Remember the poor

They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do. - Galatians 2.10

Paul remembered back to when James, Peter, and John had sent he and Barnabas out to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. 

They could have given a lot of advice when they sent them out. They could have packed them with last minute instructions on the theology of missions. They could have given them a parchment with instructions on 'church planting among the pagans.' They could have told them any number of things. 

But they told them one thing - 'remember the poor.' 

Wait. Did I read that right? Remember the poor? 

We always remember to take care of our church facilities. We remember the fancy carpet and the expensive instruments. We remember to upgrade our cars. We remember to get our new gadgets. We remember the gold plating on the bathroom fixtures. We remember a whole lot of stuff. 

But remember the poor? The one thing that Peter, James, and John were concerned about? What has happened to 'remember the poor?' 

I know that I don't know all of the church. I realise that my knowledge of the church worldwide is limited. But I do know that 'remember the poor' has not been at the forefront of priorities in most of the churches that I know about. 

The fear that I hear about is the fact that we can't be involved in a social gospel and that if we focus too much on remembering the poor we might forget about sharing the gospel because we will be content with taking care of the poor. 

That certainly can be a danger. We can placate our conscience by feeding people physically and still neglect their spiritual needs. 

But that is our problem. It doesn't mean that we can neglect the needs of the poor and only give them the gospel. Rembering the poor should not be a tool to share the gospel, but it should go hand in hand with sharing the gospel. 

Remember the poor. Sure, that means that we need to remember those who are spiritually poor. They need to be made aware of the riches of Christ. 

However, it's hard to do that when their stomachs are empty and they are shivering in the streets.