Economic Life (5) Care

Every member of the community is required to look out for their neighbour’s property and take care for it. If a person sees something belonging to a neighbour at risk, they must take action to protect it.

If you see someone’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner. If they do not live near you or if you do not know who owns it, take it home with you and keep it until they come looking for it. Then give it back. Do the same if you find their donkey or cloak or anything else they have lost. Do not ignore it. If you see a donkey or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help the owner get it to its feet (Deut 22:1-3).

This requirement applies to some who dislike you.

If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it (Ex 23:4-5).

It is easy to be kind to friends. The Torah requires people to care for the property of their enemies.

When Jesus challenged his listeners to love their enemies, he was not introducing a new concept. He was confirming that the command to love your neighbour applied to neighbours who hated you, not just those who you like.

Caring for the Poor

Poverty is a central issue for Christians. To be credible in the modern world, we must provide proposals for the cure of poverty. In this article, I will outline several biblical methods for dealing with poverty.

The scriptures do not give responsibility for caring for the poor to rich people of society. Rich people are cautioned against trusting in their wealth. They are warned that their wealth may quickly disappear. They are also warned that they may die before they have a chance to enjoy t heir wealth. However, the Bible is realistic and does not expect the rich to do good to the poor.

Furthermore, Jesus is not in the business of forcing rich people to be generous. The modern approach to poverty is to tax the rich and give their money to the poor. The implicit argument goes like this. Rich people are not as good as the rest of us, so they cannot be trusted to be generous of their own accord. They should be forced to be generous. We should tax the rich more, so the money can be used for the poor.

The problem with this approach is that Jesus never forced people be good. He never forced the rich to be generous. The Bible gives responsibility for the poor to Christians, not the rich. Christians who want to tax the rich to bless the poor are “passing the buck”.

More here.