Recently our church printed a quote by Dr. Adrian Rogers. I’d like to summarize it but it’s short and to the point: “What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
Wow. Good words. Dr. Rogers passed from this life long before the current political environment, but it’s almost as if he was a prophet.
In response to these words someone said “but aren’t we supposed to take care of the poor?” And it got me to wondering what the Bible really does say about “the poor.” I mean, I’m all for giving and helping but what are we called to do exactly?
I searched the word “poor” in Biblegateway.com and here’s what I learned:
Most of the time when Jesus used the word “poor” it was in the sense of preaching to them, (eg. “the Gospel is being preached to the poor.”) or he reminded the disciples that “the poor you shall always have with you.”
Only once did he directly command someone to sell all he had and give to the poor, when he told the rich young ruler to “sell all he had and give to the poor.” (See Luke 18) But this seems to me to be an extreme example of teaching someone where his heart truly was. His treasure really was on earth.
In the very next chapter (Luke 19), Jesus encounters Zacchaeus who, after having his sins forgiven, declares that he will give half of everything he owns to the poor. Jesus seemed to have heartily approved of that.
So why tell one man to sell everything he owned and give all to the poor, and then turn right around and give his blessing to someone who says he’ll only give half? Because it was a matter of the heart. Jesus knew Zacchaeus was sincere and had repented, and that he still needed to live. Now that he’d lost his job as a tax collector, he’d need money to start a new profession.
There was only one verse I found that Jesus explicitly told his followers that they should sell all they had and give to the poor: Luke 12:33 “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.” But when this is read in context you can clearly see that Jesus was teaching his disciples that life was more than possessions and that we should not worry about “things” because God will take care of our needs.
Additionally, I looked back at the original Greek for the work we translate “poor” in Luke 12:33. It means “compassionateness.” We are indeed called to have compassion on the poor and help where we can, but to expect us to blindly give what we have worked for to those who have not worked for it, is not what Jesus had in mind.
I continued checking the rest of the new testament, and neither Paul nor any of the writers ever gave a command to do anything for the poor, but they did commend those who did so. See Acts 9:36 and Romans 15:26 for examples. The closest thing to a command is James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” And there are several other passages where it was obvious that the early church went out of their way to take care of widows.
Contrary to todays thinking that everyone is entitled to a handout “just because,” the Apostle Paul taught that work was something every Christian should expect to do.
Ephesians 4:28 “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” Clearly, he expected that Christians would work.
And in case you’re not sure that this is what Paul had in mind, look at 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11 “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.”
America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles but we have drifted away from that so far that the Founding Fathers would not even recognize this nation. It is not a Christian principle to have the wealth distributed evenly among those who have not worked, it is a Communist principle. The same principle that teaches there is no God and that the government is all-powerful. Remember if the government is powerful enough to give to all they are powerful enough to take from all.
I have no problem with helping those less fortunate who truly need help. I have no problem with disabled people getting help. But I have a problem with those who come here illegally and put their hands in my pockets. I have a problem with those who will not work but expect me to take care of them.
America was built by people who worked. They worked the land, they built the railroad, they built the highways, and the factories of the industrial age.
Work is not a dirty word. It’s wrong to expect the world to give you a hand out if you are able bodied. A hand up maybe, but not a hand out.
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