Why the poor?

Why focus on the poor? Why not focus on thousands of other groups that the Church relates to? Why not discuss GLBT's? Why not alcoholics? Or Muslims? Or women? Simply put, we should focus on the Church's relationship to the poor because Scripture focuses on the poor.

There are over nine different terms used to refer to poverty and the poor in Scripture. The Psalms and Proverbs are replete with references to the poor and needy that reveal God's attitude toward this group. (Ps. 9:18, 10:8, 34:6, 35:10, 37:14, 41:1, 68:10, 69:33, 72:4, 82:3-4, 107:41, 109:14-16, 109:31, 112:9, 113:7, 132:15, 140:12; Prov. 13:23, 14:20-21, 14:31, 17:5, 19:1, 19:17, 19:22, 21:13, 22:2, 22:7, 22:9, 22;16, 22:22, 28:3, 28:6, 28:8, 28:11, 28:15, 28:27, 29:7, 29:13-14, 30:14, 31:6-9, 31:20). These references indicate that righteous people care for those who are poor and needy and that wicked people oppress the poor and needy. These verses also indicate that the Holy God created both poor and rich and that He judges both groups justly.

The Old Testament provided guidance for the Israelites to know how they should treat the poor among them. (Ex. 22:25, 23:6, 23:11; Lev. 19:10, 19:15, 23:22, 25:25, 25:35-37, 25:39-41, 25:47-49; Deut. 15:7-11, 24:12-13, 24:14-15). Although these laws are no longer binding on us in the same way that the Israelites were bound, we can learn of God's attitude to the poor through these references.

Jesus' own words also make reference to the poor. (Mt. 11:5, 19:21, 26:9; Mk. 10:21, 12:41-44, 14:7; Lk. 4:18, 6:20, 7:22, 14:12-14, 18:22, 21:1-4, 12:8). Although some of His words seem cryptic, each of these references also reveals something about God's attitude toward the poor.

These references are not exhaustive. They are simply a brief first glance at some of the rich comments Scripture makes on God's relationship to the poor, and thus by extension what the Church's relationship to the poor should be.

These references are also the reason why the Church must take time to examine it's relationship to the poor. Even without considering the content of each text, the sheer volume of the references indicate that God is concerned about the poor. What is important to the Holy God should be important to the Church as well.