For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty

by Zondervan, Anne R. Bradley (Editor), Arthur W. Lindsley (Editor), Arthur C. Brooks (Foreword by)

Overview

Today, many thoughtful and compassionate Christians are addressing the challenge of alleviating poverty. But while much progress has been made, many well-intentioned efforts have led Christians to actions that are not only ineffective, but leave the most vulnerable in a worse situation than before. Is there a better answer?

Combining biblical exegesis with proven economic principles, For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty equips Christians with both a solid biblical and economic understanding of how best to care for the poor and foster sustainable economic development. With contributions from fifteen leading Christian economists, theologians, historians, and practitioners, it presents the case for why a multi-faceted approach is needed, and why a renewed focus on markets and trade are the world’s best hope for alleviating poverty and serving those in financial need.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310522997
Publisher:	Zondervan Academic
Publication date:	04/21/2015
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Anne R. Bradley, Ph.D. is the Vice President of Economic Initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics. She is a visiting professor at Georgetown University and has previously taught at George Mason University where she served as the Associate Director for the Program in Economics, Politics, and the Law. She is also a visiting scholar at the Bernard Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy.

Art Lindsley, M.Div. Ph.D. is the Vice President of Theological Initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics. He previously served as President and Senior Fellow at the C.S. Lewis Institute since 1987. He is also the author of C.S. Lewis's Case for Christ, True Truth, Love: The Ultimate Apologetic, and co-author with R.C. Sproul and John Gerstner of Classical Apologetics.

Read an Excerpt

For the Least of These

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By Anne Bradley, Art Lindsley

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2014 Institute for Faith, Work & Economics
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-52299-7

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CHAPTER 1

Who Are the Poor?

Glenn Sunshine, PhD

At first glance, the Bible demonstrates that God cares about the poor and about how they are treated. Scripture clearly warns of the dangers of wealth and has harsh things to say about the rich. To pick just a few examples from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells us: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God; woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation; sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus even tells us that, in the end, we will be judged on how we treat those who are poor and powerless (Matthew 25:31–46).

Should we conclude from this that God is on the side of the poor and opposes the rich? This is a tempting conclusion and one that is endorsed by some very prominent people in the church, but is it supported by a careful reading of Scripture?

This chapter will examine poverty from a biblical perspective in an effort for us to better understand our call to care for those who fall into different conditions of poverty, both material and spiritual. It will also consider a biblical perspective on the rich and their responsibilities to the poor as well as the historical role of the state and the church in caring for the poor. Based on these discussions, it will then provide biblical principles for caring for the poor that must take into consideration the importance of work, moral proximity and subsidiarity, and a heart for giving.

Understanding the Poor

To determine whether God is on the side of the poor and opposed to the rich, we must first understand whom the Scriptures mean when they talk about these groups. Starting with the poor (although some passages talk about poverty metaphorically), in the vast majority of cases, the word refers to material poverty—people who are hungry, naked, homeless, etc. Economic poverty is also typically accompanied by a broader lack of resources and connections that makes the poor particularly vulnerable to oppression and abuse. They are frequently identified as widows, orphans, and foreigners who also lack social connections. Throughout the Old Testament, God warns against mistreating the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner, and promises to judge those who abuse them. Clearly, treatment of the poor and disadvantaged is a very important part of biblical ethics.

At the same time, this does not mean that the poor are de facto virtuous. To be sure, poverty is not necessarily a sign of God's displeasure. The poor can be blameless (Proverbs 28:6) and wise (Ecclesiastes 9:15). But other Scriptures warn us that drunkenness, gluttony, and laziness can cause poverty (Proverbs 23:21), as can chasing fantasies (Proverbs 28:19). The Bible also warns about the danger of some temptations that are particularly enticing for the poor. The most obvious temptation is theft to get food. This can be easily extended to other types of criminal behavior motivated by the need or desire for money, including gang-related activities, drug dealing, etc. This in turn points to the reality of 1 Timothy 6:9–10: "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."

This passage is frequently associated with those who are already rich, but the rich are not the group being addressed; it is those who desire wealth, and specifically those who are not yet rich, who are being cautioned here. This is an important reminder that greed and worship of money are not vices peculiar to the rich. In fact, the people I know who are most obsessed with money are not the wealthy but those who have to struggle to get by. Envy of the rich is another sin that Scripture warns against (e.g. Psalm 73). This ties in directly to the Tenth Commandment, which forbids coveting a neighbor's possessions. The classical definition of envy is the desire to tear down anyone who is ahead of oneself, to take away what is that person's because he or she has more than oneself. Whether one cloaks this in the language of "fairness" or "income redistribution," envy and covetousness remain sins.

In other words, the Bible is realistic about the causes of poverty: people can become poor through no fault of their own, but poverty can also be the result of foolish decisions and actions; further, there are some sins to which the poor are particularly susceptible. Poverty is thus not a guarantee of virtue or righteousness. So why are the poor described as blessed? The issue is not poverty per se, but rather the attitude of humility and reliance on God that it can produce in us. This is why Matthew's version of the beatitude isn't just "Blessed are the poor," but "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3). Reliance on personal wealth or government help (Psalm 146, especially verses 3–4, 7–10) for security is foolish, because they do not last. Rather, we need to place our hope in God alone.

Understanding the Rich

What about the rich? Although as we have seen, Scripture has some very harsh things to say about the wealthy, this does not mean that all of them are evil or under divine judgment. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job were rich and yet were also approved by God. Just as poverty doesn't guarantee virtue, wealth does not guarantee vice. Scripture tells us that God gives us the power to make wealth, and that he delights in the prosperity of his servants (Psalm 35:27), which includes material prosperity (Deuteronomy 28:11–13). So it is clear that the wealthy are not necessarily corrupt.

Why, then, the condemnations of the rich in Scripture? Once again, the issue is not wealth or poverty per se. Leviticus 19:15 tells us, "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." God's concern is for righteousness and justice, but this verse tells us that justice does not mean being partial to the poor, contrary to what many social justice advocates argue. Justice means judging fairly according to the law and on the basis of truth without regard to social class.

And this is precisely why the rich are so often condemned in Scripture. In our fallen world, the rich and powerful have historically taken advantage of their power to increase their privileges at the expense of the poor and weak —the widows, orphans, and foreigners who are under special protection in the Mosaic Law because of their vulnerability. A careful reading of the texts attacking the rich demonstrates that the condemnations are almost inevitably connected to one of two things. The first of these is how they made their wealth. The Bible does not see money-making as a zero-sum game, as if the only road to wealth is through exploitation; but it does recognize that the rich do sometimes further enrich themselves at the expense of the poor.

For example, the rich are condemned in Scripture for failing to pay workers promptly and completely (Deuteronomy 24:15; James 5:4). Workers should be paid a just wage for their labor and should not be exploited in any way by their employers. Taking advantage of another's misfortune is also forbidden in Scripture, for example, in the prohibition of taking a cloak in pledge for a loan (Deuteronomy 24:12–13, 17) and of charging interest on loans (Leviticus 25:63).3 The rich are also condemned for using the courts to defraud the poor (e.g. James 2:6). In today's terms, there are multitudes of ways people with money can use the legal system to take advantage of the poor. Perhaps the most obvious way is to drag out litigation to force your opponent either to give up or to go bankrupt, though there are other ways to game the system with high-end lawyers. Another modern approach would be for the well-connected to use zoning regulations to block anything that would interfere with their own quality of life—thereby pushing highways and toxic, hazardous, or undesirable industries into poor neighborhoods.

To put it differently, the rich are not always oppressors, but oppressors are almost always rich. And that is why they incur condemnation in Scripture. Chapter three gives specific examples of wealthy men who are not condemned.

The rich can also fall into other traps, particularly by relying on wealth for their security (e.g. Psalm 52:7), which in turn leads very easily to presumption, as if they rather than God were in control of their destinies (Luke 12:16–21). This is exactly the opposite attitude of the poor in spirit. And, of course, the rich can be just as greedy and enslaved to money as anyone else. Having money does not create any of these problems; rather, money reveals what is inside us and magnifies our character for good or for ill. And for too many in our fallen world, it is for ill.

Responsibilities of the Rich to the Poor

Along with how the rich make their wealth, the Bible is also concerned with how they use their wealth. It condemns, for example, the wealthy giving themselves over to luxurious living and ignoring the needs of the poor (e.g. Amos 6:1–7; Luke 16:19–31; James 5:5). Instead, the Bible teaches that those who are better off have positive responsibilities to those who are poor. Simply put, we are to see to it that their needs are met, and we are to do it in such a way that we preserve their dignity (e.g. Deuteronomy 24:10). In the Old Testament period, almsgiving was not a major part of the culture. Rather, there were other mechanisms in place to take care of poverty in ancient Israel, notably through providing the poor with opportunities to work. Since work is part of what it means to bear the image of God, this sort of workfare affirms the dignity of the poor while meeting their needs. The most important example of this was the law of gleaning (Deuteronomy 24:19–21). Landowners were prohibited from harvesting every last bit of their crops, but were to leave some for the poor who could come to collect it. The poor were thus required to do some work for their food, which in turn kept them from being reduced to complete dependence on charity and thus preserved their dignity.

The importance of work for human dignity is also a part of the institution of slavery in Old Testament law. In the ancient world, slavery was found in every culture. Slaves were either prisoners of war or people who fell on hard times and sold themselves —or were sold —into slavery to pay their debts. In a world with no social safety net, that was sometimes the only option for avoiding starvation. The Law of Moses took this practice and transformed it. According to the law, any Israelite in great need could sell himself into slavery, as was the custom throughout the ancient world. The difference is that, in Israel, this slavery was not a permanent state: on the seventh year, Israelite slaves were to be set free and given a generous parting gift (Deuteronomy 15:12–14). This approach to slavery thus functioned as a social welfare program in which the "buyer" in effect paid the slave ahead of time for six years of work he would perform, and also provided the slave's room and board. This allowed the Israelite time and resources to clear his debts and get a fresh start. And once again it affirmed his value as a human being by giving him the opportunity to work, and by communicating that the impoverished person had something to offer to her or his benefactor.

The emphasis on work as an essential part of human dignity was a unique contribution of Judaism and Christianity to world culture, but its implications for helping the poor have often been forgotten. Earlier generations understood this, however. Well into the nineteenth century, many of the wealthy believed that their wealth was given to them so that they could support local farmers, manufacturers, and businesses by purchasing their products. Similarly, they hired servants in their households in part to provide employment for young men and women. This continues to be the case in other parts of the world today. Mennonite missionaries in the Philippines, for example, found that, despite their commitment to living simply, they had a moral obligation to hire servants, since failing to do so would have hurt the families in the community by not providing them the opportunity to earn the income they sorely needed.

So although we often view the activities of the rich as nothing more than conspicuous consumption, this is not necessarily the case. In previous generations, the writings of the wealthy show that they frequently recognized that their wealth created a moral obligation to provide employment and support local businesses to prevent people from falling into poverty. While there were certainly excesses, up until at least the industrial age, the wealthy spent their money in part as an effort to support people in their communities.

This emphasis on the local community brings up another important concept in dealing with people in need: our responsibilities are greatest to those who are closest to us, an idea theologian John Schneider calls "moral proximity." Thus, Scripture is clear that our first responsibility is to our family, extended to two generations up and down (Proverbs 13:22; 1 Timothy 5:4). From there, we have responsibilities to those in our churches and our communities, in concentric circles outward. This is not to say we have no responsibilities to those dying of AIDS in Africa or of starvation in South Asia, but any such responsibility is secondary to the needs of those closer to us. Today, given the changes in society produced by the Industrial Revolution and large agribusinesses, it is much more difficult to use wealth to support local producers; however, these global markets give us a chance to support the poor across the globe through trade. So how do we apply this principle today?

Scripture is clear that when we are confronted with immediate, emergency needs, we should meet them. Giving to the poor without thought of repayment is a moral obligation in both the Old and New Testaments. It is important, however, not to create situations that force the poor into dependency. Once the immediate need is met, the type of assistance should be transitioned away from charity and toward opportunities to earn their own living, with the goal of paying it forward toward others in need (e.g. Ephesians 4:28; note the reason for the instructions).

Providing employment, whether in businesses or even simply hiring people to do yard work or snow shoveling, is a better method for dealing with needs than simple handouts. It may require us to spend money we would rather keep for ourselves; but if we take seriously our obligation to provide for those in need, we may need to hire sacrificially, not just to give sacrificially. Yet another option is to help set people up in their own businesses and to become their customers. We see this in the developing world with microfinance programs. In America, the number of options is limitless, from helping someone get a lawnmower and yard tools to helping them start an online business (computers with internet access are available free in public libraries). Networking with others in your church or community to provide skills, support, and patronage can help get these businesses off the ground, which in turn can change the lives of those involved.

The State and the Poor

The Bible was written in an era in which state-run social welfare programs simply did not exist (unless you were in the city of Rome itself in the New Testament period). Biblical instructions concerning the poor were thus written with the assumption that any aid given to the poor would come directly from members of the community (or, in one case, by other churches coming to the aid of the poor in Jerusalem).7 Today, the modern welfare state provides alternatives for caring for the poor that were not available when the Bible was written. To what extent does state-supported welfare change the nature of our obligations to the poor? Should we simply pay more taxes and let the government take care of those in need? Given the individual and church mandates to care for the poor, what responsibilities does government have in this area? The Bible does not answer this question directly. It does tell us a number of things about government, however, that have some bearing on how we answer the question.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from For the Least of These by Anne Bradley, Art Lindsley. Copyright © 2014 Institute for Faith, Work & Economics. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Part 1: A Biblical Perspective on the Poor

Chapter 1: Who Are the Poor?
Glenn Sunshine, Ph D.

Chapter 2: Poverty and the Poor in the Old Testament
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. Ph D.

Chapter 3: Remember the Poor: A New Testament Perspective on the Problems of Poverty, Riches, and Redistribution David Kotter, M.Div, MBA

Chapter 4: Does God Require the State to Redistribute Wealth? An Examination of Jubilee and Acts 2-5 Art Lindsley, M.Div, Ph D

Chapter 5: Evangelicals and Poverty: The Voluntary Principle in Action
Richard Turnbull, MA Ph D

Part 2: Markets and the Poor

Chapter 6: Markets and Justice
R. Mark Isaac, Ph D

Chapter 7: Fighting Poverty Through Enterprise
Lord Brian Griffiths of Fforestfach, Ph D and Dato Kim Tan, Ph D

Chapter 8: Why Does Income Inequality Exist? An Economic and Biblical Explanation
Anne Bradley, Ph D

Chapter 9: The Moral Potential of the Free Economy
Robert A. Sirico, MDiv

Part 3: Poverty Alleviation in Practice

Chapter 10: A Poverty Program That Worked
Lawrence W. Reed, MA

Chapter 11: Alleviating Poverty in the Abstract
Marvin Olasky, Ph D

Chapter 12: “Stop Helping Us?” A Call to Compassionately Move Beyond Charity
Peter Greer, MPP

Conclusion
Jay Richards, Th M, MDiv, Ph D

Glossary
Index
Endnotes