What do followers of Jesus look like?
The answer may seem obvious to us, but it was less so to the Galatian church.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes to a group of Gentile believers who are confused. Some time after the Galatians received the gospel of grace from Paul, others came in teaching a different gospel, telling the Galatians that faith in Jesus was not enough and that the Galatians also needed to become like Jews, following the entire Mosaic Law.
Paul addresses this serious situation by defending the gospel he preached, recounting in Galatians 2:1-10 how the apostles in Jerusalem confirmed his gospel, adding nothing to it. But right at the end of his recounting this critical moment in salvation history, Paul includes a curious phrase: “Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do” (2:10).
Why, at a moment when the gospel itself is at stake, would the apostles mention care for the poor? And what does this have to do with the Galatians?
The reason is this: the apostles (including Paul) understood that care for the poor plays a central role in the identity of God’s people. Throughout the Old Testament, we see time and again God’s heart for the poor and oppressed, an outflow of his character as a God of mercy and justice.
Care for the poor was built into Israel’s law (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 15:1-11), distinguishing God’s covenant people from the Gentile nations. In fact, mistreating the poor was one of the reasons Israel was sent into exile (Ezra 22:6-16; Amos 2:6-7, 4:1-2). When Isaiah speaks of the Messiah’s coming kingdom, he pictures it as one without oppression and injustice, where the poor, marginalized, and suffering are made whole (Isaiah 11:1-9, 32:1-8, 61:1-9).
Jesus announced that he was inaugurating the kingdom that the prophets foretold, declaring good news to the poor (Luke 4:18-19; Matthew 11:1-5). Early Jewish Christians understood and took to heart the gospel of the kingdom. In Acts 2 and 4, we see the early church sharing their belongings, so that there were no poor among them, finally living out Deuteronomy 15:4.
Care for the poor has always been part of the DNA of God’s people, and the apostles wanted to make sure that Gentile believers got the message. Followers of Jesus do not need to look like Jews, but they do need to look like Jesus. As a response to the grace we have received, followers of Jesus are to live cruciform lives. We are no longer under the yoke of the Mosaic law but live as new creations in Christ, walking by the Spirit (Gal. 5:13-15; 6:15). And part of walking by the Spirit includes care for the poor (Gal. 6:2,10; James 1:27, 2:14-17).1
But what does this look like in practice? Here are a few practical suggestions for ways that both individuals and churches can seek to care for the poor today.
Start in Your Own Church
When remembering the poor, the first place we should start is our own congregations. The reasoning for this is twofold. First, God’s people have a particular responsibility to care for fellow believers: “do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). Starting within our own congregations is one way to acknowledge this particular responsibility.
Second, the best and most effective care typically takes place in the context of a relationship. Every person is different, so caring for their physical needs will take different forms. Some, due to age or disability, may need the continual financial support of the body of Christ; others need help being restored to the dignity of providing for their own needs and the needs of their family. But without relational proximity to people in need, it is difficult to know the precise nature of the need and how to best offer help.
How should you go about caring for the poor in your church? Start by making sure members know that the church is available to help them if they are in need. This may seem obvious, but in my years of working in mercy ministry I’ve discovered that many Christians do not realize they can turn to their church if they are struggling.
If your church has a benevolence fund for members in need, tell members about it. Some churches intentionally do not share about the fund for fear that people will abuse it. This is not the way things ought to be in God’s house.
God’s people should know that they can come to the church when they are struggling. Though there may be some who will try to abuse the fund (have guidelines in place), in my experience, the majority of members feel embarrassed to ask for help or worry that somebody else needs the money more than they do. Their hesitation provides an opportunity to remind our brothers and sisters that this is one of the benefits of membership in Christ’s body. God’s church is a family, and within the family, we care for one another.
Second, churches should be prepared to assist members beyond a one-time payment. Often, the posture churches take toward helping members in need is, “We’ll help you this one time, but this can’t become a recurring thing.”
The problem with this posture is that it fails to offer help toward resolving the underlying issue. Has there been a job loss? Prolonged illness? Spousal abandonment? True care for members involves, to the best of our ability, trying to help members resolve the underlying issue.
If your church does not already have them, consider creating care teams to come alongside members who need financial assistance to help provide holistic care that addresses the root issue. And if your church does have such teams, consider volunteering to serve on one.
There may also be situations where members need ongoing financial support and churches should expect to provide this support and provide it gladly , particularly to widows and widowers and those with disabilities (1 Timothy 5:3-9).
What about those who are not members of your church? Most churches will occasionally receive calls from people outside the church asking for financial help. This is a wonderful opportunity to “do good to all” (Galatians 6:10) and also to invite people into your church family. Resources such as “Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence” teach churches how to do this well.
Individuals who reach out to your church for help are usually stuck in a cycle of poverty, and giving money alone will perpetuate the cycle. Instead, offer to walk alongside individuals over time, inviting them into a relationship with your church where they will receive help escaping the cycle they are trapped in and experience the beauty of Christ’s body.
Partner with Parachurch Ministries
For many churches, numerous factors — geographical distance from low-income communities, church size, worship style, and lack of socio-economic or cultural diversity — create barriers between the church and those from different backgrounds.
Enter parachurch ministries. Partnering with gospel-centered parachurch ministries helps address many of the challenges your church might face in caring for the poor. If your church is located in a more affluent community, donating to a parachurch ministry provides a vehicle for reaching out beyond your neighborhood. For churches located closer to low-income neighborhoods, partnering with a parachurch ministry can help your church establish trust and relationships with people who might not otherwise enter your church, especially if your members are regularly volunteering and building relationships through the ministry.
Crucially, parachurch ministries often have expertise caring for people in need, and your church can learn from them. Their specialized scope (a pregnancy resource centers, for example), means that they can meet specific needs more effectively than the church.
Think Beyond the U.S.
While there are countless individuals in our churches and communities experiencing financial hardship or chronic poverty, as North American Christians, we must also consider the needs of our brothers and sisters around the world.
In the New Testament, we read about funds flowing across the known world, as Paul collects money for the famine-stressed Jerusalem church from believers who did not have much themselves (2 Corinthians 8-9; Romans 15:14-32).
Though we as North Americans are some of the richest people in history, we can sometimes fall prey to a scarcity mindset, worrying that if we give too much away to people “over there,” we will not have enough to care for our own church and community.
While there are certainly situations that necessitate focusing resources locally, to habitually neglect the global church is a theological failure. Christ does not have an American body and an African body and an Asian body—he has one united, global body, with members who are called to care for one another in need (2 Corinthians 8:13-15; Romans 12:5-8;).
There are several ways to give to the needs of believers around the world. The first is to give directly to churches in economically disadvantaged parts of the world. This is logistically challenging without established relationships or sister churches globally, so consider asking the missionaries your church supports to let you know as needs arise in their church communities.
An even easier way is to give to Mission to the World. MTW has several project funds designed to meet the physical needs of individuals and churches around the world.
Lastly, consider giving to a Christian relief and development agency, like Equipping Farmers International, which works specifically with local churches to help them provide food for their members and community.
Conclusion
Care for the poor has always been a central practice of God’s people. May we as a church continually be conformed to the image of the Christ, whose sacrificial love compels us to remember the poor (1 John 3:16-17).
Jessica Fikkert is the ministry leader of city missions at Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas.
1 I’m indebted to Bruce Longenecker and his work “Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty, and the Greco Roman World” (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), especially chapters 5-9. Longenecker builds a convincing case as to why associating Gal. 2:10 with the Jerusalem Collection is incorrect. The exegesis of Gal. 2:10 found here is built off Longenecker’s arguments.