Don’t Forget the Poor: A Biblical Approach to Addressing Poverty
When understanding poverty in this way, we realize that the poor are all around us and that some of them actually do not have material needs, but are extremely poor because they experience an absence of shalom. We also realize that there are many materially poor people around us who would still be poor even if they won the lottery. They would still suffer from an absence of shalom because their relationships with God, others, the rest of creation, and even with themselves are all broken. As noted by Corbett and Fikkert, to effectively deal with their poverty, we need to address all of these relationships:
These relationships are the building blocks for all of life. When they are functioning properly, humans experience the fullness of life that God intended, because we are being what God created us to be. In particular for our purposes, when these relationships are functioning properly, people are able to fulfill their callings of glorifying God by working and supporting themselves and their families with the fruit of that work.6
In the light of this definition of poverty, the injunction to remember the poor takes on a new meaning. Certainly we need to give regularly to provide for the survival of so many who cannot even meet minimal needs. Also, we must support community development in terms of health, education, and economy. However, as followers of Jesus, we need to assist in a way that goes far beyond the material needs of people. We need to work to bring the poor into God’s shalom. This means helping them to achieve genuine well-being based on right relationships as well as material sufficiency. This chapter provides five biblical steps to overcome material and spiritual poverty.
Five Biblical Steps to Overcome Material and Spiritual Poverty
The Power of the Gospel to Break Poverty: “Redemptive Lift”
The first step is to help people experience the transforming power of the gospel. One of the most potent drivers of the growth of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement over the last century has been the power of the Holy Spirit to transform the social outcasts of society. Our movement was popularly characterized as a motley bunch from the “other side of the railway tracks.” Our grandparents’ generation generally came from the poor and marginalized portions of society. Often they were alcoholics and wife beaters, but the miraculous, transforming power of the Holy Spirit was undeniable in their lives. In the words of one deep rural pastor in South Africa, “My God is so big, He can turn beer cans into furniture!”
Missiologist Donald McGavran referred to this impact of Pentecostalism as “redemption and lift.” When people become Christians and their lives are transformed by the Holy Spirit, they begin to see themselves in a different light and their self-esteem increases. Old habits like alcohol, drugs, and nicotine that used to consume much of the family’s budget, suddenly disappear. New family values turn the husband’s heart to his wife and to his children,7 fueling a desire to invest in the education of his children and to create a better future for them.
Economists have traced the impact of Pentecostalism in both South America and Africa. They have found that it promotes transformative values that empower the poor and widens their opportunities to participate in the market economy. Self-discipline, which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, promotes good work habits and saving for future needs, while discouraging wasteful spending. Spirit-empowered faith in the provision of God and His blessing predisposes many new converts to become entrepreneurs. These economists report that the transformative values of Pentecostalism are powerful factors that could change the direction of economic activity in a nation.
Category: Living the Faith, Summer 2016
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