Is God Really on the Side of the Poor?

Is God, as some liberation theologians have recently suggested, biased in favor of the poor? The Bible has a clear answer. God is not partial. God has the same loving concern for each person created. For precisely that reason God cares as much for the weak and disadvantaged as for the strong and fortunate. By contrast with the way you and I, as well as the comfortable and powerful of every age and society, always act toward the poor, God seems to take a special interest in the poor and oppressed.

Might there in fact be some important sense in which one should say that God is on the side of the poor? I want to examine four strands of biblical teaching related to this question.

The Bible clearly and repeatedly teaches a fundamental point that we have often overlooked. At the crucial moments when God displayed mighty acts in history to reveal God's nature and will, God also intervened to liberate the poor and oppressed.

The Exodus
God displayed power at the Exodus in order to free oppressed slaves. When God called Moses at the burning bush, God's intention was to end suffering and injustice: "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians" (Exodus 3:7-8).

Now of course the liberation of oppressed slaves was not God's only purpose in the Exodus. God also acted because of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God wanted to create a special people to whom God's self could be revealed. The liberation of a poor, oppressed people, however, was right at the heart of God's design (Exodus 6:5-7).

The preamble to the Ten Commandments, probably the most important portion of the entire law for Israel, begins with this same revolutionary truth. Before God gives the two tables of the law, Yahweh identifies God's self: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Deuteronomy 5:6, Exodus 20:2). Yahweh is the one who frees from bondage. The God of the Bible wants to be know as the liberator of the oppressed.

The Exodus was certainly the decisive event in the creation of the chosen people. We distort the biblical interpretation of this momentous occasion unless we see that at this pivotal point, the Lord of the universe was at work correcting oppression and liberating the poor.

Destruction and Captivity
When they settled in the promised land, the Israelites soon discovered that Yahweh's passion for justice was a two-edged sword. When they were oppressed, it led to their freedom. But when they became the oppressors, it led to their destruction.

When God called Israel out of Egypt and made the covenant with them, God gave them God's law so that they could live together in peace and justice. But Israel failed to obey the law of the covenant. As a result, Israel was destroyed and God's chosen people were sent into captivity. Why?

The explosive message of the prophets is that God destroyed Israel not just because of idolatry but also because of their economic exploitation of the poor.

The middle of the eighth century B.C. was a time of political success and economic prosperity unknown since the days of Solomon. But it was precisely at this moment that God sent the prophet Amos to announce the unwelcome news that the northern kingdom of Israel would be destroyed. Penetrating beneath the facade of current prosperity and fantastic economic growth, Amos saw terrible oppression of the poor. He saw the rich "trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth" (2:7). He saw that the affluent lifestyle of the rich was built on oppression of the poor (6:1-7). Even in the courts the poor had no hope because the rich bribed the judges (5:10-15).

God's word through Amos was that the northern kingdom would be destroyed and the people taken into exile (6:4-7; 7:11, 17). Only a very few years after Amos spoke, it happened just as God had said.

We must not ignore other very important factors. The prophet Hosea (a contemporary of Amos) disclosed that the nation's idolatry was another cause of impending destruction. But the catastrophe of national destruction and captivity reveals the God of the Exodus still at work correcting the oppression of the poor.

The Incarnation
Christians believe that God revealed God's self most completely in Jesus of Nazareth. How did the incarnate one define his mission?

His words in the synagogue at Nazareth, spoken near the beginning of his public ministry, still throb with hope for the poor. He read from the prophet Isaiah:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,to set at liberty those who are oppressed,to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).

After reading these words, he informed the audience that this scripture was now fulfilled in himself.

Some avoid the clear meaning of Jesus' statement by spiritualizing his words. Certainly, as other texts show, he came to open our blinded hearts, to die for our sins, and to free us from the oppression of guilt. But that is not what he means here. The words about releasing captives and liberating the oppressed are from Isaiah. In their original Old Testament setting, they unquestionably referred to physical oppression and captivity.

Jesus' actual ministry corresponded precisely to the words of Luke 4. He spent most of his time not among the rich and powerful in Jerusalem, but among the poor in the cultural and economic backwater of Galilee. He healed the sick and blind. He fed the hungry. And he warned his followers in the strongest possible words that those who do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoners will experience eternal damnation (Matthew 25:31-46).

At the supreme moment of history, when God took on human flesh, we see the God of Israel still at work liberating the poor and oppressed and summoning God's people to do the same. That is the central reason for Christian concern for the poor.

God not only acts in history to liberate the poor, but in a mysterious way that we can only half fathom, the sovereign of the universe identifies with the weak and destitute. Two proverbs state this beautiful truth. Proverbs 14:31 puts it negatively: "Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker." Even more moving is the positive formulation: "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord" (19:17). What a statement! Helping a poor person is like helping the creator of all things with a loan.

Born in a small, insignificant province of the Roman Empire, Jesus' first visitors, the shepherds, were persons viewed as thieves by Jewish society. His parents were too poor to bring the normal offering for purification. Instead of a lamb, they brought two pigeons to the temple. Jesus was a refugee (Matthew 2:13-15) and then an immigrant in Galilee (Matthew 2:19-23). Since Jewish rabbis received no fees for their teaching, Jesus had no regular income during his public ministry. Nor did he have a home of his own (Matthew 8:20). Jesus also sent out his disciples in extreme poverty (Luke 9:3; 10:4).

His identification with the poor and unfortunate was, he said, a sign that he was the Messiah. When John the Baptist sent messengers to ask Jesus if he were the long-expected Messiah, Jesus simply pointed to his deeds. He was healing the sick and preaching to the poor (Matthew 11:2-6). Jesus also preached to the rich. But apparently it was his particular concern to preach to the poor that validated his claim to Messiahship.

Only as we feel the presence of the incarnate God in the form of a poor Galilean can we begin to understand.

"...as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Mt. 25:40).

If this saying of Jesus is awesome, its parallel is terrifying. "Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me" (v. 45). What does that mean in a world where millions die each year while rich Christians live in affluence? What does it mean to see the Lord of the universe lying by the roadside starving and walk by on the other side? We cannot know.

We can only pledge, in fear and trembling, not to kill him again.

Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus echoes and illustrates a third teaching prominent throughout scripture: The rich may prosper for a time but eventually God will destroy them; the poor, on the other hand, God will exalt.

Mary's Magnificat puts it simply and bluntly:
"My soul magnifies the Lord. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away" (Luke. 1:46-53).

"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you" (James 5:1) is a constant theme of biblical revelation.

Why does scripture declare that God regularly reverses the good fortunes of the rich? Is God engaged in class warfare? Actually our texts never say that God loves the poor more than the rich. But they do constantly assert that God lifts up the poor and disadvantaged. They insist that God casts down the wealthy and powerful--precisely because they became wealthy by oppressing the poor and because they failed to feed the hungry.

Why did James warn the rich to weep and howl because of impending misery? Because they had cheated their workers:
"You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter" (James 5:3-5).

God does not have class enemies. But he hates and punishes injustice and neglect of the poor. And the rich, if we accept the repeated warnings of scripture, are frequently guilty of both.

Through the prophets God announced devastation and destruction for both rich individuals and rich nations who oppressed the poor (Jeremiah 22:13-19; Amos 6:4-7; Jeremiah 5:26-31; Isaiah 1:21-26). Nowhere is this clearer than in Isaiah. Through Isaiah God declared that the rulers of Judah were rich because they had cheated the poor (Isaiah 3:14-25).

Sometimes scripture does not charge the rich with direct oppression of the poor. It simply accuses them of failure to share with the needy. But the result is the same.

The biblical explanation of Sodom's destruction provides an illustration of this terrible truth. If asked why Sodom was destroyed, virtually all Christians would point to the city's gross sexual perversity. But that is a one-sided recollection of what scripture actually teaches. Ezekiel shows that one important reason God destroyed Sodom was that it stubbornly refused to share with the poor:

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them, when I saw it" (Ezekiel 16:49-50).

The text does not say that they oppressed the poor. It simply accuses them of failing to assist the needy.

Affluent Christians remember Sodom's sexual misconduct and forget her sinful unconcern for the poor. Is it because the former is less upsetting? Have we allowed our economic self-interest to distort our interpretations of scripture? Undoubtedly. But precisely to the extent that our affirmation of scriptural authority is sincere, we will permit painful texts to correct our thinking. As we do, we will acknowledge that the God of the Bible wreaks horrendous havoc on the rich. But it is not because God does not love rich persons. It is because the rich regularly oppress the poor and neglect the needy.

Since God cares so much for the poor, it is hardly surprising that God wants God's people to do the same. God's command to believers to have a special regard for the poor, weak, and disadvantaged is the final theme of biblical literature I want to explore.

Equal justice for the poor in court is a constant theme of scripture (Ex. 23:6; Psalm 72:1-4; Amos 5:10-15). Widows, orphans and strangers also receive particularly frequent attention (Ex. 22:21-24).

The Bible specifically commands believers to imitate God's special concern for the poor and oppressed. In the Old Testament Yahweh frequently reminded the Israelites of their former oppression in Egypt when Yahweh commanded them to care for the poor (Ex. 22:21-24; Deuteronomy. 15:13-15). Jesus taught his followers to imitate God's mercy in their lending as well (Luke. 6:33-36).

When Paul took up the collection for the poor in Jerusalem, he pointedly reminded the Corinthians that the Lord Jesus became poor so that they might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). When the author of 1 John called on Christians to share with the needy, he first mentioned the example of Christ: "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16). Then, in the very next verse, he urged Christians to give generously to the needy. It is the amazing self-sacrifice of Christ which Christians are to imitate as they relate to the poor and oppressed. We have seen that God's word commands believers to care for the poor. In fact the Bible underlines the command by teaching that when God's people care for the poor, they imitate God. But that is not all. God's word teaches that those who neglect the poor and oppressed are really not God's people at all--no matter how frequent their religious rituals or how orthodox their creeds and confessions.

God thundered again and again through the prophets that worship in the context of mistreatment of the poor and disadvantaged is an outrage. Isaiah denounced Israel (he called it Sodom and Gomorrah!) because it tried to worship Yahweh and oppress the weak at the same time:

"Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?... Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies--I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates..... Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:10-15).

God wants justice, not mere religious rituals, from such people. "Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice; correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:16-17; also 58:3-7).

Jesus, Religion, and Justice
Nor has God changed. Jesus repeated the same theme. He warned the people about the scribes "who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers" (Mark 12:38-40). Their pious-looking garments and frequent visits to the synagogue were a sham. Like Amos and Isaiah, Jesus announced God's outrage against those who try to mix pious practices and mistreatment of the poor.

But he was even more blunt and sharp. To those who do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the prisoners, he will speak a terrifying word at the final judgment: "Depart from me you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Mt. 25:41). The meaning is clear and unambiguous. Jesus intends his disciples to imitate his own special concern for the poor and needy. Those who disobey will experience eternal damnation.

But perhaps we have misinterpreted Matthew 25. Some people think that "the least of these" (v. 45) and "the least of these my brethren" (v. 40) refer only to Christians. This exegesis is not certain. But even if the primary reference of these words is to poor believers, other aspects of Jesus' teaching not only permit but require us to extend the meaning of Matthew 25 to both believers and unbelievers who are poor and oppressed. The story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:29ff) teaches that anybody in need is our neighbor. In light of the parable of the Good Samaritan and other clear teachings of Jesus, one is compelled to say that part of the full meaning of Matthew 25 is that those who fail to aid the poor and oppressed (whether they are believers or not) are simply not the people of God.

Lest we forget the warning, God repeats it in 1 John 3:17-18. "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action" (See also James 2:14-17). Again the words are plain.

What do these words mean for Western Christians who demand increasing affluence each year while fellow Christians in the Third World suffer malnutrition, deformed bodies and brains--even starvation? The text clearly says that if we fail to aid the needy, we do not have God's love--no matter what we may say. It is deeds that count, not pious phrases and saintly speeches.

But the question persists. Are professing church believers no longer Christians because of continuing sin? Obviously not. Christians know that sinful selfishness continues to plague them. We are members of the people of God not because of our own righteousness but solely because of Christ's death for us.

But that response is inadequate. All the texts we have explored surely mean more than that the people of God are disobedient (but still justified all the same) when they persistently neglect the poor.

Certainly none of us would claim that we are fully implementing the biblical call to side with the poor. And we cling to the hope of forgiveness. But there comes a point (thank God, for God alone knows where) where neglect of the poor is no longer forgiven. It is punished. Eternally.

Is it not possible that large numbers of Western Christians have reached that point? North Americans earn 14 times as much as the people of India but we give a tiny amount to the church and most churches spend much of that pitiful pittance on themselves. Can we seriously claim that we are imitating God's concern for the poor and the oppressed?

God is not biased. But neither is God neutral in the struggle for justice. The Bible clearly and repeatedly teaches that God is at work in history casting down the rich and exalting the poor. Why? Because the rich have failed to aid the needy. Or because they have often become rich, as scripture points out, precisely because they have oppressed the poor. The God revealed in scripture is on the side of the poor precisely because God is not biased, precisely because God is a God of impartial justice.

God longs for the salvation of the rich as much as for the salvation of the poor. God desires fulfillment, joy, and happiness for all the creatures. But that does not contradict the fact that God is on the side of the poor. Genuine biblical repentance and conversion lead people to turn away from all sin--including economic oppression. Salvation for the rich will include liberation from their injustice. Thus God's desire for salvation and fulfillment of the rich is in complete harmony with the scriptural teaching that God is on the side of the poor.

God's concern for the poor is astonishing and boundless. We can only begin to fathom the depth of God's identification with the poor as we see it disclosed in the incarnation. His passion for justice compels him to obliterate rich societies and individuals who oppress the poor and neglect the needy. Consequently, God's people--if they are indeed his people--follow in the footsteps of the God of the poor.

Ron Sider, the author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger and founder of Evangelicals for Social Action, was part of the Jubilee Fellowship of Germantown in Philadelphia when this article appeared.