From the earliest days of the Christian Church, God has instructed His people to provide for the needs of the poor, the stranger, the disadvantaged, and the unjustly treated members of this sad and fallen world.
If you have a true Christian heart (the implanted heart of Jesus Christ), it should be difficult for you to look upon the suffering of others less fortunate than yourself and feel no desire to help. This Bible study explains why the Christian Church has so often been at the forefront of effecting needed social reforms in our country and across the world.
(I) OLD TESTAMENT TEACHINGS REGARDING CHRISTIANS’ OBLIGATION TO THE NEEDY
(A) It is impossible to read the Old Testament, without encountering the teaching that we are called to have compassion toward the plight of those who are poorer and less fortunate than we are. In the oldest book in the Bible, Job, we find that Job, a wealthy and righteous man, had this attitude:
• “I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them” Job 29:12b (NIV).
• “I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know” Job 29:16 (NET).
• “Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?” Job 30:25 (NASB). The same passage in the NET reads: “Have I not wept for the unfortunate?”
(B) In His Old Testament law, God made specific provisions for the poor and needy:
• “During the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it…Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove” Exodus 23:11 (NIV).
• “Do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the LORD your God” Leviticus 19:10 (NLT).
• “When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands” Deuteronomy 24:19 (Holman).
(C) Deuteronomy further describes the attitude of kindness and generosity which God wants His people to display. This includes both giving to meet their needs and making sure that their working conditions are humane:
• “Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do” Deuteronomy 15:10 (NLT).
• “For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land” Deuteronomy 15:11 (ESV).
• “Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin” Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (NIV).
(D) Later in the Old Testament, God charges His people to become advocates for the suffering and less fortunate. He emphasizes both charitable giving and coming to the defense of those who are being treated unjustly:
• “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy” Proverbs 31:9 (NAS 1977).
• “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” Proverbs 14:31 (NIV).
• “For the LORD hears the cries of the needy; he does not despise his imprisoned people” Psalm 69:33 (NLT).
• “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” Isaiah 1:17 (NIV).
• “Share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Isaiah 58:7b (ESV).
(E) The Bible teaches that when God sees injustice, He takes it upon Himself to be the defender and protector of those who are helpless, disadvantaged, or unfairly treated:
• “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling” Psalm 68:5 (NIV).
• “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing” Deuteronomy 10:18 (NAS).
• “The LORD protects those residing outside their native land; he lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked” Psalm 146:9 (NET).
• “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed” Psalm 103:6 (ESV).
(F) While God can personally intervene in people’s lives, one of his main methods of helping them is to raise up sensitive and compassionate believers who will take action on their behalf. A popular Christian song, “Do Something” by Matthew West, makes this point when it says:
I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
He said, “I did, I created you!”
(II) THE NEW TESTAMENT’S DOCTRINE OF
ACTIVE COMPASSION
(A) Jesus magnified and expanded the teachings of the Old Testament by personally demonstrating the radically-active and self-sacrificing love of God.
(1) The very word for “love” in the New Testament (Greek: “agape”) denotes an unselfish, divine love which goes beyond mere emotion and spurs action toward the one who is being loved. Vine’s Greek Dictionary comments: “Love can be known only from the actions it prompts.”
(2) Our greatest introduction to this kind of love comes from the life of Jesus Christ, Himself. Jesus did not simply love us from Heaven; he came to the Earth to join us, to be one of us, and to be personally present with us: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16 (ESV).
God “so loved” the lost people of this world that He did something about it; He sent us Jesus. And Jesus “so loved” us that He left Heaven and came here to suffer as a human being with us.
(B) In His teachings, Jesus raised the importance of sharing God’s love with others to the highest position in all of God’s commandments. “Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV).
(C) Jesus powerfully illustrates the kind of love which he is speaking about in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This parable embarrassingly exposes the emptiness of a religion which professes a devotion to God, but does nothing when confronted with actual human need.
(1) In this Parable (Luke 10:30), three men happen upon a crime victim who is lying half dead at the side of the road after being beaten, robbed and stripped of his clothes. The first man, a priest, “passed by on the other side” and kept going (Luke 10:31 – NIV). “So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side” Luke 10:32 (NIV).
(2) Fortunately, the story gets better: “But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii [two days wages] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have’” Luke 10:33-35 (NIV). The Expanded Translation of this passage says that the Samaritan was “moved with compassion” for the man.
(D) Jesus tells this story for a reason. The Christian Church can easily get sidetracked into a religion that ministers to its own needs, but turns a blind eye to the sufferings of others. The danger is that our desire for personal comfort can outweigh the compassion which God desires to express through us to others.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. hit the nail on the head when he offered these comments on the Good Samaritan parable: “I imagine that the first question the priest and Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But by the very nature of his concern, the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’”
(III) THE PUREST FORM OF RELIGION IS DISPLAYED WHEN CHRISTIANS BECOME ‘FIRST RESPONDERS’ TO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS
Instead of neglecting the poor, the abandoned, the afflicted and the forgotten, Christ’s compassion produces an active love which actually goes to those in need: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” James 1:27 (NASB).
(A) The word “visit” in this passage implies action of a personal sort. The Greek word used here (“episkeptomai”) means “to look upon or… to inspect, examine with the eyes” with the additional connotations of “to look upon in order to help or to benefit” and “to visit or go to see” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon).
(B) This suggests that church members would actually “go to” and “visit” the widows and orphans in order to observe their situation and find ways to help them. Far from passing by “on the other side” of the street, they would “visit” the street where the widows and orphans lived.
(C) This reflects what Jesus says elsewhere about ministering to the needs of other suffering people:
“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, my Father has blessed you! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me into your home. I needed clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me’” Matthew 25:34-36 (GWT).
At this point, the servants of the Lord ask Him: “‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you into our homes or see you in need of clothes and give you something to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’” Matthew 25:37-39 (GWT).
And Jesus answers them, “‘I can guarantee this truth: Whatever you did for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant [they seemed], you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40b (GWT). This last verse makes the startling point that when we minister to “one of the least important” (Matthew 25:40b ISV) in Jesus’ name, we are actually ministering to Jesus Himself!
(D) God’s “agape” unconditional love is also radical in its inclusivity. This belief has its root in the Biblical revelation that every human being is a unique expression of God’s glory (see Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:1-18, Ephesians 2:10, 4:23 and Revelation 5:9-10) and that every human soul is of inestimable value to God.
(1) This concept, almost exclusively taught and believed in Christianity, is revolutionary in a world in which discrimination, oppression and neglect have existed throughout history and across the globe against those who have been regarded as different, unimportant, inferior, hopeless, or unworthy of the love of God or the love of man.
(2) Among those who have been oppressed, exploited or considered unworthy of help have been:
• People from other nations, ethnic groups or religions;
• Women, children, widows and orphans;
• Those who are poor, uneducated or considered to be of a lower class;
• Alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, criminals and prisoners; and
• Those suffering from physical disabilities, handicaps or mental illnesses.
(E) The brightest light which has shone in various places and times against these abuses has been the Church, with its high estimation of the value of every soul.
(F) In Part II of this Bible study, we will see how Christians motivated by the radical love of Jesus Christ have been in the forefront of some of the greatest social reform movements in history aimed at improving the lives of those who are discriminated against, disadvantaged or neglected.
