Caring for the Poor: No Preferential Treatment – The Law of God and Public Policy

Caring for the Poor: No Preferential Treatment
The Law of God and Public Policy

“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” Leviticus 19:15

Over the last century or so the view has been popularized by certain members of the Christian community and others that all poor people are worthy of our care and have a right to expect a certain measure of deference and public support, simply by virtue of their status as falling below a certain level of material well-being.

This view comes from the spirit of an egalitarian age and not from the Spirit of God. While on the surface it may seem like a noble idea, in practice it represents a policy that robs the poor of their dignity as human beings, imposes unjust requirements on the rest of society, and creates a community in which justice and shalom are compromised and undermined.

There are legitimate reasons why people become poor, as we have seen. And truly poor people should expect a just society to show them neighbor-love in ways that enable them to maintain their dignity and their place as contributing members of the social order. I’ll have more to say about this a bit later on in this series.

The Law of God expects even those who are poor to work and to tithe from the fruit of their labors. Thus, though they may be poor, they do not forfeit their dignity, and they are not excused from being responsible and contributing members of the community, just like everyone else.

Not all those who are poor, however, deserve the same consideration as those who are truly poor, as we have also seen. Some people are poor by reason of reckless living or an unwillingness to take responsibility for their own well-being. And even those who are truly poor have no right to expect that society will ensure them a particular “standard of living.” They may be truly poor, but they are also truly responsible for their own well-being and stewardship.

Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.