Photo by John Moeses Bauan on Unsplash
I spent the first four years of my ministry with World Vision in Singapore.
As the person in charge of communications, I would sit in front of the television every single day, keeping up with the world of the poor and needy. The sight of little African children with stick-thin arms and legs, protruding ribcages and bloated stomachs greeted me each day.
Those images broke my heart. I shed tears until I could cry no longer.
For four years, my role required me to be a voice for the voiceless, sharing their plight in churches all over Singapore and Malaysia.
It is funny how wealth and affluence can close the wells of our compassion if we are not careful.
The next four years couldn’t be more different.
I worked among wealthy Christian business people in Singapore and was exposed to another side of the Christian community.
After four years, my eyes were no longer filled with the images of the poor but were preoccupied with the things of this world! It is funny how wealth and affluence can close the wells of our compassion if we are not careful.
I remember 1995 – the year of upgrading in Singapore!
I too upgraded all the “C’s” I had, from car to condominium, from credit card to country club membership, including my computer. Incidentally, the only “C” that I did not upgrade was my wife – Cecilia!
At the end of 1995, I was a lean, mean “money-making” machine.
But my ministry life was going down the drain. I knew that and unless I cried out to God, I would be finished!
So I did.
Opened eyes
I thank God that He gave me a second chance in the ministry, and I began my church-planting work two years later. That was the turning point in my ministry.
My team and I targeted a community north of Singapore – Yishun. I started to walk the blocks and knock on doors. I got in touch with people who were poor and needy. Many of us have more than enough, these people have hardly enough.
Unless, and until God opens our eyes, we will not see the poor even though they are all around us.
My eyes then, were opened to another sector of society that I did not know existed. I began to understand what Jackie Pullinger meant when she said: “It takes an anointing to see the poor.”
Unless, and until God opens our eyes, we will not see the poor even though they are all around us.
I know that being “poor” is a relative term. There may not be abject poverty here or in affluent countries but there will always be people who barely have enough. They are out there, in our communities, within the radius of our church buildings and outside the four walls of the church. They are our neighbours.
The heart of God
We may have different traditions, callings and fields of ministry, but one thing we have in common is the call to “remember the poor” (James 1:27).
Remembering the poor and needy is part of our faith.
We must have heard countless sermons on keeping ourselves from the world, but how many sermons have you heard on looking after the poor and needy?
Whose ears have the cries of the poor and oppressed reached? God Himself!
Proverbs 21:13 tells us: “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” Could this be the reason some of our prayers are not answered?
Are there poor people whom God has allowed to cross our paths and we have shut our ears to their cries?
James 5:3-4: “You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.”
Whose ears have the cries of the poor and oppressed reached?
God Himself!
Remember the poor
When we remember the poor, we are centred on who our God is (Psalm 68:5).
Job remembered the poor.
From young, Job the righteous took care of the orphans and widows. He would supply the wool from his own sheep to clothe them (Job 31:18-20). Further in verses 21-23 (Job 31:21-23), Job said: “If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint. For I dreaded destruction from God… ”
In effect, Job meant: “If I have in any way not used my hands to help the poor and needy but to oppress them, then the limbs ought to be chopped off.”
This is an incredible statement! This is a standard of righteousness that most of us do not even come close to!
No wonder God calls Job “blameless and upright” in Job 1:1. Job had the heart of God when it came to caring for the poor.
“This is the kind of God I am”
In the Levitical laws, God also made provision for the poor and needy (Leviticus 19:9-10).
Built into the agricultural laws of Israel was the injunction to leave a certain amount of the harvest – “leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:10). This means that God wanted His children to care for the poor and needy, as a way of life.
The Lord concluded this verse by saying, “I am the Lord your God”, implying that “this is the kind of God I am. This is Who I am”!
The piety that God desires is one that takes care of the poor and needy.
Another aspect of the law is found in Deuteronomy 14:28-19: “At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”
Who are the Levites that the Lord wants us to care for? In today’s context, they would be the pastors, missionaries and full-time workers. God also commands us to look after the strangers, the fatherless and the widows.
The call of the Church
When the children of Israel did not obey these laws, God reacted strongly to the disobedience. This is reflected in the writings of the prophets who noted that there were three sins that provoked God’s anger. These are idolatry, immorality and indifference.
The piety that God desires, is one that takes care of the poor and needy.
These sins occur in sequence. Idolatry leads to immorality which, in turn, leads to self-indulgence and indifference towards the poor and needy. Most of us would be appalled by the sins of idolatry and immorality, but how do we react to indifference towards the poor?
Listen to what God has to say about this in Isaiah 1:16-17: “Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
We can move in the power of the Holy Spirit and still be very selfish. We can speak in tongues and be very self-centred. We can even fast and pray, but if we neglect the poor, it amounts to nothing. The piety that God desires, is one that takes care of the poor and needy (Isaiah 58:6-7).
How do you love a child who is not your own? Parents who foster with the Father’s heart
Then, the wonderful promises in verses 8-9 of Isaiah 58 (Isaiah 58:8-9) will come to pass: “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help and he will say: Here am I.”
In light of God’s paramount concern for the poor and needy, what should be our response?
The Church is called to minister to the poor – both physically and spiritually. Let us rise to our calling, and inherit the many promises that will come as a result of it (Proverbs 19:17, 28:27).
1 John 3:17-18 tells us: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
With this, let us embrace the heart of God for our communities.
This is an extract from the book Managing Money God’s Way by Ps Benny Ho. It has been republished with permission.
Reflection and Discussion
- Ps Benny says that the spirit of indifference is “appalling”. What are your views on indifference?
- Identify the Levites in your life; Is there something you can bless one person with today?
- In light of God’s paramount concern for the poor and needy, what will your response be? How will you “remember” the poor as a way of life?
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