I went to get a hair cut yesterday which cost me 2 Sacagaweas. There were several people hanging out in the barber shop, both men and women, and they were discussing a variety of topics. When the subject of a community project to help the poor came up, I became attentive. Then I heard someone say it : ”There are no poor people here, just those who don’t manage their money well.”
Immediately thought of Jesus’ statement, “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.” Mark 14:7
We have much experience with the poor in this community and surrounding ones. We know beyond any doubt that there are indeed poor people here. We’ve seen children saved from death for pennies. Pennies that they didn’t have, and not because they were poor money managers. I could share many similar stories.
I suppose this kind of attitude is prevalent, along with many other excuses for not helping the poor, but should it be?
Why or Why not?
~
Fui a buscar un corte de pelo de ayer que me ha costado 2 Sacagaweas. Había varias personas salir de la peluquería, tanto hombres como mujeres, y que estaban discutiendo una variedad de temas. Cuando el sujeto de un proyecto comunitario para ayudar a los pobres se acercó, me convertí en atento. Entonces oí que alguien lo diga: “No hay pobre gente de aquí, sólo para aquellos que no administrar bien su dinero.”
Inmediatamente pensé en la declaración de Jesús, “Porque a los pobres siempre los tendréis con vosotros; y cuando queráis les podréis hacer bien; pero a mí no siempre me tendréis.” Marcos 14:7 LBLA
Tenemos mucha experiencia con los pobres en esta comunidad y los alrededores. Sabemos que más allá de cualquier duda de que sí hay gente pobre aquí. Hemos visto unos niños que se salven de la muerte por unos centavos. Centavos que no tienen, y no porque fueran malos gestores de dinero. Yo podría compartir muchas historias similares.
Supongo que este tipo de actitud es frecuente, junto con muchas otras excusas para no ayudar a los pobres, sino que debe ser?
¿Por qué o por qué no?
Missionary in the Andes Mountains Cloud Forest Region of Ecuador. My last name, "Labrador," is the word that's used for "Vine Worker" in the Spanish Bible, and it's OK with me. 
Eli on Leading Edge Missiology and Ecclesiology?
Carlos on Leading Edge Missiology and Ecclesiology?
Miguel,
Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy… specifically Deuteronomy 15:11. But, looking at the context from Deuteronomy 15:7-11, it seems that many people interpret Jesus’ statement to mean the opposite of what the Deuteronomy passage means. What do you think?
-Alan
Alan,
If you mean by “interpreting it differently,” the Idea that:
Jesus said we will “always have the poor with us,” so we should stop trying to prevent it, or that it’s useless to fight against what will always be, then yes, I think that idea is contrary to what what Jesus was really saying.
For inasmuch as there will always be poor, so will there ALWAYS be no excuse to not extend a Jesus kind of love!
Those who are in Christ, which is everyone, are not poor at all. Everything we have seen, and will see, belongs to us as fellow heirs in Christ. Getting Christ into everyone, now that is a challenge. All is Christ, to live is Christ, to die is gain. The riches of Christ is beyond our imagination. The world of men, makes this visualization, difficult, therefore we have poverty and suffering. We are bound by the flesh, and yet we have been shown the flesh can overcome the world. Yahweh-Yireh, the wonderings in wilderness proves this. We have to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven, as Christ wants us to. He left for us an example, to follow in His footsteps. The Kingdom of Heaven, truly is at hand. Yet I am still kind of partial to a hot shower, and my Temper-pedic mattress. So much stuff, while the Horn of Africa starves, people suffer:( Is there a better way? Jesus Christ, unity in the body, the love one another’s, freely you received, freely give. We could go on forever on this subject and many others, but the world calls, and there are so many ways to serve. Via con Dios, hermanos y hermanas
A quote from Francis Chan, forgive me if I get it wrong, ” If we live in comfort, we have no need for the Comforter”
I have considered this subject quite a bit. Institutional churches have a structure/organization in place that can be used to do religion pretty well (caring for the physical needs of the poor and vulnerable). The ICs humanitarian giving and service providing gives it credibility in many peoples eyes. Even the world can recognize kind acts as related to God in so many instances. Islam is famous for using these tactics to gain and maintain adherents.This providing of services and finances for the poor is a prefect tool to disguise the true nature of the ICs. For who could rightly criticize humanitarian goodness, right? Because ICs are merely purveyors of religion, howbeit the “Christian” variety, they are a friend to many, Luke 16:8-9a “So, the master praised the dishonest manager for being clever. Yes, worldly people are more clever with their own kind than spiritual people are. I tell you, make friends for yourselves using worldly riches…” I am continually amazed at the enemies cleverness in disguising his works. Rick Warren, and other notable church leaders are currently promoting the idea of interfaith cooperatives in order to reduce conflict and make caring for the poor easier. This all sounds really good to many who have failed to understand the nature of Jesus and His spiritual kingdom, verse the kingdoms of darkness and this world. So the blind will go on leading the blind, but may it not be so with those whom the Lord calls out. These deceptions are powerful, deceiving even the elect if that were possible.
Jesus’ seemed to be in the habit of giving financially as well as spiritually to both those who recognized their spiritual poverty, and those in financial need. We love being in the Lord’s Spirit and hearing Him direct us in our giving, which most often comes in relational situations. These act as confirmations of the Father’s love and care for those individuals He is ministering to in various ways. I think the day is coming, as it has already begun, that supernatural healing, deliverance, instructive words, and revelations are just as much a part of the Lord’s on going earthly ministry as the simple giving of our finances as He directs.
Much like a parable, there was really only one point Jesus was making…his coming death. His remark was addressed to the folks who were indignant at the waste…it doesn’t really say if their concern was for the poor at all…that may have just been a handy excuse.
Mark 14:3-7(NET) Now while Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of costly aromatic oil from pure nard. After breaking open the jar, she poured it on his head. But some who were present indignantly said to one another, “Why this waste of expensive ointment? It could have been sold for more than three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor!” So they spoke angrily to her.But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a good service for me.For you will always have the poor with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want. But you will not always have me! She did what she could. She anointed my body beforehand for burial.
To go beyond the basic interaction to attach a ‘theology of the poor’ seems to me to be doing violence to the passage, but to look into the hearts of those who were ‘indignant’ seems quite justified.