piece of technology that is needed in today’s workforce, you’re not comatose or being held hostage.  You have things other people need.  Jesus wants you to give it up, let it flow freely. You won’t be wasting it because when we do things for the poor, we do them to Jesus and He will remember. Anything else, no matter how wise it seems, is disobedience.