Barriers to Serving the Poor – Partiality

It is my firm belief that service to the poor is not some special spiritual “calling,” but a normative part of the Christian life, just like attending church or praying or reading your Bible. So why aren’t more Christians involved in caring for the poor? One reason I’ve encountered is ignorance. We discussed this point previously.

Ignorance tends to breed stereotyping, which breeds prejudice, which breeds partiality.

Partiality is the practice of favoritism. It is an act of the will that transcends the stereotypes and prejudices of our mind.

Let’s see what partiality looked like in the first century church:

James 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.  2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”  4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?  5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?  6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?  7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?  8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.  9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

In our time, we also have “dishonored the poor man” (v. 6). This “dishonoring” manifests itself in the omission of regular and consistent acts of basic Christian compassion toward others who are in great need of such ministry.

In this, we too are guilty of “committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”

Like the early church, we also are guilty of showing partiality toward our weaker brothers and sisters by refusing to do what we can to come alongside them and encourage them in the Lord. It seems that Christians are frequently too busy disputing amongst themselves over minor and relatively obscure points of doctrine, or too busy pouring all of their energy back into their own congregations to help their poor brothers and sisters who remain outside the walls of our oases of Christian sanctuary.

May God give us eyes to see our weaker brethren as He sees them. May this motivate us to love and service and the elimination of partiality in our midst, by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Barriers to Mercy Ministry

Prepared for a Grace Gathering of Grace Church of Philly:

In Matthew 25:31-46, our Lord Jesus Christ clearly and unambiguously states that those who belong to Him will demonstrate this fact by ministering to the “least of these”: the poor, the hungry, the sick, the naked, the prisoner, the stranger.

Just as the new birth event produces evidence of its occurrence like church attendance, Bible reading and study, a prayer life, and a thirst for spiritual things (frequently called the “fruit” of salvation), Jesus indicates that the fact of your new life in Him necessarily manifests in a life of service to the poor and needy.

Many within the American Christian community have erected an intricate and artificial network of barriers that prevent them from living out their faith commitment by serving the poor and homeless.

In the coming days, Lord willing, we will be investigating and discussing these barriers and their ultimate illegitimacy.

My desire in so doing is to create in us a sense of Holy Spirit-induced urgency to live out our identities in Christ in a fuller way by ministering to the poor as a regular part of our Christian existence. It is my firm belief that service to the poor is not some special spiritual “calling,” but a normative part of the Christian life, just like attending church or praying or reading your Bible.

Some of the artificial blockades to mercy ministry that we will be exploring in the coming weeks include: ignorance (about homeless people themselves, the homeless experience, and the causes of homelessness), suburbolationism (chronic, generational suburban isolation caused by the flight from and continuing purposeful avoidance of urban areas), recent conservative Christian church tradition, fear (of homeless people, of new situations, of outreach and evangelism), pride, sloth, an inchoate (rudimentary) view of the church and its mission in the world, a defective and dishonest hermeneutic of Scripture, and defective theology.[1]

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[1] This list is not exhaustive in nature, but is comprised of simple observations I’ve made as I’ve engaged with conservative Christians in the course of doing ministries of mercy over the last year.