Giving to the Poor

"You must be led by the Spirit when it comes to giving to the poor."

Do you agree or disagree with that idea?

I've met a number of people who say that we should not give to the poor without the specific leading of God. Some of them argue from this passage in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!" (Luke 15:17, NIV)

Their reasoning is:

1) The son came to his senses because he was starving.

2) What if someone gave him food before that? Would that not have delayed him coming to his senses, or maybe even short-circuited the process?

3) We cannot tell where poor people are at in their lives, if they are just about to come to their senses if their suffering lasts a little longer;

Therefore we need to inquire of the Spirit before giving to the poor, whether we should give and, if so, how much.

Here's My Answer

Firstly, anyone who can be bothered to just skim through the Bible will know God commands us to give to the poor.

In the Old Testament:

"During the seventh year, let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove." (Exodus 23:11 NIV)

And again,

"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 23:22 (NIV)

All that is about leaving food for the poor to pick up. Notice it didn't say we need to be careful about who we leave the food behind for, nor does it warn us that letting the poor eat may delay them from coming to their senses. How about giving to them directly?

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs… Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. (Deu 15:8-9, 10, NIV)

And in the New Testament:

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21, NIV)

Notice that Jesus did NOT say "follow me and I'll tell you who are the poor you should give to"? He also tells us not only to give to the poor, but to go one step further and have fellowship with them.

"But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." (Luke 14:13, NIV)

Let's compare the "Spirit-led" reasoning and my answer.

In their thinking, only the first point is supported by Scripture. The second is a --what-if-- and –maybe--. The third is true. But the conclusion, that we need to be led by the Spirit to give to the poor, is based entirely on the --what-if-- and –maybe-- given in the second point.

It is NOT directly stated in the Bible at all, nor do we see it demonstrated anywhere in the Bible. It looks good and sounds very spiritual, but it is only human teaching. And Jesus' opinion of that is "They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." (Matthew 15:9, NIV)

I Understand Where They Are Coming From

I really do. Poverty is actually a spiritual problem, and the poor very often are poor because of some attitudes, beliefs and wrong ideas that they hold. After all, everything we see in our lives originates first from our hearts (Pro 4:23) and we experience physical prosperity is tied in with our soul-prosperity (3 John 2). So we can argue that if someone is poor there may be some spiritual problem causing it, or some spiritual lesson the person has to learn in order to get out of poverty. Maybe.

And I have seen some poor people who only care about milking you for all they can get. They may say they don't want to be poor, but they are still doing the things that keep them poor. They also avoid doing what will bring them financial provision and abundance. As long as they can get a hand-out from you, they have no motivation to change their lifestyle and behaviour. And they will stay in the cycle of poverty.

So if you decide that because of that you will NOT give to the poor, or you will give only to very selected cases, I understand fully. But please don't try to justify your decision with spiritual-sounding clichés and jargon. Call it what it is, a personal decision or personal conviction. Don't mention the Holy Spirit to make your decision sound more acceptable, I believe that is misusing the name of God (Exo 20:7).

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."( 1 John 3:17-18, NIV)

Why Am I Talking About All This?

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrews 13:15-16. NIV)

Because giving to the poor is also tied in with worship. When you give to the poor, God calls it a sacrifice that pleases him. Some people think they should not give to the poor because they are struggling to make ends meet. That's like saying that only those with good voices should sing praises to God. It's disobeying the clear commands of Scripture.

In case you misunderstand, I'm not financially rich myself. There are always things to pay for, expenses I know are coming up and unexpected problems that cost money. So I following this command isn't easy for me either. But I will still find ways to do it. And there will always be ways.

Here's An Example

One day I was meeting a customer at a church in a poorer district of Singapore. There an unkempt woman with a scrawny little boy (about the same age as Jessiah) approached me and asked for a few dollars to feed her son. And as she talked the smell of alcohol hit me smack in the face.

Dilemma: Should I give her a few dollars, knowing she will throw it away on alcohol and leave her son hungry? Or walk away and leave the poor boy hungry? Both were unacceptable to me.

So I decided to take charge of the situation and overwhelm the woman with enthusiasm. "What?!??!? Your son is hungry? Little boy, how old are you?" I spoke to the boy directly. The kid was surprised at me talking to him directly, but he answered me with Jess' age at that time. "You're hungry? I'll buy food for you!" And I dragged mother and son off to a nearby food stall, told the boy to order what food he wanted and told the stallholder to pack a larger portion of rice, meat and veg for the boy and his mother.

"Boy, are you thirsty?" "I'm OK, I drink water from a tap." "No boy, that's not good enough. Come with me!" And I went over to a nearby convenience shop and bought them bottled water (Singapore water is fluoridated, bleah!!!) and apples too. It was fun actually, because I was both feeding the poor (as God commanded) AND playing along with the mother. You should have seen the look on her face as she saw me paying for the food and water. Total dismay. All that money that she could have spent on beer, and not a cent going to her! I spent more than the few dollars she was hoping for, and she couldn't stop me without admitting that she only wanted the money for beer.

In the meantime, I kept talking to the boy. It was heart-warming to see how happy he was. I made sure the food was enough for both him and his mother, and if she chose not to eat it but to get drunk instead, then the boy would have enough for 2-3 meals. On top of that, I talked to the boy as if he was an intelligent fellow, deserving dignity. He was a good kid, I could tell from the time I spent with him.

Finally, when I HAD to leave, the mother made one last try, asking for a few dollars again. And I could honestly tell her that I was out of cash, showing her my empty wallet. And I needed to rush off for another appointment. And with a cheery "God bless you!" to the son I left. She got what she asked for, but not what she wanted. Hahaha!

Conclusion:

I share the above story not to boast of my good works (many people do more than me, and much more often) but to show that there are always ways to help the poor. You just need to be a little bit more creative. It doesn't have to be just money, you can organize a church outing to clean the homes of some poor people, the aged who are staying by themselves and cannot clean up their homes.

And just as I have discovered that things go better in my life when I take time out to praise God, I believe you will find things going better in your life as you make the effort to do good and share with others. Be blessed!