Don’t Forget the Poor: A Biblical Approach to Addressing Poverty

Sociologists Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori studied fast growing churches that are engaged in significant ministries of social concern all over the world.⁸ To their surprise, 85 percent of their global sample of churches were Pentecostal or Charismatic. Their book highlights the same upward mobility of Pentecostals that the economists identified. They attribute it to a spiritual transformation where hard work, personal honesty, self-discipline, accumulation of savings, and capital investment all work together to create wealth for individuals and jobs for their community.

We have seen the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit at work all over the Global South as He lifts people out of poverty. However, the miracle is not the creation of wealth out of nothing. The miracle is in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit that changes the values and work habits of individuals. Workers are suddenly conscientious about going to work every day. They learn to place a higher priority on loving their wives and children. This creates a generation of children who flourish as they are emotionally released to attend school and pursue excellence in their education. It creates a cumulative effect of generational blessings. We see, therefore, that the most basic way to remember the poor is to introduce them to Jesus and the redemptive power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Discipleship for the Family to Counter Poverty

The second step in a biblical approach to overcoming poverty should be a discipleship focus that addresses personal economic responsibilities and the promotion of healthy family life. When families flourish, they break the curse of poverty and set up their next generations for success and prosperity. This is true for families in the church and the poor we seek to assist.

The church needs to take seriously the responsibilities that the Scriptures place on the shoulders of every Christian household. Paul writes, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8).

Parents have the primary responsibility of providing for the physical, emotional, and spiritual support of their children. The pursuit of goals, activities, and responsibilities that divert the attention of the parents and are detrimental to the flourishing of their children need to be identified and confronted. As a church, we need to actively promote healthy family life and provide support systems to ensure that parents who are unable to cope with these responsibilities have the help they need. This is particularly true of single parents and parents with children who have some form of disability. The divorce rate in the disability community is extremely high and together with the extra financial burdens that so often accompany disabilities, these families are particularly vulnerable and need the support of the church.

Providing for one’s family also implies that Christian households have taken reasonable measures to protect their families from unforeseen circumstances. Part of the curse that rests on the earth means that Christians are not immune from accidents, illnesses, disasters, and even death. Insurance policies serve as financial instruments that spread the risk of disaster over a large group of people. One of the most logical and inexpensive ways to prevent poverty for a family is for them to be disciplined about their expenses and pay for insurance that will protect the family against losses, accidental death, and illness.

A friend of mine who pastored a small church in a mining community discovered too late that one of his leading members failed to make appropriate arrangements for his family in the event of his death. This member was an exemplary worker and faithful church member whose family was an integral part of their church life, but he had failed to take out any life insurance and his premature death in a car accident plunged his family into financial ruin.

The church rallied to their rescue and found ways to support the family until the children were able to finish their education, but the pastor immediately undertook an inventory of all members and their financial affairs. When he discovered that a newly converted young couple with two children was unable to afford life insurance, the church found it wiser to pay the premiums for this dynamic young couple until they were able to get on their own financial feet and shoulder the responsibility themselves.

Tags: addressing, approach, Biblical, featured, forget, poor, poverty

Category: Living the Faith, Summer 2016