“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” Leviticus 19.15

Over the last century or so the view has been popularized by certain members of the Christian community and others that all poor people are worthy of our care and have a right to expect a certain measure of deference and public support, simply by virtue of their status as falling below a certain level of material wellbeing.

This view comes from the spirit of an egalitarian age, and not from the Spirit of God. While on the surface it may seem like a noble idea, in practice it represents a policy that robs the poor of their dignity as human beings, imposes unjust requirements on the rest of society, and creates a community in which justice and shalom are compromised and undermined.

There are legitimate reasons why people become poor, as we have seen. And truly poor people should expect a just society to show them neighbor-love in ways that enable them to maintain their dignity and their place as contributing members of the social order. I’ll have more to say about this a bit later on in in this series.

The Law of God expects even those who are poor to work and to tithe from the fruit of their labors. Thus, though they may be poor, they do not forfeit their dignity, and they are not excused from being responsible and contributing members of the community, just like everyone else.

Not all those who are poor, however, deserve the same consideration as those who are truly poor, as we have also seen. Some people are poor by reason of reckless living or an unwillingness to take responsibility for their own wellbeing. And even those who aretruly poor have no right to expect that society will ensure them a particular “standard of living.” They may be truly poor, but they are also truly responsible for their own wellbeing and stewardship.

T. M. Moore

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