No one wants to be poor. Most who are poor don't even want to be thought of as being poor. Not that it's a shame to be poor, or that being poor is evidence that one is not very spiritual (as a Christian millionaire once said to me: "If you had real faith, you wouldn't be poor"). But one doesn't want to be perceived as being willing to elicit sympathy from others, for oneself. I don't think that is an evil kind of pride. But if there is anything of real value that the poor possess, it is their dignity, the dignity of being human. I know that may sound silly to some people. Still, it is the truth.
But this essay is not meant to be about me, so much as it is about how that so many professing Christians despise the Lord's poor. Which is a very serious matter indeed, in the sight of God. I don't recall that I've ever heard any sermons preached, on the lines of what I have to say. What a tragedy, that ministers ~ for any number of reasons ~ fail or refuse to preach the "whole counsel of God." But, then, I suppose my own reluctance has been just another example of that.
Nevertheless, the Holy Ghost has not been remiss to address the issue; God has not hidden His face from the problems of greed, selfishness, inequity, and the lack of brotherly love, amongst the body of Christ. But God has made known what is His will for the Church:
"Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor." (James 2:5-6)
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? (James 2:14-16)
"For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:11-18)
"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence." (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
"For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me." (1 Corinthians 4:7-16)
"Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; how that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: as it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack." (2 Corinthians 8:1-15)
"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." (Matthew 25:34-46)Shall I go on? There are many other such passages of Scripture which address the same issues. But I reckon that what I have included, above, suffices to show that the problems of poverty and inequity ~ especially amongst the body of Christ ~ are neither trivial nor incidental matters with God.
But why am I ~ after so long a time of refraining from doing so ~ now writing about such (what shall I call them? "delicate?") matters? My reasons are twofold. Firstly, because I foresee a time that, I believe, is now very close at hand: when that all ordinary means of survival shall be greatly further removed from out the reach of the poor. (Of course, I could be wrong about that; though I doubt it.) And except that God shall then provide for His poor ~ after the manner whereby He provided for Elijah, during the famine; or, as God provided manna from heaven, for Israel in the wilderness; then, the poor (who are already struggling to survive, in 21st century America) may soon be at great risk of . . . well, you can imagine the possible consequences. That is, if the issues I am herein confronting aren't corrected amongst the body of Christ.
Secondly, because I have long believed that the failure of Christians in America to submit to a deep work of God, in genuine repentance and true humility, is the very thing that has brought upon us the generation-long spiritual drought that we have suffered unto this day. I have oftentimes written about, and pleaded for, real Revival. Why aren't we already experiencing a great outpouring of God's Spirit? ~ as every Christian ought to know that it is God's will so to do. Something, surely, is still standing in the way of God ~ in the churches.
How can one not perceive the gross inequities that are flagrantly displayed amongst and within the churches? Some drive new, expensive vehicles and wear designer clothing; whilst others, oftentimes, have not gas money enough to get to church. I could easily recount a hundred different, real illustrations. I have written, too, about the obscene misuse of church funds (here) ~ whereby, typically, costly edifices are built and expensive properties maintained as "churches" (which then remain empty and unused throughout most of every week), whilst the pastor and a tiny handful of paid staff are usually generously endowed; instead of those funds being used in any substantial measure to care for the churches' own members and their families which are in need.
Shall I go on?
Who else is likely to write such things as I have herein written, in love, to the Church? Those who have laid up significant stores of foodstuffs and emergency provisions, in expectation of the coming apocalypse, but who are undecided about which of their own family members may (or may not) be allowed to share those supplies, if and when the time comes: are such Christians as that going to write an essay like this one? Or how about those whose IRAs, or 401Ks, or other investment and/or retirement accounts, are numbered in the hundreds-of-thousands (or, in some cases, millions) of dollars: will any of them plead with the Church for compassion and mercy to be shown to the poor among the people of God? I don't doubt that there may be some, few, who can and would; but they are the exception, by far. By very far.
American society ~ amongst which the vast majority of churches are practically indistinguishable from that, is.... Actually, it is the fulfillment of that dire prophecy which the Holy Ghost revealed, in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, as follows:
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous...highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof...""From such turn away," the Spirit of God went on to say, at the conclusion of the above passage.
Years ago I knew a man who was invited to go with some other ministers to conduct a series of meetings in Haiti. The first night, he said, he went to the meeting place about an hour early so as to allow himself time to pray. But when he arrived, the meeting was already in progress. The following night, he went two hours early (as he thought), only to find that the meeting was already going strong. When he inquired whether he had misunderstood what time the meetings were supposed to begin each night, he was informed that because many of the people had to walk such great distances to attend the meetings, most of them chose to stay at that place rather than to go back and forth between their homes and the meeting place.
He also told me that during each and every meeting, two separate offerings were received. One of which was given for the support of the church, and the other offering was distributed to to the poorest amongst themselves. He said that he had never witnessed such joy and love in any other church, no, not in America.
In my studies of Revival, I often have read how that a spirit of giving and of caring one for another is characteristic of true Revival. How could it not be so? For, that is the very nature of God: to give; to help; to love.
But in America, churches have long since grown accustomed to practice a strange doctrine, namely: the people are expected to give, and give, and give to the "church" ~ as if the "church" is something other than themselves! But rare indeed is the church which demonstrates that caring for its own members, in very practical ways, is among that church's highest priorities.
Yet, folks wonder why it is that there is so little of God's Presence and power in America's churches, today. Or do they, really, wonder? Actually, I believe the situation has become so bad in the churches that most people ~ especially younger ~ don't even realize how spiritually impoverished the churches are. They don't know that it is supposed to be any other way than how it is and always has been (as far as they know).
But why do they not know? Not only has the knowledge and practice of grace which involves charitable expressions of love been all but forgotten. But the very essence of the divine Life of the Spirit of Christ ~ which ought to fill every Christian's heart and mind, and which ought then to fill the very atmosphere, of every Christian assembly, with a veritable fragrance of the love of God (it is very real and wonderful): the essence of that Life, I say, was long ago allowed ~ through carelessness and neglect, and through love of the world ~ to dissipate. And instead, a lukewarm, outward form of religion has been substituted in place of true spirituality.
And we call that, church. God help us. But who, really, wants God to reform and revive the Church? Then, where is the proof of that desire? Who is listening with open heart to what the Spirit is saying to the churches? to Laodicea? Who has enough of God to be "valiant for the truth"? Many have simply left the church altogether ~ rather than to fight the battle to reform the Church.
Already, judgment is coming to America; though the floodgates have not yet burst wide open. But when they do ~ and be sure they will, the unfaithful, professing Church shall not escape.
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