When Jesus said to love the poor, I think He meant it

Not too long ago, I was reading in Galatians for a bit before I went to sleep. I wasn’t studying any particular passage or looking for anything specific, but as I was reading there was this one verse in chapter 2 that caught my attention.

Beginning in verse 11 of chapter 1, Paul writes of how he received the gospel directly from God and not from any man. He writes of his depraved life before Jesus and of his coming to Jesus by the grace of God. He then says that, after he received salvation, he went directly into Arabia and Damascus to preach. He didn’t consult with anyone. He didn’t go to Jerusalem and get permission from the other apostles. He knew he received His calling directly from God, so he went out without hesitation and fulfilled it.

After 14 years of preaching the gospel, Paul finally went up to Jerusalem and met the other apostles. He says in verse 6 of chapter 2 that when he talked with them they had nothing to add to what he was preaching; they immediately saw that Paul was commissioned by God, and they recognized his preaching as the gospel of their Lord and Savior. They saw God’s grace on his life, and they trusted it.

Then I got to verse 10, where Paul says, “Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”

It struck me as amazing that the only thing the other apostles encouraged Paul to do was to remember the poor; and he was already eager to do it! Ministry and service to the poor was important to them, and they wanted to make sure Paul would include that in his ministry as well.

Not long after I was reading that passage, I began a minor study in Amos. I didn’t know much about the book when I began, and I’m honestly not even sure if I’d ever read it before. Regardless, it fascinated me. It begins with a series of judgments on the nations, all leading up to the judgment of Israel. Finally, when God does get to Israel, He holds them to a greater standard than He does the other nations because they were His chosen people—they had the Law.

And what would you know, one of the reasons God was punishing Israel was for their lack of care for the poor and for the needy. Amos 2:6-7 reads:

Thus says the LORD:

“For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—

those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth
and turn aside the way of the afflicted;
a man and his father go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned.”

This was Israel, the Lord’s beloved nation, and He was punishing them partially for neglecting the poor and the needy that were around them. More than that, they were neglecting the poor for their own gain, which is something I know I’m guilty of doing. I know I’ve wrongfully ignored the needs of others so I could satisfy my own.

And then, of course, we have Jesus’ own teaching on the matter. In Luke 4, Jesus says to the people that He came to bring good news to the poor. And near the end of Matthew 25 Jesus speaks about the final judgment day when He will separate His own from the world—those meant to inherit the kingdom of God from those damned to hell. What is the difference between the two groups of people? Those belonging to Jesus were marked by their care and attention to the hungry, the thirsty, the outcast, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned; and those not belonging to Jesus neglected all those things. “Truly, I say to you,” said Jesus, “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:30).

We also see this modeled in the early church. In Acts 2, all the believers joined together and sold all they had, giving freely to others as needs arose. This kind of generosity was normal for them, and I can only imagine it was done out of sincere love and joy for Christ and for the people around them.

Last week I was helping out the campus ministry I’m a part of. We set up a table in the FSU union, and we had a lot of really great conversations with people about Jesus and about what we do to make Him known. One question almost everyone asked me, though, was “What do you guys do to help serve?” And it hit me then that one way the world sees Jesus’ love is by His Bride’s service and love for other people, especially for those in need. Our service and sacrifice makes Jesus’ love tangible to those who’ve never really experienced it before.

Little by little, the Lord keeps showing me all these things concerning the poor. I don’t think it’s because He wants me to drop anything and just go minister to them 24/7, but I think it’s to challenge my selfishness. I honestly believe that’s one reason God allows poverty and need: so we, His people, would learn to be like Jesus to others.

As I’ve been praying about it, God’s just been convicting me of my self-centered, indulgent lifestyle and of my selfish habits. The main thing He keeps speaking to my heart is simply this:I will be held accountable for hoarding the abundance He has blessed me with. More and more the Lord is showing me that He didn’t place me where I am, in the midst of abundance, in order to be selfish; He placed me here to serve others and to give freely of what I do have.

The culture I live in doesn’t make it easy for me to give freely and to serve. Everything here teaches me to focus on me and on my interests. Everything here teaches me that I’m the most important person in my life, and that my happiness and comfort are what matter most. Everything here teaches me that I deserve to treat myself to whatever I want. In reality, I deserve the wrath of God. In reality, I already have better than I deserve because I have Jesus, and He’s the most precious prize I could ever attain.

Still, I really feel like God is wanting to rework a lot of my priorities. I feel like He’s calling me to absolute servant-hood in every area of my life: my time, my resources, my energy, my finances. Ultimately, our Father wants us to be like His Son, and His Son was a servant who gave all He had for broken, lost, needy people who didn’t deserve any of it. I don’t know what all that is going to look like, but I know I won’t be investing in things quite the same way I have been.

What do you all think, though? How do you think God would have His church serve in this capacity?