The Poor will always be with us
Recently a non-christian activist friend of mine had the misfortune to have this verse thrust in her face by a Christian as a reason to ignore social justice issues and focus purely on proselytising:
“”The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me” (Matthew 26:11)”
Oh dear =(
This person obviously doesn’t read their Bible’s properly, since the point of the story is about a woman pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet, and the lesson the disciples learnt from this about devotion to Jesus first and foremost before other important priorities (of which addressing poverty is key). If they had read their Bibl’es properly, they’d also note that Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 15:10-11
“Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”
This person also seems to suffer selective amnesia.. because in the previous chapter of Matthew, Jesus says this:
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46)
It appears Christians will take Sola Scriptura as far as they can if it lets them avoid issues that make them uncomfortable. Check out these links for more info:
http://www.justpeace.org/lent43.htm
http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/1720.htm
http://ragarambler.blogspot.com/2004/12/poor-you-will-always-have-with-you.html
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Deuteronomy. 15:10-11“Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’”…
~ by humblemonkey on July 1, 2009.
Posted in Faith, Justice
Tags: Faith, jesus, poverty, social justice
I just had a friend say this on my FB status this evening. In fact, I stumbled onto your blog from a Google search while trying to find Shane Claiborne’s eloquent and faithful response to this argument, which is simply, “Are we with the poor?” Of course! The poor would always be with the disciples; those are the very people Christ taught them to be with. But will we ever be accused of being with the poor always? I hope so . . .
I like your blog.
peace.
By the way . . . my “of course” is not a response to Shane’s question and more of an exclamation agreeing with him that the real question is if we’re with the poor and not if Christ was trying to say that eradicating poverty was implausible or impossible. Just some clarification . . .
Hey Ciona.. thanks for your comments! Yeah, Shane’s comments are astute. Are we with the poor? It is obvious Jesus is, but we usually fail on that task (hence the rise in New Monasticism/Intentional Communities.. the Holy Spirit prompting christians to once again move to the fringes of the empire and live in solidarity with the marginalised).
I love reading Mother Theresa’s letters… she is my touchstone for stuff like this. I’ll never forget one thing she said (I’m paraphrasing though).. “Only when we get to heaven will we realise just how much we owe to the poor, because they helped us see God”. Wow!
Yes! I love that Mother Theresa quotation.
It’s unfortunate that you say “It appears Christians will take Sola Scriptura as far as they can,” as if this would include all Christians.
Hi Pat
The full sentence reads:
“It appears Christians will take Sola Scriptura as far as they can if it lets them avoid issues that make them uncomfortable.”
The way the sentence is structured means it logically only applies to a group of Christians.. big or small.. who abuse Sola Scriptura. Obviously this is not all Christians, else it would be pointless me writing the post in the first place.
Relating the above quotes to today’s political challenge. Should the government take responsibility for the poor (uninsured) at the expense of “personal” responsibility? At what cost to pesonal reward? (Heavenly!)