The poor among us

Have you watched the Disney animated version of “Robin Hood”? The handsome and debonair hero, a fox, follows the classic pattern of robbing the rich to give to the poor. And we get to meet the poor of Nottingham: the honest laborer with a broken leg; and the “widder lady” with her three well-behaved young bunnies. If we consider the matter at all, we can figure out why these people are poor. They don’t have the means to adequately support themselves and their families. The sheriff who takes what little they have to add to the coffers of Prince John is a villain worthy of the title.

Good and evil are so easy to sort out in such stories. The poor are honest, decent, hard-working folk under the oppression of the greedy and cold-hearted rich and powerful. It’s easy to see this same divide in Proverbs, where the rich and powerful are warned that God himself will take up for the poor.

If only life were so simple. Have you seen the faces of the poor in your community? If you have, you may wonder if everyone living in poverty is as decent, honest, and hard-working as the citizens of Nottingham. Are they poor because they have no path out of poverty or because they are disinclined to follow a path that requires perseverance and hard work? Have they discovered that surviving on handouts is easier and more pleasant than working?

Who “plunders the poor” (see Proverbs 22:23) in our society? Is it the faceless tax-collecting government agencies? Is it the equally faceless banks who foreclose on unpaid mortgages? Is it states who foster the belief among those who have little that a lottery ticket is their best route to financial freedom? Is it us?

If we listen long to advocates for the global poor, we will hear about poor labor conditions in developing nations where large companies take advantage of the poor by giving them low-paying jobs in unhealthy work environments. We’re urged to demand that such businesses change their ways. So how should that affect our shopping decisions? When choosing between a pair of athletic shoes made by an oppressed worker in China and one of equal quality for more money made by a union laborer in Cleveland, what is the best stewardship of our resources? How do we know as we examine the shoes whether the Chinese worker is oppressed or blessed by the opportunity to exchange hard work for money? How do we know that the Cleveland worker isn’t somehow being oppressed by his/her employer? How much research are we obliged to do into the companies behind the goods we buy? Can we trust those who would do our research for us? If we looked at the same data they have and talked to the people involved, would we draw the same conclusions they do?

“The poor you will always have with you...” (Matthew 26:11). What keeps them in poverty and how can we best help them out rather than tighten the chains around them? Are they oppressed or lazy? Are they in need of charity or of healing and a push toward responsibility and self-sufficiency? How do we make sure our charity is a boost out of poverty rather than enabling those who choose a destructive lifestyle to continue along that path?

The apostle Paul reminded the believers in Thessalonica that he had told them: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). That’s tough love. How do we tell the difference between “will not” and “cannot” in those who are not working? How do we break down the barriers for those who cannot work for various reasons?

Proverbs doesn’t give us many clear-cut answers to these questions, but it does caution us to be on the side of the poor rather than siding with their oppressors. That and the wisdom that comes with the fear of the Lord give us a good place to start.