Who Are The Poor?

My husband and I were talking recently about the poor over this holiday season and we pondered who truly is poor.

To whom shall we give love if not the poor? According to Jesus Christ we are supposed to love one another, but he also did seek out the poor and the disenfranchised; but who are the poor? Are the poor to be considered those with no money and part of a lower social class? When we think of poor, we mostly think of it in monetary terms because we have learned that in society. Nonetheless, the reality of the situation is that poverty, as per the Bible, is not of superficiality or materialism, poverty, and thus the poor, is defined by the lack of spiritual knowledge and faith.

In the Bible, poverty might have been portrayed as belonging to those who owned nothing, but I think it is a mere analogy which reflects on spiritual starvation. God wants us to speak to those whom life has been negatively affected, and thus have little to no faith in God. Ministering to someone who needs to believe into a Christian is an easy task; however, converting someone who lacks faithfulness proves more difficult, one that Jesus Christ accomplished quite well. Herein lays the true difficulty of missions and preaching.

So, next time we think about living like Christ, and to whom we should primarily preach, we should remember that while God and Jesus did prefer to speak out to the poor, they spoke to those who were spiritually poor, because they are the most difficult people to reach, and thus the most faithful believers when they do see the light of God.

The Apostle John is a perfect example for those who desire faith, but are not exposed to it. While at the same time being the perfect example of someone who is poor, difficult to reach, and at the same time a key figure in Christianity, once he found the light of God.

Christina Lynn-Valencia