"This was the iniquity of
your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food,
and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the
poor and needy." Ezekiel 16:49
I recently read an article regarding
welfare, by Pastor Art Kohl. The above passage really stood out to me, and made me think. Most translations use the words "help" or "support", but the Amplified, Young's Literal, and King James (used above) all use the phrase "strengthen the hand." This is a completely different nuance to the idea presented. It makes all the difference between a hand-out and a hand up.
Our current American system is one of hand-outs. We have entitlement assistance programs that go a long way to providing for the poor and needy among us - Social Security, Welfare, Food Stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, and so on. There is neither relationship nor responsibility involved in the assistance. This may fill the hands of the poor and needy, but does it strengthen them?
Consider a man who recently had extensive surgery on his dominant arm. For the next several weeks, he will be unable to use that arm at all - he will be destitute of strength in that arm, and will need to rely on his wife for everything from getting dressed in the morning to the cutting of his meat at dinner. However, after this time he will be expected to start strengthening his arm through physical therapy and will, hopefully, regain full use and independence of that limb.
Consider also a baby, on the cusp of mobility. How does she strengthen
her legs for walking? Her legs are strengthened by standing, a little
at a time, doing as much as she can, while holding on to her mother's or
father's hands. She cannot get strong on her own; she needs a little
help. But after a time, her legs are strong enough to carry her, and
soon she will be off and running.
Perhaps this is why my favorite charities to support are
Habitat for Humanity and
The Heifer Project. These are organizations which seek to strengthen the hands of those receiving assistance. In the case of Habitat, the needy family participates in the construction of the house to be donated. With the Heifer Project, the family that receives animals is shown how to care for that animal, and the animals provide them with a livelihood where they can sell milk, eggs, wool, or other products.
In America, we have families which are third and fourth generation welfare recipients. Time and again I hear statistics of how difficult it is to break free from the welfare system. If the American welfare system is strengthening hands, why are so many left so weak and powerless? But if our system is robbing people of their strength, why do we continue to fight for it?
By providing a livelihood for the able-bodied with no expectation of effort on their part, we enfeeble them. Muscles left unused atrophy, and this is no different.
So, what is a Biblical approach to strengthening the hands of the poor and needy?
1. Allow people to choose to not be helped.
The Apostle Paul in
2 Thessalonians 3 says,
6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.
Note that this says "The one who is unwilling to work." If you are capable of supporting yourself, you ought to do so, as much as possible. There is a famous quote by Benjamin Franklin which says, "I think the
best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty,
but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries,
that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they
provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the
contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves,
and became richer." When we choose to provide fully for those capable, yet unwilling, of helping themselves, we discourage them from feeling capable of sustaining themselves, and we allow their hands to become weak.
2. Take care of your own family.
Before the Great Society was implemented by President Lyndon Johnson, giving us the entitlement programs we take for granted now, it was assumed that families would support one another in times of need. Elderly parents would be cared for by adult children, orphans would be cared for by relatives, and so on. This is actually the Biblical model set forth in
1 Timothy 5:
4 But
if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of
all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family
and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
When we take care of our own family, both nuclear and extended, there is no need to burden the government, and, by extension, the rest of society, with their needs. Only the truly destitute, those with no one to care for them, would need to rely on help from society at large.
3. Leave room for the needy to find meaningful work.
In the Old Testament, when God was setting forth the rules by which society was to be formed, He made provision for the poor and needy.
Leviticus 19:9-10 says,
9 When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
It is because of this provision that
Ruth and Naomi were able to survive when the returned to Israel from Moab. It was not charity that provided for them, but Ruth was able to go and gather enough food to sustain them. Her hands were strong because the Law provided room for her to sustain herself.
Yes, there is room for that today, too. I know a couple whose friend has been out of work for some time. This couple has health issues that keep them from some of the more challenging tasks in maintaining their property. Rather than hire a lawn service, they have asked their friend to do this work for them, and they intend to pay him what they would have paid a lawn service. They have made room for their friend to find meaningful work, to keep his hands strong, and so that he can have honor in his wages.
4. Be generous, and hold your possessions lightly.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Acts 2:44-45.
This early church model is not so much one of a socialist system or a commune as one of open-handed generosity. When we see someone in need, we ought to give to them. When this is done in relationship, as modeled by this early church description, then all hands are strengthened together. There is no shame in need, no boasting in giving; it is all simply the natural give-and-take of loving relationship.
Now, I'm sure there are some that will say, "But what about Jesus' words in Matthew? What about:
35For
I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me... 40Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Because again, this is a passage that is used to support government-run social welfare programs. But Jesus never insisted that one person give to another. He didn't demand that His disciples give to the widow who was offering her last mite to the temple. He didn't requisition the loaves and fishes from the little boy. Jesus' model was always one of sacrificial giving in relationship.
So the way I look at this passage from Matthew 25 is that these are those little opportunities that arise each and every day for strengthening the hands of those around us, whether those hands belong to the destitute, or only the weary. It is up to you, and it is up to me, to strengthen the hands of the poor and needy. And it doesn't need to be momentous to be meaningful.
What would happen if we stopped telling people, "You can't do it," and started telling them, "You must at least try"? What would happen if we all left a little room in our dealings, so that those who are struggling could find wages with honor? What would happen if we were all a little more generous with the stranger in our midst? If each of us looked not only to our own needs, but also to the needs around us, would we still need the Great Society?
Perhaps we could all start looking at our homes, our extended families, our neighbors, and our towns to see how we can go beyond filling the hands of the needy, and actually making them strong.
2 Help each other in troubles and problems. This is the kind of law Christ asks us to obey. 4 Everyone
should look at himself and see how he does his own work. Then he can be
happy in what he has done. He should not compare himself with his
neighbor. 5 Everyone must do his own work. Galatians 6:2, 4-5
