But God will never forget
the needy; the hope of the
afflicted will never perish~ Psalm 9:18
My Mother-in- law is
an unbelievably talented and creative seamstress. Back in the day, she had a
business creating custom wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses for bridal
parties. When she became a Grandmother, she turned her considerable skills to
costume making. My kids had some of the cutest, most ingenious dress-up
costumes you have ever seen.
Her handiwork
included a furry striped tiger suit with a long tail, a knight in shining armor,
a ninja, an Indian girl with a feather headdress, and matching his-and-hers private
detective outfits with magnifying glasses and trench coats in hot pink and navy
blue.
By far the most treasured
piece was a dazzling angel costume my Mother-in-law crafted at the request of
my then four-year-old daughter Danielle. The costume consisted of a silky white
robe made from a soft, sparkly fabric; a golden halo and glittery gold wings
completed the outfit.
Danielle dubbed it her
“angel suit” and wore it everywhere I would allow. Sometimes she wore it to the
grocery store and while we ran errands because I didn’t want to deal with the
drama that inevitably ensued anytime I attempted to get her into more
appropriate attire. On the rare occasions she allowed me to launder her beloved
angel suit, she would stand next to the washing machine anxiously waiting for
it so she could put it back on.
And then the
unthinkable happened. One evening as I was making dinner, Danielle donned her angel
suit and climbed up to the tippy-top of the back of the sofa, held her little
arms out as far and as wide as she could, dove up into the air propelling her
body towards the (unlit) woodstove.
I dropped what I was
doing and sprinted into the living room when I heard the crash and subsequent
screams. When I arrived on the scene I found my sweet girl in a sad little heap
on the bricks surrounding the woodstove with a nasty gash on her cheek and a
badly bruised arm.
Once I pulled myself
together enough to speak calmly I asked her what on earth she had been thinking.
She confessed through her tears that she had been certain that the angel
costume would allow her to fly. Apparently she believed that all she needed to
fly was the right outfit. My sweet girl was heartbroken; her beloved angel suit
had tragically failed her.
Unfortunately,
magical thinking is not limited to four-year-old girls. Grown-ups can be guilty
of it too. Sometimes, as adults, we can believe that if we want something badly
enough it will somehow just happen. Christians and non-Christians alike tend to
fall into this sort of thinking when it comes to helping people, especially
people in need.
Most Christians passionately
want to help those who are hurting or in need. Believers understand that
helping the hurting and needy is a command given repeatedly in Scripture (Deuteronomy
15:11, Jeremiah 22:16, Isaiah 58:10, Matthew 6:3, Matthew 25:36-45). Most of us
struggle with the how because helping the poor in a wealthy nation is a complex
issue. Many are tempted to leave the
helping to the government, but this form of magical thinking is unbiblical and
harmful. Nowhere in Scripture are God’s
people called to leave helping people entirely to government agencies. However,
God does call His people to roll up their sleeves and work to help those in
need.
There are three
practical ways that Christians can help the poor and hurting in our culture…
Commit to biblical
concepts of justice~ Isaiah 10:3
I could write an
entire book on the myriad ways the notion of social justice has been corrupted
by the liberal culture. Suffice it to say, biblical social justice is not about
everybody having the exact same goods and services. Biblical social justice is about
people having opportunities to work and better their situations. Authentic
social justice means caring for those who cannot
work and providing employment opportunities for those who can (Leviticus 23:22).
Biblical justice is
about family helping family and churches filling in the gaps for those without
families (1st Timothy 5:8). Churches that wish to model biblical justice
must teach and preach on the value of family and Christian community, the
sanctity of work and provide job opportunities and education for those who are
in need rather than just handouts that do little to permently change the
circumstances of the needy.
We can live lives
that model biblical standards of truth~ Proverbs 6:32, Proverbs 12:24, Proverbs
13:4, Proverbs 13:11, 1st Peter 2:12
We live in a time
when people want to separate choices from consequences. The Bible is clear that
most poverty stems from behavior that God labels as sin and/or bad choices. Christians have a spiritual and moral
obligation to avoid lifestyle choices that can lead to poverty. These choices
would include: sexual immorality (as it leads to single parenting), overspending
and debt, laziness and a poor work ethic. Our goal as Christians should be to
lead lives that model fidelity, honesty, frugality and hard work.
We must hold
government accountable to create programs that work~ Proverbs 10:4, Romans 12:8
As believers who are
lucky enough to live in a democracy, it is our duty to use the advantages
afforded us to better society. Christians should avoid voting for candidates
who champion welfare without responsibility. Welfare without responsibility
ensnares people in a system that meets their basic needs without giving them opportunities
for advancement. This becomes a peculiar form of oppression that looks and
feels helpful but leads to entrenched generational impoverishment. We must be
willing to research candidates’ voting records rather than relying on thirty-second
sound bytes for information. As believers living in a democracy we also have an
obligation to use our voices. Using our voices involves communicating with our
elected officials, letting them know in a respectful tone that we expect them
to vote for programs that promote responsibility and opportunity.
Helping the poor and
hurting is no small task; it takes wisdom, creativity and a commitment to the
individual. No government agency, no matter how competently run, can provide
the kind of help most people need to move up the socio-economic ladder. This is
because each person is unique and every situation requires a fresh solution. As
Christians we are called to be involved in the lives of our neighbors and help
find solutions to the problems that plague our culture. While it’s true that no
one person can help everyone, everyone can help someone.
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~ James 1:27
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