Christians and the poor

An interersting article on Advoc8.org, a subsidiary or TEAR, discusses christian responses to poverty specifically to do with one of the most popular verses used to disuade christians from social justice, Matt 26:11, where Jesus says "The poor will be with you always" which is often taken to mean that christians should be fatalistic about poverty and focus instead on the next life.

The Advoc8 writer however found something different:

As I have grown as a Christian, one of the things I have learned is one of the golden rules of handling the scriptures - “context”. It was only recently that I discovered that when Jesus says “You will always have the poor with you”, he is in actual fact, quoting a passage from Deuteronomy that would have been well known by his audience at that fateful dinner in Bethany.

“There will always be some among you who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share your resources freely with the poor, and with other Israelites in need.” Deuteronomy 15:11

It will be a good thing when the church realises and responds to the fact that christians are actually commanded to give to the poor; and did I see the word "freely" there?

Of course Matt 26:11 itself is often disgracefully misquoted - talk about context how about finish ing the sentence - the same saying appears in Mark 14:7 like so:

For you have the poor with you always, and when you wish, you can do well toward them. But you do not have Me always.

Is there then any basis to suggest that christians are to care only for souls and not for bodies?


On the same theme there is a slightly haigiographical, but still entralling and challenging, story of a christian working with the poor here. Like all good stories it comes from Russia :)

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