How do we help the poor? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
There is an increasing refrain in these later chapters where I largely agree with Longman’s exegesis of the text. Instead, I disagree when we get to the application. Once again, the same has happened here. I do fully agree that there is a mandate to help the poor in Scripture. I do agree that there are times someone is poor not because of laziness, but because of tragedy or injustice.
I also do agree that the prosperity gospel should be thoroughly condemned. Jesus is not meant to serve you on the path to riches. I do not think that being wealthy means being an evil man. You can be a devout Christian and be extremely wealthy.
Also, in case anyone asks, no. I am not one of those rich people. I make minimum wage and I don’t want to see minimum wage go up. I personally would like to see it abolished. I simply try to watch my spending and I have a Patreon. You can donate to that here. For now, let’s get back to Longman.
I am pleased to see that Longman acknowledges that capitalism has brought many nations out of poverty. He is quite correct on that one. However, he does say the Bible could be used to support both socialism and capitalism. I do not see how it could be used for both without being contradictory. Both systems are opposed and how could Scripture consistently teach two systems that oppose one another? He does say both socialism and capitalism could help people thrive and are both subject to corruption. Unfortunately, he shows us no examples of these places where socialism produces a thriving populace. I do agree that both are subject to corruption, but the difference is capitalism is the free exchange of goods without force, theft, or fraud. As soon as you change that, it’s not capitalism anymore.
He does say a book could be written on the topic, but it already has. Consider E. Calvin Beisner’s book Prosperity and Poverty. I also recommend reading Thomas Sowell’s books.
He also says some people think government should not be in the charity business. I’m one of them, and for the reason that he gives, because I think the church should be doing it. He says that the problem is that the church isn’t. Indeed, if the government keeps doing it, what reason does the church have to step up? Unfortunately, all of this creates government dependence. When I see someone say “If we shut down government program XYZ, what will happen to all these people in need?” My thinking is “Don’t you think it’s a problem that they’re that dependent on the government anyway?”
Also Longman, yes, the government is inefficient. We have an organization that is $36 trillion in debt and you want to tell me I should trust that organization to help the poor? Do I agree the church needs to step up its game? 100%.
Finally, I should say something about how this goes when I talk with people of a left-leaning persuasion.
Me: I think we should help the poor.
Leftist: Great! Here’s a program that we think will help the poor.
Me: I don’t think that will work.
Leftist: So you don’t really want to help the poor?
Saying you want to help the poor doesn’t mean that you agree with every way to help the poor. An excellent read on this is When Helping Hurts. Our government has declared war on poverty, drugs, and terror. How many of those have we eliminated? People can have really good intentions for when they want to help out the poor, but good intentions do not equal good results. They’re not all about helping the poor, but for examples of this, see Reason TV’s Great Moments in Unintended Consequences.
Reality determines if your method works. Your intentions don’t.
Next time, we will wrap up with discussing racism.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)