Justice for the Poor: A Perpetual Obligation – The Kingdom Curriculum XVIII (1)

Justice for the Poor: A Perpetual Obligation

For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Deuteronomy 15:11

It’s a little tricky sometimes trying to apply the principles of Israel’s Old Testament theocracy to the Church’s calling and responsibility in a secular society. However, Jeremiah’s exhortation to the exiles in Babylon–that they should seek the well-being of their host nation–would certainly seem to apply to contemporary Christians as well (Jer. 29:7).

And one thing we need to bear in mind from that Old Testament economy is that, for one reason or another, there will always be people who cannot care for themselves and need the loving assistance of the larger community. The Law of God requires that justice–the application of God’s grace to social situations–be extended to the poor, according to particular ways and by particular means. But first we must make up our minds that, wherever churches may exist, they must prepare to extend justice to the poor, beginning in their local communities, but extending to all the needs of the world as well.

Why are people poor? Some, of course, because of bad choices and irresponsible behavior. However, the Bible does not speak of such people as “poor”; instead, it calls them “fools” and “sluggards.” Such people–who can care for their needs but choose not to, or who continue to make unwise choices that compromise their well-being, do not fall within the scope of those legitimately considered to be “poor” in Biblical terms.

Others are poor for reasons of sin–not theirs, but that of others, or of the sin that pervades the cosmos and all the social systems of men. Loss by death or disability of the primary wage-earner, injury or loss due to crime, mental incapacitation, loss of means of income due to factors in the larger economy, temporary emergency due to sickness or storm–these are legitimate reasons why people become poor. In a sinful world we will always have poor people among us, in our communities, in our churches. The Law of God requires that justice be done to the poor, so that they, in spite of their material condition, can know the goodness of God and the blessings of His covenant.

Our responsibility is to prepare ourselves and our churches to extend this justice to the poor, by all the means God outlines in His Law.

Reading and meditating on the Law of God is every believer’s duty and privilege (Ps. 1). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compendium of the commandments and precepts of God’s Law, by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is 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.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.