A Unified Force of Action
After reading Bret’s blog and speaking with my mother today, who also told me of an experience she had with giving to a poor man with a sign, I decided to do a little research and recall.
Entrusting the $ that is given by individual families to the poor is not as easily understood as it should be. This is because of our individualized mentality as followers of Jesus.
When followers of Jesus saw themselves as a unified force of action rather than individual believers, all of the alms (monies given to the poor) were put into the hands of the elders who distributed them as the needy came for help.
Also, in the time of Jesus, everyone was to give to the poor "including the poor." That is why the widow brought her two small pieces of copper and put them into the coffer. Usually this story is told as if she didn't have to give, but out of faith she gave despite her lack.
The fact is she was obligated to give as all Jews were to give a portion of their money to the poor. The small amount of her monetary possessions was not an excuse for neglecting to give to the poor even though she herself was poor.
When a person gave, they either had a "good eye" or a "bad eye," which is a Hebraic idiom for being “generous” or “greedy.” It was taught during Jesus day that a person who gives 2.5% of their monetary possessions to the poor is a generous person. Since the widow could not give 2.5%, she gave everything.
That being said, her situation is much different than the situation of the poor in our culture today. She would have been fed and taken care of by what was received from all who came to give. Therefore, she was not really placing herself in dire straights. One of the major bragging rights of the Jews in Jesus’ day was that “no Jew ever did without.”
Today, many of the poor in our culture would place their selves in a very vulnerable position should they decide to depend on the Church for support. The alms of the church have been replaced by "tithes," which are generally used to pay church employee salaries and take care of the "church" property.
As for the importance of giving to the poor as a body of Christ, there is an ancient Jewish story told of how the poor receive from others that goes as follows:
"A poor man came to a wealthy landowner and asked for help. The rich man said, 'I am sorry. I had a bad year.' The poor man responded, 'Why does your bad year mean that I should not receive help.'"
The point being that the poor are always to be taken care of by their community. And still, there exists the responsibility among the poor to make monetary contributions to and for others in need.
9 comments:
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Interesting. So how do you propose to teach the poor to give? In a structure which keeps the poor in their state, how do we teach benevolence to an enslaved people?
Understanding that the Word of God is a source for putting us in a right relationship with our fellow human beings is the first step.
In Jesus' day, the most important aspect of life was the opportunity to listen to and learn from a great teacher of the Torah. To the ancient Jew the Torah was God's instruction for how to live productively with his fellow human beings in this life.
The structure that keeps people from being productive is the one that does not allow the practical wisdom and instruction of God to be clearly interpreted through teaching and by example.
There is a quote that says, "The greatest insult to a man is to expect nothing from him."
The way to teach the poor to give is to first expect them to give, not with arrogance, but with a genuine partnership attitude. No one should wear the hat of giver, while others are treated as only takers.
Imagine the feeling we get when we go to a restaurant and one person decides to pick up the entire tab before the rest of the people have even ordered their food. We are appreciative and, in another way, we become somewhat submissive, as if we are now under that person’s care for the entire meal.
No longer do we expect to order whatever we want. We may even skip dessert or drink water in order to show our respect and appreciation.
This is the attitude that is imposed on those we think of as "too poor to give." Sometimes they begin to believe that they have nothing to offer anyone else and they stop even trying for fear of being patronized with an "Oh, no. We can't let you pay for that."
Some may not mind living high on someone else's hog, and there are others who would gladly have their two pieces of copper used by another.
We teach by fulfilling (correctly interpreting) the Word of God and by treating everyone with respect as a person who has "something," no matter how little, to offer.
Good stuff Johnny
Hey Johnny,
You've made some really good points . . . however, I'm still struggling to connect the dots as it relates to Larry’s question.
How do you apply your philosophy to the families seeking assistance at Christmas (every year), to the people who push & shove in the school supply distribution line, to the person who comes to our office on their anniversary date to get more assistance, and to the homeless guy out on the street raising beer money?
Bret,
The greatest difficulty that we face is 2000 years of anti-Jewish modeling. We no longer live the way Jesus and the other First Century followers of Jesus would have lived.
We no longer value community over privacy, sharing over self-sufficiency, or putting the needs of others before our own.
Teaching the poor to give will require 2000 years of backtracking and mind-molding, which will be nearly impossible.
The closest I can offer as an answer is in my last comment: "We teach by fulfilling (correctly interpreting) the Word of God and by treating everyone with respect as a person who has 'something,' no matter how little, to offer."
In other words, we will have to show them that they do have something to give and an obligation to share, no matter how little they may have. To go along with that, we as the church will also have to ensure that the hungry are fed, the naked are clothed, et cetera.
It will require a major change in the mentality of the poor to realize that they are also a part of the giving population, not simply the receivers.
Does that answer the question?
Simply put, when they come in to inquire about assistance, place on the application a box with a statement next to it that says:
I would like to donate $___ to help others in my community who are in need.
They will probably be surprised, and some may even be honored to put even a 1 in the blank.
absolutely.
We could even put a sign in the social services office that says,
"Everyone has something to give. What can you give today?"
Any other suggestions?
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