Remember the poor

and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do. – Galatians 2.9-10

After the hypocrisy situation was resolved the men shook hands in fellowship and they went on their way. They agreed some some would go to the Jews and some to the Gentiles.

And they reminded each other to not forget the poor.

We can’t escape this responsibilty. It was part of the Law and it is part of Jesus’ teachings for us. God has clearly placed the responsibity of caring for the poor on His people. It is not the job of the government. It is not the job of various charities. It is our job.

The tragedy is that is far too many places as the years have passed we have handed that task over to others. That is now a reality and sometimes we can think that we have no poor because the government is taking care of them.

That doesn’t release us from our responsibity to care for the poor. God’s people must be willing to take on the burden of caring for the poor. Many churches now respond to a need by referring them on to a government agency.

When I see the wealth and opulence of many churches today I wonder if we have the right priorities. How can there be any poor when churches have such resources?

‘Remember the poor’ is a reminder I think we could all use.