The Least of These VIII: Equalization Based In Christ

Epilogue: Equalization in the Kingdom Based In Christ-Centeredness

As I did this paper I found that the idea or concept of the Kingdom of God is inescapable when dealing with the poor. Since all of history is moving inexorably towards this final destination in God’s scheme of things, we must be able to see how all things in the past and even in modern times are being shaped by a sovereign God to that ends. What is clear when we think of things holistically on God’s scale is that there can be no place for suffering, deprivation or inequality in the Kingdom of God. Things will need to be righted if we are ever to reach that consummation. The Kingdom of course is any place where God reigns in believer’s/people’s hearts. If God reigns in people’s hearts the premise is that all will dwell equally in unity and in love…in Jesus Christ as I’ve state profusely in this paper.

Herein is the key to understanding why Jesus called us to help the poor. I believe it is as simple as a matter of equalization or normalization of relations between all those that will be in the Kingdom with God or those welcomed into it. This applies to not only the Apostles, but to us as individual believers in the 21st century and all those in between. The problem is that, because the Kingdom has not yet fully come, we cannot know fully what it will be like. We can only follow Jesus’ example in accordance with Scripture in faith to try and align ourselves with where we believe we need to be to best fulfill this. In so doing I believe it helps to eradicate many of the things that are currently in human lives that would prevent us from being in the Kingdom together in harmony. Whether it be the fact that our neighbor is more destitute or disenfranchised than us or because we have a surplus of wealth or affluence while our neighbor toils in vain. Throughout the Bible we see Jesus’ insisting that people give up wealth and monetary gain that is over and above what they need to live and specifically tells them to give it to the people that do not have enough to live properly. Not only this, Scripture also insists that they do it with the proper heart condition. Just giving is not good enough...it needs to be done willingly (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Additionally, there are other allusions in the Bible to treating everyone fairly and without partiality. I believe this is the another key to understanding why we are told by God to equalize or normalize our relationships not only to God, but also to one another (love God and love you neighbor as yourself). It is because we are to have the mind of Christ that wants us all to be one united in the one will of God.  Because of passages like James 2 we know unquestionably that we are not to be partial to certain believers over others, especially playing favorites to the rich and snubbing the poor. The reason is because we are always best served as Christians to emulate God in all that we do. Also in James 2 we see the principle that God is no respecter of mankind or humans based on outward superficial appearance or economic and social status. By treating your neighbor preferentially, poorly or totally ignoring them when they are in need, you're creating disunity between two of God’s creations that were meant to interact together amiably. Anything that is not of unity is not of the Spirit. If it’s not of the Spirit it can’t possibly be of Christ, if it’s not of Christ it cannot possibly enter the Kingdom, can it? Therefore the behavior can hardly be considered Christian. This type of behavior cannot bring glory to God as Jesus wished to do in His ministry. 

In the end we as Christians will solely be judged on the condition of souls as matched against Scripture and the perfectness of Jesus Christ. The value of a person from God’s view is therefore based on the value of their heart/soul. Things that really matter to God are not driven by things outside the human like wealth, money and status but what is inside and what motivates them. On the eternal scale of things, God see’s man for where they stand in relation to His Son. If God views all men equally based on where they stand with Jesus…then so should we. They are either being saved or they are perishing in their sin. A really good indicator of which is manifest in our actions, particularly how a person treats those in need. If man has no compassion and no desire to help the poor when they know they are struggling or suffering, this couldn’t possibly be of the mind of Christ or driven by the Spirit. This should be one of the first things made manifest in a believers actions as it is/was a huge portion of Jesus’ ministry and subsequently the Apostles and the His immediate disciples. If the Spirit dwells within us it should be one of our primary ministries also. Not necessarily because we are ushering in the Kingdom in full (only Jesus can do that fully and correctly), but rather because we are centering ourselves in God’s will which assures us of our salvation. Sometimes I believe God does this just to give us a convincing sign that makes us confident that we are indeed “working out our salvation” that has been placed within us. It is a salvation that we’ve been given a down-payment on in the form of the Holy Spirit which can be seen through our compassion for the poor and outcasts of society.

Jesus wants whatever is ours to be our brother’s, sister’s or neighbor’s and vice versa. He wants us all to share now in this life so that when we reach the Kingdom we will share with all believers then too. The truth is that whatever is “ours” is really God’s. If we don’t reallocate these things, He will reallocate things when He sees fit anyway. It seems as if benevolence for the downtrodden and compassion for others will be one of those things that won’t get burned up in the fires of judgment and will make it to the New Heavens or the New Earth where Christ will reign forever. This is because it becomes us as we go from here to there. Scripture is replete with statements that convey this principle. It is no better stated and exemplified than it is in John 17 when Jesus prays the “High Priestly Prayer” for the well-being of His disciples and then all believers…even as He stands directly in the shadow of His looming Crucifixion and the Cross that will equalize everyone who believes and will condemn those who do not believe. What is one of the key things Jesus says in this/these prayers that leads me to believe that He wants us all to be equal sharing with one another what we have (Schlabach 86)? We are to be a perfectly balanced Kingdom built one stone upon another and all of us aligned to the Cornerstone...Jesus Christ.

John 17:10-11 ~ “All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.  I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

We see in the prayer for the Disciples that Jesus is sharing equally within the Godhead (Hendriksen, “John” 355). We should too if for no other reason than we are emulating the Triune Godhead and this very act brings God glory…but there is more. Jesus then goes on to pray for all believers (that means us too) and he prays for unity and again we see that it is because there is unity, impartially in the Godhead and it is based in love. All of this also brings glory to God (Hendriksen, “John” 365).

John 17: 20-23 “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Then we see the linchpin to all of this.

John 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Jesus wants all believers with Him, wherever that may be. In the end (eschatologically), it is in glory with Him also and to gaze upon Him in glory forever. Where is that? In the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven which, for all God’s purposes appears to be the same thing(s) (Ridderbos 18). This is a desire that all be saved and end up eternally with Jesus. Can I get an AMEN?

The Least Of These VII: Widows & Paul's Collection

Special Concern for Widows

In the Apostles and disciples we see a special concern for widows in society just as we did with Jesus. Widows whose husbands had passed on left behind wives or women who were not “economically viable” in Roman society. In other words, they were poor and had little chance of finding meaningful employ or means to make money. For a widow with no husband and no family that could take her in, she was essentially relegated to a death sentence or at least a life of deprivation and poverty. They could also become victims to those that wished to exploit their unfortunate situation (Matthew 23:14, Mark 12:40, destroyers of widow’s houses). Although the Church had an immediate concern for widows and appointed men to remedy the problem, the problem of providing for them did not desist. The fact is that the Church actively pursued fixing the issue. We see the same type of concern even in places like Corinth when the church at Corinth asks Paul what course of action would be most fitting regarding both widows and others (1 Corinthians 7) (Batey 38-39).

It isn’t until 1 Timothy 5 that we see extensive efforts to reduce the number of widows supported by the church. The problem of the Church providing for widows had escalated so severely between the writing of 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy that Paul seems to have changed his strategy quite a bit to address it. By the writing of 1 Timothy we see that the requirements for the Church to support widows had become more demanding and more stringent. Paul is clear to delineate the difference between widows and “widows in need” in 1 Timothy 5:3 (Fee 115; Hendriksen, “1 Timothy” 167): 

“Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 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.” 

Here I suggest that we see Paul attempting to draw out the Kingdom mentality of so-called believers that were children or grandchildren of the widow. By saying families should help their widowed mother or grandmother, he is essentially saying they should be helping the poor, which just happened to be related to them. Paul goes on to rebuke the compassionless behavior of the widow’s relatives by bitingly remarking in 1 Timothy 5:8 that… (Fee 117-118; Hendriksen, “1 Timothy” 170):

“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

In the same manner Paul also puts demands on the widow themselves in:

1 Timothy 5:9-10, “No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.”

By time of the writing of 1 Timothy we see a softening of Paul’s original stance of young widows remaining unmarried (1 Corinthians 7:8). In 1 Timothy 5:14 we specifically see Paul encourage young widows to remarry under the guise of avoiding sin through sensual desire and by so doing they avoid slander and defamation of the name of Christ. It should be noted that Paul hasn’t contradicted himself, he still believes in staying single (5:12) still aids in the service to God but if necessary, young widows should remarry (Fee 123; Hendriksen, “1 Timothy” 175-176):

1 Corinthians 5:14 ~ “So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.”

It can be seen today that this problem still persists in the world but it has been the mission of the church since the Apostolic Church to care for widows (and orphans for similar reasons) even when it became an overbearing problem. The basis for the Apostolic church and therefore our stance today can be easily gleaned throughout the writings of the Old Testament also. The Church and God’s people have always been called to step forward to help the widows and the orphans (Batey 40).

Paul’s Collection

The last thing I would like to mention before moving on to a synopsis is the accounts and the issue of Paul’s collection for Jerusalem. It is clear from Paul’s writing and His actions that he took the Gospel and evangelism with extreme earnest. So much so that we get a grocery list of abuses he endured to fulfill his duty of the Great Commission in 2 Corinthians 11. What is interesting though is that he also took the collection for the poor with similar earnestness. Although his collection for the poor back in Jerusalem is usually not often referred to in the main body of His letters, it can be gleaned from their outer edges in the outro or exiting salutations to fellow Christians (Romans 15, 16; 1 Corinthians 16). Paul seems to make it a point to itemize his itinerary in the end portions of his letters and epistles and they often contain reference to taking up a collection. The exception to this seems to be 2 Corinthians 8 but this might be because 2 Corinthians is a combination of letters from Paul and Chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians may have actually been the end of a letter before being combined with the remainder of 2 Corinthians, chapters 9-13 (Batey 55-56). Regardless, Paul instructed the Corinthians to follow a similar methodology that that he had directed the Galatian churches to use in taking up the collection (1 Corinthians 16:1) (Martin 144-145).

1 Corinthians 16:1-3 ~ “Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.”

He tells them that on the first day of every week, each Christian was to set aside monies at home comparable to how they had prospered (Batey 55). That way, when Paul finally arrived the funds would be ready and nothing would need to be done in haste or in a shoddy manner (Kistemaker, “1 Corinthians” 594-595).

Paul’s faced many of these same challenges we face today with raising money. He spent nearly ten years asking for funds for what is commonly referred to as the Jerusalem Collection. This collection was taken up among the Gentile churches to help Judean believers who were suffering from extremely hard economic times as a result of a mid-40’s famine during the reign of Claudius (41-54 A.D.) (Kruse 148). The collection was ended in 57 A.D. and the funds were delivered by Paul and a group of Gentile delegates. Romans 15:26 specifically states that (Hendriksen, “Romans” 493; Kruse 150):

Romans 15:26, “…Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem.

The importance of the collection is not only as a symbol of Christian unity and generosity but it is also an act worship and koinonia/κοινωνία that would actually create unity. Paul then literally spells out the theological ground for Christian giving. He wants the giving to be a outworking of their hearts and what dwells within them: The Holy Spirit and therefore salvation and the Kingdom of God.

2 Corinthians 8:8-9 ~ I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Theologically, Paul saw Christ, his ministry and the Gospel (death on a Cross and Resurrection) as the piercing central feature of divine grace. It was an example of perfect Christian love, and ethical conduct. Paul is not referring to Jesus economic condition above (although it could be construed that way); he is saying that Jesus humbled Himself by allowing Himself to be killed for the salvation of humanity that would believe in Him. Although Jesus was God and was worthy of all praise, He allowed Himself to be despised among men (Isaiah 53 or a la Philippians 2:5-11) (Batey 57; Kistemaker, “2 Corinthians” 280-281; Kruse 155). Paul thereby compares this to the generosity and compassionate giving of the believer in the context of 2 Corinthians 8. To fail to give of one’s self fully is to not fully emulate that extent to which Jesus went to love and therefore save His brothers. We see the ultimate version of this when Jesus says the following: John 15:13 ~ “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” This is because when a person to gives their life, they have given everything they have in love and generosity for another person (Hendriksen, “John” 305). Furthermore, this is exactly what we see in the Crucifixion.

I suppose what we truly see in the Jerusalem collection that is taken up all over the known Roman Empire and headed by Paul is the universal or catholic nature of the Church being an outworking of the Kingdom of God. This is not a point to be overlooked or taken lightly. By Paul and therefore the Church as a whole taking up this collection and acting as a harmonized holistic unit we see the commonality of purpose and unity in the mind of Christ. This collection is a visible expression of the interdependence of believers worldwide and how they are all connect through Christ into a Kingdom of believers. This visible manifestation is a signpost or indictor of the Kingdom to come. It has been inaugurated but has not reached consummation. All of life is included in the shared concerns of those in Christ. Certain believer’s surplus supplied the needs of other believers in their time of need. Those in need are then sustained to live another day and help their benefactors in their time of need also. Just as any loving and compassionate family member would do for another family member in need. It is an amazing statement about equality or equalization in the Body of Christ (therefore the Kingdom of God) from Paul below:

2 Corinthians 8:13-14: “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.”

What we see is one piece of a symbiotic body working to preserve another portion of the body when it is dire need of help. It is an act of not only self-preservation but an outcropping of an abundance of life that is in reality, the Kingdom of God through Christ Jesus via the Holy Spirit breaking through into our worldly realm. Within these two verses we see the divine plan to abolish poverty. This is all in accordance with the plans of our Sovereign God as outlined in Scripture. A plan that revolves firmly around God’s redemptive designs, compassion and love for humanity (Christian 174). Therefore it revolves around the Gospel of Jesus Christ who is directly in the center of it all (Kistemaker, “2 Corinthians” 287-288).

The Least of These VI: We Are The Vessels of God's Mercy

Part II: The Apostolic Church

We Are the Body of Christ

If Jesus had a heart for the poor, then it follows that His immediate disciples should also. As we have already begun to see in the portion of this paper dedicated the Jesus actions and reactions with the poor and downtrodden of society, there is a bleed-over of the Kingdom from Jesus directly into his immediate Apostles and disciples in Acts. We see immediately after Jesus’ ascension in Acts 2 that believers spontaneously, “selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” This is told to us in Scripture immediately after we are told of the Spirit descended on them at Pentecost. What we see therefore is a direct consequence or effect of the Spirit. What we see is the “advance” of the Kingdom into the early Church (Kistemaker, “Acts of the Apostles” 115).

It should also be not surprise that people indwelt by the Spirit of God would be in unity and part of this would be manifest in sharing with others. When joined in a community of mind in Christ believers dwelled in κοινωνία or fellowship. This is another key idea that underlies the Church and its modus operandi. Although the term koinonia/κοινωνία is to be understood as relational or relationships in a physical proximity to one another, the idea also extends to sharing of life in general and sharing of possessions or support contributed to for the benefit of others (Grimm, Thayer 852, Wiersbe 411). The compassion to share with another through mercy takes precedents over a personal possession of an item (Batey 30). One of the places the word κοινωνία is used in the New Testament that conjoins both ideas is in Acts 2:42: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship [koinonia]…”

This directly precedes a statement that they were, “distributing proceeds” to those in need. We see immediate desire of the disciples to align with the behavior of Christ by teaching and fellowship/κοινωνία (i.e.: effects of His Spirit).

In Christian’s love for one another and in a compassion for the downtrodden, a general consensus or unity of mind appears to have formed among the followers of Christ. A program to provide for the poor arose out of love for those in society that had been subjugated or oppressed either deliberately or through negligence in and outside the Church. It was the outgrowth of love by individuals as their conscience or the Spirit gave impetus, not an end result of governmental aid based in political expedience. By selling off their goods (as Jesus had advocated to people like the Rich man) and giving to the needy they appear to have come to a new understanding of their place in the world, their relations with God and with one another. They appear to have come to a communal understanding of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom revolution Christ started had begun in force. What is interesting is the tense and context of the, “selling their possessions and belongings” in Acts 2. The word selling in Greek is ἐπίπρασκον/ epipraskon and it is in the imperfect tense. This means that the people liquidating their possessions to help the poor were doing so in a methodical or slow manner over time or “as needed”. This has to have meant they had every intention of divesting themselves completely over time if necessary. In essence they sold their goods in a premeditated manner, not all at once in a rash decision to later regret their actions. These are actions of individuals that have found comfort and conviction in the actions they were taking.

Community or Communal Goods in the Emerging Church

Another interesting note that should be mentioned about koinonia  /κοινωνία is the Lord’s Supper (agape meal) in 1 Corinthians 11. The rich believers had been eating the meal before the less affluent and the poor Christians. By the time the poor arrived there was little left over for those that arrived later. This was therefore causing division and disunity within the Body itself. Again, this disorder and disunity cannot be of the Spirit. Paul rebukes and makes certain qualifications for all to avoid this disunity and division and to establish a sense of equality among the believers. The rich had perverted the purpose of the koinonia/κοινωνία or sharing of the meal (Batey 32). What Paul is clearly trying to avoid (just as Jesus did) by rebukes and correcting of believer’s behaviors was bringing dishonor to God through believer’s partial actions. Sadly, it is the injustice to the poor or those less fortunate that are the victims in all this. If you are Christian and are humiliating those that have little of nothing, you are thereby bringing dishonor to God by showing no compassion or concern for those created in His image.

1 Corinthians 11:20-22“So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!

Paul then goes on to say:

1 Corinthians 11:33-34 “So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.”

The Least of These V: The Currency In God's Economy

The Currency of God: Mercy & Grace

Although the Kingdom was/is imminent, it could only arrive for people through a radical acceptance of God’s divine demands such as Matthew 19’s Rich Man and the Kingdom where Jesus tells him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

This man therefore leaves and is never heard from again. Even Jesus Disciples are dumbfounded by this and Jesus in turn tells them… Matthew 19:23-24 ~“Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

It is in these verses that we sense the paradox of the reversal or equalization of social order in God’s Kingdom. We see profoundly that the change is affected only through God's power. This is clearly elucidated in Mark 10:26-27:

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

It is in these two verses and one’s similar to them that we glimpse a profound truth of the Bible that ties a combination of things together in a coherent manner. It ties the eventual divestment of riches or worldly items/things to gain access to the Kingdom. Not a divestment as a form of work but as a fruit of the Spirit. As the old saying goes, “We are not taking any of it with us” or “You never see a U-Haul attached to a Hearst”. In Jesus’ new economy based in righteousness, the disciple or follower that placed the compassion first rather than things like greed or material goods was to be the basis for this new Kingdom (Batey 18). The believer themselves become the currency or medium of God’s mercy and grace to the poor and those suffering in society. When Jesus was here He was the vehicle for the Father but now that He has ascended and sat down at the right hand of the Father this has now been commanded of believers (Matthew 28:19-20).

Although my resource didn’t state it, I am surmising from the implications of the biblical principles that this is because nothing will be taken with us except things of eternal significance that can survive the fires of judgment (1 Corinthians 3:12). It is in our salvation and out-workings of it that we invariably see arrows pointing to some form of manifestation of the Kingdom itself. It is an alignment of human will to divine will. Human will, when aligned to God’s will,  produces that which is holy and does not end up “missing the mark” or sinning against God.  A perfectly just God cannot look upon injustice therefore sin without judging it. If human behavior is not in alignment with God’s will it is therefore not holy and therefore not acceptable to God. If not acceptable to God it will not be allowed into the Kingdom. This means that advocacy for the poor is just one of many manifestations of the Spirit that would be acceptable in the Kingdom. It must be noted at that it is not the riches themselves or the economic condition so much as it is the effects that they have on the hearts and the condition of a person’s soul which is the final indicator of which side or right or wrong the person stands with God. In the end we must understand that it is nothing that is done solely by man’s motives that creates a change for the positive, it is the alignment to God’s will and Spirit working through a believer. As stated before, the Kingdom of God should be defined as anywhere that God’s will reigns fully in a believer(s) life and where his enemies are put beneath the feet of his king [Jesus] (Moore et al 76). Therefore, it is also anywhere that a believer’s will and God’s will exist harmoniously and revolve around Jesus Christ, His teachings and His ministry. In this way we begin to see that Jesus Christ and faith in Him is the greatest equalizer for humanity as all are one and equal in Christ.

Galatians 3:26-28~ You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

So, it is in faith solely in Jesus Christ that people were/are challenged to accept God’s promise through the acceptance of Scripture’s radical demand. A demand that sometimes requires humanity to divorce oneself from worldliness for their own spiritual good (this includes riches). This is not an advocating of a conditional salvation by works but rather an outworking of obedience to God in that faith. In other words, Jesus is saying here that part of giving over to obedience is as simple as “loving one’s neighbor as one’s self”. If we truly have salvation in us we will literally love the poor and it will make us want to, serve, give or help them until they are at least in alignment with where we are at in equality. We see this also in Mark 10’s comparison and Luke 18’s demand to forsake everything for the sake of the Kingdom. The truth is that God can’t fully use a person as a true vessel until they’ve reached this state anyway. This therefore means that those who embraced the promise of the kingdom enjoyed the full fellowship that this union with God and Christ-centered people affords.  It is a type of fellowship or communal aspect of the Kingdom (koinonia) that expresses itself in common purse held by Judas in John 12:6 and John 13:29 (Hendriksen, “John” 248-249). We also saw it in Acts 2 after Christ’s ascension in the teaching, fellowship and praying of the disciples.

Acts 2:42-47”… And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Now imbued with the Holy Spirit we see Jesus' followers maintain what he had taught and instilled in them thereby perpetuating and carrying on the essence of the Kingdom. In particular we see them, “selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” The implication from Scripture is that they were waiting for the return of Christ and the Kingdom in full.

Unity: Have In You the Mind of Christ

Christ or the mind of Christ therefore works through the society of like-minded believers (church) that all find their bearing and source of thinking and morality in Jesus….i.e.: A Christian society…the Kingdom. It is not society (secular society) per se that is the solution to the issues of such as poverty but a Christian society that is the solution. If they are Christian they are already saved. If they are saved their actions are out-working or fruits of the Holy Spirit. If we align to God’s will and we have His Spirit and therefore His salvation in us, we can essentially affect the change that eliminates the sufferings in society like poverty. The sad fact is that we know that this cannot happen fully until Christ’s return but we can make pockets of change in a system ruled by Satan until He returns.

In the end we see that Jesus is the force or impulsion and we are the vessels to carry this out. It is only when we align our wills to his that this can be accomplished. This can only be done through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit when it works in many believers forms fellowship in the Body of Christ. This fellowship in the Body of Christ if it becomes large enough becomes a Christian society. This society, when it sees its ultimate perfect or culmination then becomes the Kingdom as it is meant to be. This of course is constantly being battled by the powers and principalities of this world which are under the control and is the current domain of Satan. As it stands now, even partially present through humanity, the Kingdom mounts a serious challenge to Satan that he cannot ignore (Christian 201). Until Christ comes in power and removes that parasite (Satan) and reigns in power, the Kingdom will never fully arrive and we will remain in the proverbial “now but not yet” of the Kingdom. Christ’s Kingdom has therefore been initiated (Inaugurated Eschatology) but it has not reached completion or fullness (Realized Eschatology).

Jesus’ Teachings of the Reversal or Equalizing of the Social Order

We must note that God is not specifically favoring the poor when they are singled out for special care but rather they are being treated like the human beings that they truly are. They are given the love they should've gotten as people created in God's image all along. As aforementioned in the section on the Kingdom, the idea of reversal or at least normalizing/equalizing of the social order are found in many of Jesus' sayings about the first shall be last (Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31 & Luke 13:30), we see the idea of being lowered to be exalted in Philippians 2:5-11 (Batey 18-19; Christian 177-179). We see this summarized no better than in:

Luke 6:20-21 “Looking at his disciples, he said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.”

This is similar to the rebuke given in James 2 towards those that would give preferential treatment based on the look or status of a believer that only appeared rich while simultaneously marginalizing or treating a shabbily dressed man poorly. We also see that Jesus teaches that the, “greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves” as in Luke 22:26. It is in this way that we see the behaviors of those with a Christ-like mind are helping manifest the Kingdom and the true heart of God. If God in His humility lowered Himself and made Himself of no accord and allowed himself to crucified on a cross and take the role of a servant to gain man salvation, are we to be or should we be any different? Are we not therefore emulating Christ in his supreme manner serving others (Batey 19; Christian 177-179)?

This now leads to the early church and the second half of this paper which is the immediate fallout or effects of Christ’s ministry on the Apostolic Church and the Apostle Paul’s ministry which is our only biblical source for how the church itself is to act towards or react to the poor and poverty.

The Least of These IV: Poverty & The Kingdom Are Relational

Alms & Tithes

In Luke 12:32-34 we see Jesus tell people that they should, “not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom. He goes on to tell them that they are to, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This is the very thing that drove away the rich man in Luke 18 but it attracted Zacchaeus in Luke 19 and saved him. It is the idea of giving alms or voluntary aid or help to the poor. Jesus and His disciples did this very thing as we can glean from places in Scripture like John 13:29 (Batey 24, Hendriksen, “John” 248-249). We see in the giving of alms, a person that is ready to give away or surrender the control of their life to God and trust Him to do what is best. It is the premise behind Chapter 6 of Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:2 we see that it is expected or assumed that a person would give to the needy, “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.” It is the false assumption that one that needs material possessions and money to feel secure. This only shows that they have virtually no faith in God who would provide for them as He promised.

Matthew 6:25-27 ~“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Can there be anything more counterproductive to a believer entering the Kingdom than this profound lack of faith on display? A person who is completely wrapped up in the system of the world system which is not of God… it is a system in rebellion against Him.

Poverty & Kingdom are Relational

Poverty, the Kingdom and therefore the Church are relational or relationship based. Tithes and proper use of tithes by the church was also good but not if it totally replaced mercy and compassion in the heart of believer. Sometimes loving you neighbor is more than just throwing money at them. Sometimes help is not giving a homeless drug addict a $20 dollar bill. Sometimes love and compassion is buying them a meal and getting them help to wean them off their drug dependency. Tithes or offerings are not necessarily an accurate indicator of the heart as is evident in the lesson from Jesus of the Widow and her offering of mites.

“As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4

Here the widow gave all she had therefore gave solely in faith. The rich on the other hand gave of their surplus which required no faith as they were not dependent on the money they gave nor would they be dependent on God to reimburse them to be able to survive. So here we see that tithes and generous giving could be an indicator of a generous heart but at the same time it could just be an ostentatious façade by someone that craves attention and wishes to be viewed as pious. In this story we see that giving should never be a replacement for mercy, compassion and justice (Batey 23). It is better to feed and clothe the poor rather than to buy them off as a salve for one’s conscience.

Personal interaction and the “human touch” always trumped a faceless system or government driven charity (contrary to Liberation Theology, again). In this aspect of Jesus’ ministry to the poor and His concern for the downtrodden we see the relational requirements of God’s Kingdom (Christian 185). Proper communal function is not based in a centralized bureaucratic system but rather a decentralized “soft” network of people, bodies or souls. All of these need to be interconnected on the basis of Christ being the centrality of all Creation and the Holy Spirit working through them communally and in unity (Schlabach 143). When the body of Christ is balanced and healthy, so will be the Kingdom. There will be no malignancy or imbalance, poverty, prejudice, bias, sickness, etc. All will be equal in Christ. Again, this is the general essence of the Kingdom. In God’s Kingdom, relationships take precedence over benevolent actions, otherwise these benevolent actions lack the main currency necessary between the giver and receiver to create a lasting bond necessary in the Kingdom: Love. This transaction then becomes just an informal exchange of goods not reciprocal loving action that benefits both the giver and the receiver. In this way the poor become a gift to the compassionate Christian and the compassionate Christian become a gift to the poor and it is actually God making the exchange through grace (Schlabach 37-38). Ironically, we see this in Jesus direct personal interactions with sinners which gained him the reputation of being a friend of sinners.

Mark 2:15-16 ~ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Through not only Jesus’ message and teaching but also in Jesus’ actions, we see the example for the Church. This means behind Church, is the Kingdom and behind Kingdom is Christ and He is the power that sustains all life (Colossian 1:17, Hebrews 1:3) and at the core of this life is an essence of benevolence and mercy. To put trust and faith in the power which was Christ himself was to free a believer from the fear and dependency of things of this world thereby freeing one’s self up to pursue helping others through benevolent personal acts. Anything less was a lack of faith in Christ and was by its nature self-centered and selfish. By taking the yoke of Christ (the Gospel) and becoming a slave to Christ, a person allowed themselves by volitional action to enter the Kingdom of God through God’s requirements of obedience. This thereby freed them to do the will of the One whom they were following which was the sincerest form of love for Him and was a love that sustains them all, rich or poor.

John 14:15 ~ “If you love me, keep my commands.”

The two greatest of these commands/commandments spoke to helping the poor indirectly by treating one’s neighbor as one’s self as outlined here:

Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

This interestingly is a similar response give to the question by the Lawyer in the story of the Good Samaritan when he asked Jesus what one must do to inherit eternal life:

Luke 10:25-29 “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

If there is any confusion over who someone’s neighbor is in either of these passages, it is cleared up in the answer to the lawyer. In short, these passages show us that our neighbor is any person who is in need. So what we end up seeing here is the outworking of a person’s salvation or a person who has eternal life is directly linked to loving God and loving one’s neighbor as one’s self. The question is why? To me, this is rather simple and commonsense. If one does love God with all his heart soul and mind, it is a foregone conclusion that he would then love God’s most beloved creation created in His image: Humanity. In addition, if a person loves God to the extent commanded in the bible, they are most certainly obeying God’s commands and therefore His word (Schlabach 115). If they are doing this, then they are accepting Christ and what He did for us, which was to die on the Cross to atone for sins. This would mean that they are saved. It’s a packaged deal!

The Least of These III: Advocate For The Poor: Jesus

This then leads to the postulate that Jesus’ presence literally reverses the effects of the Fall. Through Jesus the current social disorder is turned on its head and therefore morphs into social order in a manner similar to what could’ve been expected had the fall of humanity never occurred. In the eschatological long-view, this is also the way it will be in the end when the Kingdom arrives in full or end times eschatology is fully realized. So as Jesus Christ does, so too should his believers do likewise. Not because the believer will be the one to commence or to usher in the Kingdom but rather through the believer(s), changes initiated by Jesus Christ on the Cross can begin to take affect through the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer (Kuzmic 18). This teaching of the equalizing of the social order is even found in Jesus’ verbal teachings which we will learn of later.

To understand the profound love of God and His willingness to reach the lost we must comprehend and appreciate is the ministry of Jesus early on and where Jesus comes from in terms of the onset of His ministry. He came from Galilee which is pretty much a backwater of little significance even in Israel let alone the Roman Empire (Batey 4). He is the son of a carpenter (Joseph) who is of the lower social class in terms of economic status. It is stated by Jesus himself concerning his social status and lack of earthly prosperity that…

Luke 9:58 ~ “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Jesus’ ministry is primarily to the downtrodden and the forgotten of society (Batey 2). Jesus literally lives out the ministry that He teaches. As Paul later says, He became the weak for the weak to save as many as possible.

1 Corinthians 9:22 ~ “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”

We can see from his ministry that he has a heart of God because He is God. Even a precursory glance at the Gospels or a perusal of the New Testament show Jesus and his ministry were largely directed to the social and economic periphery: the sick, the crippled, the poor, the prostitutes and those that were ostracized in society like tax collectors. He primarily (but not exclusively) reached these people by becoming like these people. He was God but He humbled Himself taking on the form (μορφὴν) of not only a man but He took in (“ἐν”, Greek) the heart or likeness of a servant (Philippians 2:7-8) (Nestle et al 518-519)

Misplace Loyalties and Greed

Other things we should note in Jesus’ ministry is a call for deeds reflecting genuine justice and mercy (heart change) such as the ones in Matthew 23:23:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

We see something similar in Luke 11:42-43

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.”

It is in these types of passages that we see Jesus being exceptionally hard on those that were religious but had a callousness of heart towards the poor and did things without love (Batey 17). He literally condemned piety that was without concern. A religiosity without mercy or grace was antithetical to what Jesus was teaching and living out in His ministry. This attitude was clearly not in the Spirit of Christ nor Kingdom mentality.

James 2:13 ~ “…because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment."

Jesus was making it clear that to be in the Kingdom with Him was to not only have faith in the sovereignty of a compassionate God but to also be a reflection his sovereignty as compassionate vessels of His will within the very unjust social order they were to stand in contrast to. It is the axiomatic “faith without works is dead” from James 2 (Batey 18). The idea of believers as a vessel of God’s will is of course is mentioned by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:7:

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us…”

On the other hand, cold-hearted procuring of possessions and wealth while others suffer and misery abounded was evil (not to mention a lack of spiritual fruit) because is disregarded kind-heartedness and benevolence which should’ve been and obvious by-product of a Christian. Jesus taught just the opposite in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus specifically told people to seek the Kingdom of God first and everything else you needed would be given to you for doing so (Matthew 6:33). So by callously accumulating wealth not only would people be driven by evil in their greed, they would be unfaithful in their practices too, by failing to trust God to do what He promised to a believer for the obedience of seeking the Kingdom (Batey 17). We need only look at Judas Iscariot to see the antithesis of Kingdom or Christian values in terms of misdirected intentions. He sold the Son of God into the hands of the authorities for 30 pieces of silver.