Response – Walking with the Poor

Response – Walking with the Poor

Hi Joel,

You have said it as it should. I like to compare Jesus’ style of teaching about the kingdom and Paul’s preaching about the kingdom. Jesus taught about the Father, what He desires of us, and how He sees each one of us. Jesus WALKED. He walked among the poor and the sick and the heavy laden. Paul, on the other hand, preached about how we should live; he was mostly in the synagogue preaching to those who already knew about God but needed to accept grace. It saddens me that the church today has become more of what Paul was doing and forgotten how it all began. When the church is concerned more about preaching to those already inside the walls and neglects those who Jesus walked among, it will tend to become judgemental, as Myers (2011) points out. The church has steered toward believing that the poor are not blessed by God and that they need to ‘work out their salvation’ in order for them to be blessed. Jesus loved the poor and the weak; He saw them as worthy of receiving the good news. We, too, should do the same, spend less time in the church building and more time walking as Jesus did.

Reference

Myers, B. (2011).  Chapter 4: Poverty and the poor (pdf). Chapter 4: Poverty and the poor (pdf). – Alternative Formats

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Reading Walking with the Poor (Myers) reminds us of the easy “lies” that allow us to discount the poor.  They’re lazy and make bad choices (Myers, 2011, p 108).  Our way is better, and we are made to make choices for all of society (Myers, 2011, pp. 147).  We can ignore them on the street because our tax dollars and charity are paying for programs that help them.

Response – Walking with the Poor

These are prideful lies.  It’s not the help that God needs; it’s our hearts.”Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27, ESV).  It’s not enough to pay taxes and support food banks, homeless shelters, and social security.  We must visit the downtrodden where they are and love them as Jesus would.  Jesus reassured the crowd that they would have food and clothes, and he let them know that God loved them more than the birds and flowers of the field.  The church’s role is to get out there and meet people where they are.  Do some people choose homelessness?  Do some contribute to their own problems?  Can we help them make better choices?  Sure, but it’s most important that we love them and value them as sons and daughters of the King.

Myers, B. (2011).  Chapter 4: Poverty and the poor (pdf). Chapter 4: Poverty and the poor (pdf). – Alternative Formats

. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Publishers.Walking with the Poor: Principles and practices of Transformational development