Jesus' Eyes for the Poor

I am glad to return to blogging from a few months off, during which, my writing efforts were entirely spent on a seminary course. Now that it is done I can deal with some of the things on my heart. Today, I couldn't help but address the subject of poverty. It would probably be a fair assumption that many of my readers will be like me in the sense that, we have always been rich, relative to most of the rest of the world. Many of us are blessed, even relative to the Canadian norm, coming from what is considered middle or upper middle income homes. Since moving to a declining industrial city, my wife and I have realized the dilemma that this can cause.

Of course I have always been aware that poor people existed, but because of various factors my life has been mostly insulated from that reality. Things have changed. The unemployment rate in our city has risen, and we moved here from a rural/suburban small town where poverty was less noticeable. So those two events have combined to plant us face to face with, at times, desperate levels of poverty. The other day we were at a plaza in the city running errands and I saw enough people in different sorts of circumstances to force my thinking further and raise questions, that are hard to answer. The primary question being, what does Jesus think about this?

Now, I know that I'm not in the place to judge, but it seems that thanks to my upbringing and my inherently human self righteousness. I find myself looking at the people who are publicly drunk, immodest and uninhibited, poorly dressed and generally looking rough and unkempt, thinking, these people are so much less than me. That may not be the words that immediately come to mind but that is the underlying meaning. The phrases that I actually think are more like, "...acting like that, and hanging around that guy, she shouldn't be surprised that this night is going to end badly for her" or "...she is incredibly young to have a baby" or "...maybe that guy should be going into the grocery store before going into the beer store". When I'm sitting at home reading my Bible it seems outrageous to think those thoughts but when facing the people on the street I find it so easy. When I started looking for what the Bible specifically said about poverty I realized that given the volume of instruction, I must not be the only one to think that way. Especially the wise sayings of Proverbs seem to deal with poverty in a very understanding manner. God is not surprised by what I see around my city and seems to understand what I need to be told to inform my thinking so that I am more Christ-like.

"For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul" (Psalm 109:31). God takes the side of the poor against those in judgment over them. Surely the Christian can have no reason to pass judgment on those less blessed. As the following passage describes, a Christian, who is acutely aware of the sin nature, must have a greater understanding for why the poor are in their situation, that is, the sin of mankind. "Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but it is swept away by injustice" (Proverbs 13:23). What advice is there on how we ought to act out towards the poor given that we wish to stand with Christ as their advocate? "Give strong drink to him who is perishing and wine to him whose life is bitter. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy"(Prov 31:6-9) This passage is not a recommendation that drunkenness is the best for the poor, but instead it reveals that a Christian doesn't need to be surprised to find alcoholism present in those we are called to help. And a sober, self-disciplined life is not a prerequisite to someone receiving our aid.

It feels that I could go on and on about how far I am from living up to the standards of God with respect to poverty. But I stop because I need encouragement. I want to do these things. I want to be a defender of the oppressed. Yet, I find it so difficult to leave what is comfortable, where I feel that I belong. It seems as though I might be infected if I get too close to them.

I wonder if that is how Jesus felt before he left heaven for earth?

If my savior has given up his glory and quite literally got down in the mud with the human race, is it so much for him to ask that I would reach out across the street to another man. Even if he has dirty clothes, smells of beer and is acting foolish. I don't suppose that I looked any better to Christ but he did it for me.