Help the Poor: The Universal Church

In Galatians 2:10 Paul says that, “They only asked us to remember the poor – the very thing I also was eager to do.” This is a great verse to build a response to how the Church is to respond to the poor.

Simply put, the Church is to “remember the poor” and we should have a strong desire to do so (“the very thing I also was eager to do”).

First, the Church is to remember the poor by fighting the fight of justice. If there are unjust laws or governments or systems that harm the poor or keep people in poverty then we should fight against it. What I mean by this is that we should not be afraid to get political when we see injustice in our society. Where much is given, then much should be expected; therefore I believe that we should support efforts against injustice outside our borders. I am not one that holds to the long tradition of American isolationism; we should be engaged to make our world better. We were right to be in Somalia, we should be in Haiti, and we should be doing all that we can to aid the starving North Koreans.

Second, the Church should lead the way in providing social ministries in our local communities. We had a garage sale for the church plant yesterday and there was some stuff left over. We wanted the stuff to benefit others and we wanted to get if off our hands. I did not call a Buddhist organization, or the local Communist Party, or some government agency; but I called the CCA in Lewisville (a Christian group), then Habitat for Humanity (traditionally a Christian group), then the Salvation Army, then Mission Arlington (a Baptist charity), and we also thought to call Vision Ministries (associated with Denton Bible Church). Christians should lead the way in providing for the needs of the poor in their community. In Denton, Texas they do just that.

Next, I want to speak of the attitude of the Church towards aiding the poor. Regarding Galatians 2:10, Timothy George writes in The New American Commentary: Galatians that, “the money sent by Gentile churches to the Christians in Jerusalem was in the form of a love gift, not an expected fee paid to ecclesiastical headquarters” (pg165).

Protestant churches in American control their own congregations and thus their attitude towards the poor is evident in their budgets. The Church’s first response to the poor should not be negative (“They should just get a job” or “They got themselves into that mess so they should get themselves out of it” or “I am too busy” or “I don’t want them to influence my children”). Our first response should be compassionate (“How can we help” or “What can I give” or “Here is some of the money that God has blessed me with”). My attitude towards the poor is typically negative and this is something that I am working on in my own spiritual life. The Church should see that aiding the poor is a love offering to God.

The Church is to “remember the poor” by fighting for justice around the world and by leading the way in social ministries in our communities. The Church is to have an attitude that is eager to help the poor, not one that primarily judges the poor.