This graphic is making the rounds on Facebook today. Quite interesting. The question is asking what sort of action is called for when we speak of "helping the poor." Is it directly helping a person in poverty through an act of charity (donation, serving at a food shelter, etc.)? Or is it in working to reform and re-envision our culture to be one where the plight of the poor is addressed?
What I'd like to know is where is the answer choice "BOTH"? Being a good Anglican that strives for the via media, I'd argue that Jesus had both in mind. Parables of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25- what you do to the least of these...), the Good Samaritan (Luke 10- neighbors care for each other), and the Wedding Banquet (Luke 14- all are invited) certainly show that Jesus was trying to inspire compassion and action towards those in need. And Jesus would have certainly known about the notion that we should be caring for the poor in daily life (Lev 23:22- leave some food in the fields for the poor).
But Jesus also speaks quite clearly on the need to work towards systemic justice. The clearest example is when we are taught that the Kingdom of God is a present reality (Lk 17:21, Mt 6-Lord's Prayer), meaning we should be working to making this world reflect the justice of God's dream for Creation. We also see Jesus' view of his own ministry is to bring good news (the Gospel) to the poor (Lk 4:18) and he regularly speaks out against institutional injustice (Mk 12:41, Lk 18:18). And Jesus certainly knew of the sorts of reforms that the prophets were advocating when there were speaking out against a society and nation that had failed to protect the poor (Zech 7:10, Mal 3:5, Amos 5:11). The Songs of Hannah (1 Sam 2:8) and Mary (Lk 1:46-55) testify to this idea as well.
It's a false dichotomy and a poor question that leads only to a misunderstanding of what the Gospel proclaims and requires of us. We are called to both help the poor (and anyone for that matter) through individual acts of charity, but we are also required to reform unjust structures in society that are oppressive.
But there is another interesting aspect to this infographic. There is no getting around the fact that to the average "unaffiliated" there really isn't a difference between the two sides (46 vs 42, which is negligible once a margin of error is accounted for), meaning they're close to the "both" position.
But whites (whether Mainline, Catholic, or Evangelical) prefer (yes, prefer) a reading of Jesus and the prophets that suggests the references are to individual acts of charity. And what are individual acts of charity? Often, check writing. Check writing keeps the poor at an arm's length. It prevents us from actually seeing the injustice, and it makes fostering compassion more difficult. Or when we speak of outreach, we often refer to going to the soup kitchen once a month, or going on a yearly mission trip. And the end result is often us feeling like "we've done something." And not to discredit these efforts, but they stop short of actually being with those in need in the fullest sense. These are instances of giving people fish to eat when they are hungry, which is a needed and important task.
But it is only half the task. The other half is teaching them how to fish, or in the case of poverty, helping to eliminate the obstacles that prevent them from fishing for themselves or having access to the fish market that everyone else has. Because when we are really with those in need, our hearts are moved and we are unable to simply wave goodbye and feel good about our act of charity. Our hearts will ache, knowing that we're returning home (and I'm writing as a mainline, white, middle-class male) to our life as the majority, in our middle-class (or better) lifestyle. And when that happens, then we do the work of creating a just society.
The poll shows that blacks and Hispanics (and minorities tend to be closer to the poverty end of the spectrum- link for citation) tend to have the opposite view of Jesus' and the prophets' message. According to Pew, they tend to see the call to reform society, which has failed them. While I'm sure that any hungry person appreciates a loaf of bread, and any homeless person welcomes a blanket and shelter, they'd rather have the chance to have equality and justice (which is supposed to be guaranteed them in the Constitution). The suggestion seems to be that those who often are closer to the ones receiving these individual acts of charity don't think that individual acts of charity are fully addressing the problem.
The issue is that systemic prejudice and injustice is largely invisible. Everyone knows racism when they see it (or at least, most people do), and so we cry out when we see that on display. But where are the cries for justice in our broken systems of taxes, social welfare programs, or just plain selfishness that seems to infect the hearts of us all? This poll shows that those who are living closer to poverty realize that there are systems that need to be changed, not just "handouts" that need to be given to help them with that one day.
This past Sunday I preached on the Lord's Prayer, and in part, I discussed the idea that "give us our daily bread" might be better translated at "give us the bread we need for tomorrow," with "tomorrow" being an eschatological reference to the coming of the Kingdom. While our daily bread certainly is needed, the bread for tomorrow, the bread of justice, the bread of the Kingdom is what we yearn for.
Perhaps Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best when he said that the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice. Until that arc is bent enough to get us to a fuller realization of the Kingdom, we will need to help the poor through acts of charity. But it is also our task to bend that arc through seeking and serving Christ in all person, and in all institutions. Part of our call is to respond with compassion to those in need, and part of our call is to bend that arc. May God give us the grace and strength to do both.
