A Private Discussion About Giving To The Poor

After more conversation about the New Testament and wealth, Rosette focuses on a particular point.

Rosette: I do have a question. I know that you said you wanted to speak for a bit, but it seems like it is appropriate to ask this question here.

Francis: (Shrugs nonchalantly) Go ahead.

Rosette: Well, I just wanted to know why you emphasize giving to the poor so much. I mean, we want to give to those in need, don’t get me wrong, but don’t we want to be building the kingdom with what resources we have? I mean, we want to do everything we can to help the church, don’t we? And isn’t that more important than helping those in need?

Francis: Why do you think that?

Rosette: Well, the spiritual is more important than the worldly, isn’t it? Doesn’t Paul say, “The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy” ? And doesn’t Jesus say that God will take care of our food and clothing, but we need to “seek the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you as well.”

Francis: Good, very good. However, what both Paul and Jesus are speaking about is not looking to meet our own needs, but providing for others. When Jesus is speaking about seeking the kingdom and not clothing in Luke 12, he is saying that seeking the kingdom is selling your possessions and giving to the poor. That is his definition of it. That is why he tells us not to worry about food and clothing, because we’ve given away all of our extra to provide for the poor! And Paul is speaking of a circumstance where people are causing others to sin for the sake of having particular food or drink. And Paul is emphasizing that it isn’t the freedom to have food or drink or fasting from it that the kingdom of God emphasizes, but to love others in righteousness. So Paul is recommending that if eating something causes someone to sin, it is better not to eat.

Rosette: But still, isn’t it better to focus on people’s spiritual needs first, and then their physical needs.

Francis: I understand what you are saying—that the spiritual needs of people are greater than their physical ones. And I think I understand what you are implying—that we should be giving to those who give the gospel, not to those who offer benevolence to the poor.

Rosette: Well, I’m not saying we shouldn’t give to those who help the poor at all. But I think the emphasis should be on those who give the gospel.

Francis: I would agree, but I might apply it in a different way than you would think. If you look on my sheet, you can see that I say that we need to give to the poor. That means, we need to give to those people who are in need. If they don’t need something, we don’t need to give.

James: What kind of needs?

Francis: Paul talks about food and clothing. I think warmth beyond clothing is necessary, some kind of shelter. Also we need to provide people with what they need in order to be righteous. Sometimes we need to provide work, sometimes we need to provide Bibles, sometimes we need to provide time and energy to disciple someone. Whatever will help someone understand and live out the gospel.

James: Okay.

Rosette: That’s fine, but building the kingdom of God requires more than just the basic necessities for individuals. There are youth programs, Sunday school materials, buildings, videos, books, study materials and more.

Francis: This is what I wondered about. When you say, “building the kingdom of God,” you really mean building the church, right?

Rosette: I don’t know what you mean…

Francis: Well, Jesus said to seek the kingdom of God. And he said to give to those who would welcome you into heavenly dwellings. But he didn’t say to create the kingdom of God on earth. God will do that. Anything that we do here, any building or material, will burn. This is not to say that making materials or whatever is wrong. But if we are to seek God’s kingdom, we need to focus on the people who are a part of God’s kingdom, not the material things that seem to be God’s kingdom. A building is just a building. And a church doesn’t need to meet in a million-dollar sanctuary. The early church met in homes. Many churches today meet in businesses or schools. In Mexico, our village has a small church building, but the real ministry takes place in many different homes. So, what I’m saying is that Jesus emphasized giving to people in need, not to programs, buildings or the care and feeding of a non-profit organization.

Rosette: Are you saying that we shouldn’t give to organizations?

Francis: No, because some—relatively a few—organizations make it easier for those who are in need to have their needs met. But we shouldn’t give to organizations that exist for the development of the organization. Rather, we should give to organizations that exist for helping those in need. Or we can give directly to those in need. Most of the time, that’s better.

Rosette: Why is that better?

Francis: Because the money goes directly to those who need it and there’s no chance of it getting caught up in a bureaucracy. Also, there’s no chance of it getting given to those who use the gospel as a means of personal wealth or gain.

Rosette: What do you mean by that?

Francis: I would hope that would be obvious. How many people live lives of wealth and pleasure off of preaching the gospel? Jim Bakker and other television preachers are the most notorious examples. But there are also people who are at the head of non-profit organizations who are supposed to be teaching the gospel to the poor who are living in wealth. And there are how many pastors who go from church to church based on an income/benefits package, without determining whether God has called them to a church or not. I have also heard of a travelling evangelist who agreed to teach the gospel at a particular church in Southern California only if the church agreed to send him and his family to Disneyland. Scripture has some harsh things to say about such people. I Timothy 6 says, “If there is anyone who advocates a different teaching from that of Jesus which is for godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing…but thinks that godliness is a means to great gain.” Such people will be punished. 2 Peter 3 says, “False prophets in their greed will exploit you with false words. And if God did not spare angels when they sinned, or Sodom and Gomorrah when they sinned, then the Lord will keep these ungodly people under judgment.” Even so, those who preach the gospel, demanding wealth and pleasure as their “just income” will reap the benefits on the final day.

Rosette: Does that mean it is wrong to give a person a decent salary for preaching the gospel?

Francis: No, of course not. Paul said that an elder who works hard in preaching and teaching is worthy to have a good income. To have his needs met, at least. However, if a church decides to give a person an income that exceeds his needs and he does not give to the poor, I would question that person’s ability to preach the gospel.

Rosette: Why is that?

Francis: Because he is not living the gospel. Again, the gospel says, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor,” and, “Do not treasure up treasure for yourself on earth.” A teacher of the gospel who disobeys the gospel will be judged—will receive a harsher judgment than those who just listen to it. Those who are unrepentant of their sins against the law of Christ do not make good teachers of that gospel. Well, Rosette, did I answer your question?

Rosette: I’m not sure. What was my question?

Francis: (Laughing) You don’t know?

Rosette: (Thinking) Oh, yes. I wanted to know why you say we should only give to the poor.

Francis: And my answer is that Jesus only commanded us to give to the poor. We should, the Bible says, focus on giving to believers in need or on those who preach the gospel in need, but we should give to those in need.

Maria: Now, wait. I have a question now.

Francis: (Under his breath) Oh oh.

Maria: Why do you focus on giving to those who are believers? Why those who give the gospel? Shouldn’t everyone who is in need be treated equally?

Francis: Well, yes and no.

Maria: Huh? What does that mean?

Francis: We are to help everyone in need, if we can. However, we all have limited resources. And Scripture makes it clear that we are to prioritize those who follow Jesus and are faithful to him, rather than focusing on everyone.

Maria: (Disbelieving) Where does it say that?

Francis: There are two places where it is clear. Paul says in Galatians 6:10—“Do good to all people, especially to those of the household of faith.” And then there is the passage in Luke 16, which I’ve quoted already: “Make friends for yourselves using the wealth of unrighteousness who will welcome you into heavenly dwellings.” Paul is emphasizing giving to everyone, but prioritizing people of faith in Jesus. Jesus is saying to give to the poor who especially will be there in the kingdom to welcome you. At another place, Jesus emphasizes giving to those who preach the gospel.

Maria: But doesn’t Jesus say, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you”? Doesn’t he say, “Give to those who ask of you” ? Doesn’t he say, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” in general, without emphasizing those who are righteous? Doesn’t he say, “I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink…”?

Francis: Yes, yes, and no. Yes, Jesus certainly taught that we are to help the poor in general, without necessarily emphasizing that they be believers or even righteous. Jesus also says to do good to everyone and give money, “and your reward will be great. You will be sons of the Most High, for He himself is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

James: Wait, are you saying we should give to people who are evil?

Francis: I’m getting it on all sides. Yes, James, I am. First, let me answer Maria’s question and then I’ll get to yours okay? (Takes a breath.) Okay. So, Maria, Jesus does say that we are to help everyone, according to their need and not by their righteousness. However, there is a priority. Let me clarify my position by looking at the paper I handed out, okay?
(Referring to “To Whom Should We Give?”)
Francis: On the sheet that says, “To whom shall we give?” There is a list of priorities. First of all, we are to give to anyone who is in need, without regard to their righteousness, without regard to what they have done to you. If they have sinned, give to them anyway.

James: I still have a question about that.

Francis: And we will get to that in a minute or so. However, Maria, we do prioritize some people for help above others. Those who are obeying the gospel have a priority on our resources above those who are unbelievers. And those who have sacrificed their regular income to preach the gospel have a priority over those who do not.

Maria: But why? Doesn’t everyone have these needs equally?

Francis: Perhaps so. This is how I understand it. To help the poor in general and to help those who do evil against you—that is obedience to the teaching of Jesus and it is a good thing and you will enter into the kingdom for doing it. However, to help someone who is representing Jesus is an additional act of faith, and you will gain greater reward for helping him. It isn’t that you wouldn’t gain reward for helping the poor, but if you help a believer, you are helping the representative of Jesus—and if you are helping a teacher of the gospel of Jesus, then it is even more so. In that way, you are helping the righteous of Jesus, the brothers of Jesus.

Maria: No, I thought the poor are the brothers of Jesus.

Francis: Many people think that. Let’s look at the passage, because it is very important to understand here. Matthew 25, beginning at verse 31. (Francis looks up the passage and begins to read)
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all of the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
All the nations will be gathered before him (to be judged)
As a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
The sheep will be put on the right and the goats on the left.
And the King will say to those on his right:
‘Come, inherit the kingdom, you who are blessed of my Father
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat;
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink;
I was naked and you gave me clothes;
I was a stranger and you invited me in;
I was sick and you came to me;
I was in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him:
‘When did we do these things?’
And the King will answer them,
‘Amen, I say to you, in as much as you have done it to one of these brothers of Mine, even to the least of them, you have done it to Me.’ “
And the passage goes on with the unrighteous who had not done all these things to the King, and they ask “why?” and the King replies, “Because you have not done it to the least of these, you have not done it to me.” And the passage ends with, “And these will go into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Pretty familiar, I hope?

Maria: Of course

(Rosette and James nod their heads.)

Francis: There are a couple things I want to emphasize. First of all, this passage supports again the rest of Jesus’ teachings which say what we do with our resources determines what we will receive on judgment day.

James: I have heard that this isn’t a description of our judgment, but someone else’s.

Francis: It is the judgment of the “nations” or the “gentiles”. We are gentiles, I think? And it makes sense that we would be judged like this because Jesus made it clear that those who enter the kingdom would give their resources to the poor, especially to believers.

Maria: But the sheep are giving to the poor, right? Any poor, right?

Francis: Not any poor. The poor who could be called Jesus’ brothers. And who are the brothers of Jesus? In Matthew, the only place where this parable is given, there are only two other places where Jesus talks about “my brothers.” In Matthew 28, Jesus speaks about the disciples as his brothers. And in Matthew 12:50, Jesus speaks about the disciples, those who “hear the word of God and do it” as his brothers. Not the poor in general. So, on judgment day, what is most significant? Faithfulness to the King who is currently absent, by providing help to those who represent him, those who are in need and are doing the will of God. Jesus supports this idea in Matthew 10. Jesus is sending out his disciples on a mission and he says, “He who receives you receives me.” And Jesus had already said that those who receive the disciples are those who listen to them and provide them food and boarding during their stay in the town they are ministering in. And Jesus told them, “The worker is worthy of his hire.” Which means that the one who works for the gospel is allowed to have his needs met by the work he does, namely gospel teaching.

Maria: So, what does this mean in reality? If you have two people in front of you and one is a Christian and one is not, then you tell the non-Christian to go away?

Francis: Of course not.

Rosette: Does it mean that if you have limited resources, you should focus the resources on the believer instead of the unbeliever?

Francis: If you can’t help both. Also, Scripture has some people fully provided for by the church, or by certain believers. But the only ones who are helped in this way are people who teach the gospel, or those unable to work, like widows, who have no other means of support, who also have a ministry of helping those in need. So, let me summarize. On the sheet here, you can see, that we are to help everyone in need. But we are to prioritize those who are followers of Jesus. Of the followers of Jesus, we are to prioritize those who preach the gospel. And of those who preach the gospel, we are to prioritize those who are persecuted and who help the poor. That’s talked about in Hebrews 13.

James: I have to say, I like that line of thinking better than what I thought you were saying.

Francis: What did you think I was saying?

James: That we should just be helping everybody, no matter what they do.

Francis: Well, I am not advocating that, but given the right context, I might agree with that statement, too.

James: You seem to be speaking out of both sides of your mouth.

Francis: Then I will try to speak more clearly. Scripture says that if a believer is in a lifestyle of sin, then we should not help them. I think the passage, “If anyone does not work, he will not eat” should sound familiar?

Chuck: (Grunts affirmation.)

James: Yes. I must say, Frank, I have been concerned about your ministry to the homeless at times because I felt that it was encouraging people to live without jobs. And, of course, since Scripture says if you don’t work, you won’t eat, then if you were feeding people who didn’t have jobs, weren’t you going against what Scripture says?

Francis: Two things I need to say to that. And I am only going to clarify what this Scripture says, not defend my church among the homeless. First of all, Paul does not say, “If anyone doesn’t have a job, they won’t eat.” It says, “If anyone doesn’t work, they won’t eat.” Working means doing what you can to make a living. If that living is going around at 5 in the morning for four hours a day collecting cans to live off of the deposit, that is working. If it is doing yard work for whatever you can make, that is working. If it is volunteering at a soup kitchen or a benevolence ministry so you can have food that day, that is working. Paul didn’t speak of a “job” as we understand it in modern-day United States.

James: Well, if you don’t have a job, you can’t make a living, I don’t think.

Francis: Most people in the world would disagree with you. It may not be much of a living by the standards most Americans uphold, but it allows for one to have food and warmth. That’s good enough. My second point on the passage in II Thessalonians 3 is that those whom Paul was speaking to were clearly believers. He mentions it a few times in the passage: “keep away from every brother”; “some among you are living an undisciplined life”; “do not treat them as an enemy but admonish them as a brother”. Why does he emphasize this so much? Because he makes a clear distinction between disciplining or judging those of the world and those of the church. Let’s look at I Corinthians 5.

Rosette: Well, we shouldn’t judge anyone. Jesus said, “Judge not lest you be judged.”

Francis: Yes, Jesus did say that, but he also said that those in the church needed to be disciplined in sin. And this is the context that Paul is speaking about. Starting at verse 9, Paul says, “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous…” and here he goes through a list of sins. So he makes it clear here that judging—or discipline— should not be done against someone who is outside the church. And what does he say is the kind of judging or discipline we should be giving to believers who have a sinful lifestyle? We should “not even to eat with such a one.” This is pretty much what he said in I Thessalonians 3. If a person won’t work, if they are living a lifestyle of idleness, then they won’t eat—with who? With the church, which is where they are getting their food. That’s the discipline the Lord gives him. Then Paul continues, “ For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” Again, Paul makes a distinction between the believer who will not receive benevolence from the church—literally food—because they are living an unrighteous lifestyle, and an unbeliever who might gain some food from believers, even if he is unrighteous. I think Paul makes that distinction because Jesus makes that distinction.

James: What if someone has been irresponsible and so gotten into poverty that way?

Francis: To be honest, James, most people who are poor are that way. At least they might be unwise. Or they might be mentally ill in some way. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t help them. Jesus’ command is still firm. We need to give to those in need. If a follower of Jesus was irresponsible and they got in a bad situation that way, then you can help them if they are repentant. If they are not, then the believer needs to be confronted on their sin. But if an unbeliever was irresponsible in their actions and so ended up in a bad situation, you might want to talk to them about their responsibility, but you can’t expect them to change without Christ. I always speak to people about their sins that cause their problems and I speak about the solution, Jesus. And I help them, if I can. I still follow my priorities—believers who are faithful to Jesus come first, but I help unbelievers if I can.