Then the King said to the goats on His left that He “...was hungry, and you did not gave me food: I was thirsty , and you did not gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you did not take me in: Naked and you did not gave me clothes: I was sick, and you did not visited me: I was in prison, and you did not come to me.” The goats asked Him when they had seen Him hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, or imprisoned. At that point The King says something quite astonishing. “...as you have not done it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have not done it to me.” In other words, if you do not love the the hungry, the naked, the stranger, the homeless – if you do not love them, not just help them – then no matter what you say or believe, you do not love God!”

This is certainly what John means in I John 3:16-17, when he clearly states: “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” We can not say we love God and at the same time fail to love the poor. If we claim to be followers of Jesus and people of the Bible, and yet fail to love and help the poor, we must argue that Jesus was as selfish and self-centered as we are, or we must admit that He commanded to help the poor without any conditions. Short of this we must admit that we just do not want to help and love the poor.

It is embarrassing to see how straightforward Jesus was in setting out the basic requirements of God for His people and how confusing and complicated we have made it. At His Second Coming Jesus is going to separate the sheep from the goats – the saved from the lost – by how they have treated the poor. Let me say very clearly that these verses, or any other passages in the Bible, do not teach that caring for the poor is a means by which we can earn salvation. Salvation is by faith in Christ alone, and the basis of salvation is the work of Christ alone. We are not saved by caring for the poor. Caring for the poor is, however, not disconnected from salvation. In fact, caring for the poor – in addition to other things – is an evidence of salvation.

Caring for the poor is a serious matter for God! The book of Proverbs warns about curses that come to those who ignore the poor. The prophets warn of judgment and devastation for those who neglect the poor. Jesus pronounces woes upon the rich who trust in riches, and James tells those who hoard their money and live in self-indulgence to “weep and wail because of the misery that is coming” upon them.

The early church was known as the selfless ones who took it upon themselves to care for the poor, the elderly, the widows, the orphans, the shipwrecked, and those who lost their livelihood due to their faith. The common description for the early Christian was that they cared for the poor, marginalized, and oppressed as they would their own family. Even the pagan skeptic Julian confessed, “The godless Galileans feed not only their poor but ours as well.”

Yet how vastly different it is today. The character of caring and providing for the poor has long been lost in the American church. Though today's Christian might agree in theory with the church's mandate to care for the poor, our deeds too often speak otherwise. For the vast majority of us, serving the poor has been reduced to an occasional church-sponsored serving event rather than a lifestyle of serving the disenfranchised that characterized the early church. Survey after survey of committed followers of Christ indicates a strong belief that Jesus spent significant time with the poor. However, only 2% of the same people indicated they spend time with the poor, or even knew a poor person!

Frighteningly, we have turned a blind eye to the poor and needy. We have ignored them by acting as if they do not exist. But they do exist, and God takes very seriously how we respond to them. Jesus at the end of the Matthew 25 passage tells those who turn away from Him by overlooking the needs of His people, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Often, we are willing to help the poor but not to love or know the poor. After all, helping the poor is much easier, less messy, and lessinconveniencing than knowing and loving the poor. It's easy to help at arms length - from across the opposite side of the soup line, for instance. This posture is indicative of our overall disposition toward helping the poor: it's clinical, sterile, safe, distanced. To love and befriend the poor...now that takes time and emotional energy. Yet God calls us to entangle – not just help - our lives with the lives of the poor in relational, holistic ministries that address the needs of the whole person: physical, emotional, and spiritual. He calls us to the true mercy which Gregory of Nyssa called the willingness to “suffer with.”

This is where we must pause. At this point we are trying to reshape Christianity. We are yielding to a very subtle and dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and turn Him into a version of a “Jesus” we are more comfortable with. A warm and friendly middle-class, “American Jesus” who does not care if we help, know, and love the poor. A Jesus who does not call us to sacrifice. A Jesus who does not bother our comforts, our possessions, our security, our time. In all of this we are molding Jesus into our image, because, after all, that is who we are the most comfortable with.

We must worship and follow our Master. And He always goes to the point of deepest need. Where there is suffering, He will be there binding wounds. His compassion eternally drives Him to human need. Where there is injustice, He is there. His justice demands it. He does not dwell on the edge of issues and needs. He is involved, always doing battle with the fiercest of the forces of evil and powers of darkness. God hates injustice, poverty, and conspicuous consumption and indolence juxtaposed with poverty and hopelessness.

May Jesus never say to any one of us, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

In Matthew 19:16, we see a man looking for the way to eternal life. You might say he is looking for true religion. He comes to Jesus and asks, "What must I do to have eternal life?" Jesus told him to keep all the commandments. The rich young man quickly answered, "This I have done."

Wow! What a cocky, full-of-himself man he was. Can you imagine telling this to Jesus? He should have stopped while he was ahead. But he was looking for a public pat on the back. And so he makes the mistake of pressing Jesus with his foolish words: "This I have done" ..."What else must I do?" Jesus looks this man straight in the eyes and gives him an answer that puts the rich young man back on his heals. Jesus tells him, "If you want true religion [i.e. eternal life], go and sell everything you own: your villa with its terraced gardens, marble sculptures, and view of the Mediterranean Sea; sell the new chariot you just bought; oh yeah...and give up your Roman spa membership. Then, take all the extra money you have and distribute it to the poor, needy, uneducated, jobless, hungry, and welfare moms; then you will have treasures in heaven; then you can come and follow me. Upon hearing this "the young man's face dropped, and he simply turned and walked away. For his attachment to his wealth and possessions was stronger than his desire to connect with God" (Matt. 19:22). He preferred an irrelevant religion to true religion. Jesus then said to His followers, "I tell you the truth, it is harder for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle" (Matt. 19:23-24). In other words, it is very difficult for a wealthy person to accept the standards which true biblical religion demands of them.

Please hear me clearly, this passage is not teaching us that caring for the poor is a means by which salvation can be earned. The basis of salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. No one is saved by virtue of caring for the poor and needy. Nor is salvation the result of selling all your possessions. And yet, while caring for the poor is not the basis of salvation, the way in which we use our possessions and wealth cannot be completely separated from our salvation. Faith in Christ, which saves from sin, includes an internal transformation that has external implications. Jesus taught that you can know someone is His follower by their fruit, and this fruit will necessarily include caring for the poor and needy (Matt. 25:31-36; II Cor. Chapters 8 and 9; Ja. Chapter 2; I Jo. 3).

Remember, God never indicted someone for having wealth. Wealth is not inherently evil. The Word of God does not condemn riches or possessions in and of themselves. In fact, I Timothy 6:17, tells us that God "richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." What God has indicted is the wrong use of wealth and possessions. In fact, He condemns those who prefer wealth to true religion. The righteous person understands their wealth and possessions belong to God and thus, in a sense, to the whole community. On the other hand, the unrighteous person sees his wealth and possessions as his alone. He believes the only reason for his wealth is his ability to earn it. In other words, such a person thinks he has an absolute right and freedom to use his wealth and possessions as he sees fit.

While the Bible teaches that hard work (or the lack thereof) plays a major role in determining whether or not one is successful (Prov. 6:9-11; 10:4), it is never the primary or ultimate reason. If one has money, power, and status, it is not due to the place of birth, talents, abilities, or health, for none of these were earned...but given as gifts from God. Notice I Chronicles 29:14-11:

Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.

Think of the millions of children and young people who have grown up in poverty and are locked into failing and inadequate schools; who live in situations that do not lend themselves to learning and reading. This context all but guarantees poverty or even worse. Or, imagine you are jobless and without money, wherein you are separated from the rest of society in a world of abuse and violence; where you are the "wrong" color; where you without any of the skills and abilities the world desires or values; where you are a failure and unable to accomplish anything today or tomorrow; where you have no hope or dignity, and you are swallowed up in despair, hopelessness, and darkness. And if things weren't bad enough, all you are able to produce is more of the same.

Who is at fault, here? Conservatives point to parents, the lack of morality, and the break down of the family. Liberals argue it is the result of governments inability to deal with racism and unjust social structures. But no one blames the children and where they were born. The fact is children are in poverty basically because they were not born into a family like mine. My two boys, simply by being born into a my family, or one like mine, have a greater chance to make it in life than if they were born into poverty...much less, generational poverty.

Let me give some statistics: 87% of families in generational poverty are headed by single mothers with four or more children; in Georgia, 60% of urban born children do not graduate from high school; and 85% of juveniles who end up in the court system can not read. Alternatively, only 8% of high school students will end up on poverty if they: 1) Graduate from high school, 2) Get married after they turn 20, or 3) Have children after they are married. Note how important those things are for avoided poverty. However, if they falter in any one of these three areas, 8% becomes 80%. But what factors into this equation? What is prevented folks in poverty to accomplish these three things? Well, the fact is, there is an inequitable distribution of both goods and opportunities in this world. Thus, if you have been given (by God) the goods of this world, and you fail to share them with others, you are not just stingy, you are unjust. Scripture is clear in affirming this: God’s intended desire is for us to use our "plenty" to care for the needs of others.

Take notice of II Corinthians 8:1: "At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need." In John Calvin’s commentary on II Corinthians chapters 8 and 9, he remarked that God "has enjoined upon us frugality and temperance, and has forbidden that any one should go to excess, taking advantage of his abundance. Let those, then, that have riches...consider that their abundance was not intended to be laid out in temperance or excess, but in relieving the necessities of the others." Although Calvin did not believe everyone will or should have equal possessions and wealth, he did teach that "no one is to be allowed to starve." In other words, the person who has true religion will be willing to disadvantage himself (as it were), in order to advantage the community. However, the person with irrelevant religion is only willing to disadvantage the community in order to advantage himself.

True Religion - Part III

The rich young Jewish man forgot how the prophets lamented over how much the rich consumed conspicuously while disregarding the poor and needy (Amos 2:6-7, 4:1; 8:4-6; Jer. 5:28; 22:13). Just as with the rich young man, American materialism mixed with an indifference to the poor produces a stench in the nostrils of God. God hates both personal sin (such as self-indulgence that fails to share with the needy) and social sin (such as political systems or rules that put the poor and needy at disadvantage). The story of the rich young man is chilling, and it should startle us no less today, in our context. Hopefully, the story will push us to repentance and a heart for the poor. So then, when one asks, "Why does God bless us with abundance?" True Religion tell us, "So we can have enough to live on and then use the rest for all manner of good works to alleviate spiritual and physical misery and pain."

The story of Lazarus, in Luke 16:19, powerfully illustrates the implications and applications of the point made in Matthew 19:16. In Luke 16, Jesus spoke to a group of religious leaders who loved money and possessions. It seems there was a certain rich man who dressed fabulously and ate scrumptiously everyday. At the gate of this man’s expensive, suburban house was a sick man. He was unemployed, ragged, dirty, hungry, and begging for food. All he wanted was the crumbs - the left-overs from the rich man’s table. Like the man in Matthew 19, however, the man of Luke 16 had never read the words of the prophet Amos. Consequently, instead of helping the poor man by feeding him the scraps from his table, he turned him away and said he was not a responsible person. In the rich man’s eyes, Lazarus was a lazy, sorry, no good "crack head." So, he would not even give him the left-over scraps from his table. Soon, Lazarus fell down along the way side of life.

Our Lazarus’ today come in the form urban children and young people who have grown up in the context of generational welfare. This is the hardest type of poverty and welfare dependance for a family to overcome. For a child in such a context, it means that his mother grew up on welfare, and perhaps his mother's mother and his mother's mother's mother. Most children who have grown up in this context have never known working adults in their families or even in their communities. Many of them have never attended a wedding or had a positive male role-model in their lives. Many teenage pregnancies are among children of generational welfare who have never known anything other than welfare dependancy and single parenting. This effects much more than finances - over time, it creates a poverty of spirit that can affect a person's entire being. Soon, this pours out into the community, creating physical impoverishment. Worst of all, social welfare history reveals that such dependancy usually destroys the family unit. In the worst cases, this type of poverty overtakes entire neighborhoods, thrusting whole communities into hopelessness and despair. All of this helps create a culture of young people who become school drop-outs that are unemployed, under-employed, and/or unable to find work. It is easier for them to turn to the streets for survival - prostitution, stealing, bumming, drug dealing, criminal activity, gang-banging. As more and more urban children are born into families without fathers, as welfare becomes more and more entrenched, as urban education becomes worse and worse, and as technology becomes increasingly complex, an ever expanding number of "Lazaruses" become socially and technologically ill-prepared for employment and life. Add to this the fact that manufacturing jobs, as well as jobs that only require a high school degree are being replaced with jobs that require advanced degrees, and you have a recipe for high unemployment and social ill. Before long, a permanent under-class of Lazarus-types emerge. Anyway, the Bible says Lazarus fell down and was unable to receive even the crumbs from the rich man’s table. It seems that the man who accepted irrelevant religion did not feed Lazarus, but instead allowed his dogs to lick the scores of Lazarus’s body.

Now comes the rest of the story. Lazarus - the poor man - died and went to heaven. At about the same time, the rich man also died, but went to hell. The story seems to suggest that the rich man could see into heaven, and now he became the beggar. He begged for relief from the torment of hell. However, the word from heaven for this now beggarly man was,

Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but he is comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides there is a great gulf that separates those who want to go from here to where you are, or from where you are to us (Luke 16:25-26).

The point of the story is obvious: God responds to the needs of the poor. After all, "Lazarus" means God is my help. Sick, crippled, and impoverished Lazarus receives mercy from God. This does not mean that because someone is poor they are righteous and thus ready for heaven. It does, however, illustrate what Scripture teaches, namely, that God hears, feeds, satisfies, rescues, defends, raises up, and secures justice for the poor who trust in him (Job 34:28, Psa. 69:10, Psa. 22:15-20, Psa. 35:10, Psa. 83:1-3, I Sam. 2:8, Psa. 113:7, Psa. 140:12).

The story also teaches God"s response to those who neglect the poor. He responds to them with judgment and condemnation. Again, wealth alone does not imply unrighteousness or call for condemnation. This rich man, however, is in hell because he lacked faith in God, which opened the door for him to indulge in his luxuries while ignoring the poor outside his gate. As a result, earth was his heaven, and eternity his hell. He did not go to hell because of his wealth. He went to hell because he had an irrelevant religion.

In our consumption-oriented society, it is very easy to drift into the sin of being "overfed...not helping the poor" (Ezekiel 16:49). We must fight intentionally against this. Try this: Make donations to Strong Tower Fellowship in amounts equal to what you spend on your "wants," that is, vacations, clothes, eating out, etc. This serves both as a check on consumption (a $40 shirt or sweater really means an expenditure of $80) and a tangible reminder of the needs of the poor. May God help us not to succumb to an irrelevant religion of comfort and self-indulgence rather than a true religion of sacrifice for others. May God Bless!!!!!

Because this ministry is so different from what many churchgoers expect, people tend to see it as a niche that may be good for some, especially those who are gifted for this type of ministry, but not necessarily expected of all.  "Doing Church" is too often made to fit our expectations of nice religious experiences for us and our families.  I find myself becoming more and more uneasy of this attitude and mindset.  Jesus, our model and example in ministry, spent most of His time with the outcast, the marginalized, the sick, the lame, the lost.  So, how can we justify the fact that these are the people we try to hide ourselves from?  Like our Master and Leader we must allow ourselves to be touched with the brokenness and pain experienced by our neighbors.  We must be willing to suffer, to sacrifice, to be inconvenienced, to serve.  This is what the world needs to  see the Church doing, not "Doing Church."  It needs to see the Church demonstrating a heavenly kindness, love, and service that goes beyond the mere politeness and niceness of the world.  A cheap, easy, arms-length, clinical benevolence does not reflect the life of our Master, Model, Teacher, and Savior.

I know the things that go on "in darkness and the shadow of death" are shocking and distressing.  I realize it can be overwhelming, painful, discouraging, and uncomfortable to reflect on the harsh realities of the poor and needy.  I get it.  But to avoid ministering to such realities is unworthy of those who claim Christ's name and mission, for He was not afraid, or too good to go into dark corners, and neither should we be afraid or too good.  We are not to hide ourselves from the poor, not to look the other way.  We are to see the poor - and it may involve going out of our way to do so.  If we are insulated from the needy, we need to intentionally expose ourselves to the conditions in which the poor live.  Otherwise, we run the risk of forgetting the plight of the poor, as they remain out of our sight and, thus, out of our mind.  If we deliberately remain ignorant; if we choose not to see the poor because it's distressing, painful, overwhelming, or guilt inducing, then we sin against the Lord's command in Isaiah 58:6-7: "Is not this the kind of fasting [i.e. worship] I  have chosen...to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

The frightening reality of the Gospel is that Jesus calls us to go to the forgotten, impoverished places.  But we do not believe this.  And yet, we have a Master who came and lived and shined on people who lived in hell-holes, in order to rescue them from darkness and to redeem them form the clutches of sin and death.

We are the body of Christ.  We are the hands and feet of Christ.  Thus, we must be Christians who go into the dark places to bring the light of Christ to little children who live in cesspools, hearing gunfire every night.  We are to go!!  It’s a radical, exciting, and even dangerous mission of bringing Jesus the Redeemer near to the hurting who live in darkness.  So, we must not fear the stats. The urban planter hears stats that say growth is a pipe dream; that seeing transformed worshipers takes years; that financial self-support may never be a reality—and it makes one gun-shy of walking by faith to see the inner-city as an option to engage as a mission field.  However, we have a Master who demands this of us.  He requires radical obedience.  This is the life God call us to, and we do not have time to waste giving ourselves to living the American spin of Christian obedience.