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He said not to judge so it's safe to say He never blamed the poor for being poor.He may have condemed the sins that cold lead to it though...like gambling,perhaps.
There are poor and there aare poor. Some are poor from no fault of there own. Others are slothful, or are gamblers' or bad money managers. I can't imagine that Jesus would have wanted us to support the bad habits of the latter. I personally will give wherever I see a need but I will also walk away when I know the person in question won't help themselves.
I am looking for scriptural passages on any of the following:
1. Did Jesus have a needs test to determine who was worthy of charity?
2. Did Jesus ever excoriate the poor for being poor?
3. Did Jesus ever make any mention regarding charity being a crutch for the poor?
4. Did Jesus ever blame the poor for being poor?
Thanks.
Good luck finding any!
Sometimes we don't want to give to the poor simply because we want our money for ourselves. Period.
In my own experience, some of the most generous people are ones who don't have much, whereas the richer tend to hold what they have to themselves.
It is also true, however, that some poor people are more attached to money than those who have more. So it's an issue of the heart, I think.
The word "communism" is considered anathema in the States, but anyone who has lived in a loving family knows the importance of sharing. So in a way, we are ALL communists with those we love!..
Giving is best when it comes from a sharing, caring, generous heart imo....
There are poor and there aare poor. Some are poor from no fault of there own. Others are slothful, or are gamblers' or bad money managers. I can't imagine that Jesus would have wanted us to support the bad habits of the latter. I personally will give wherever I see a need but I will also walk away when I know the person in question won't help themselves.
That's the truth!
There are indeed those who are poor through no fault of their own, and should be helped by the Church. But the others...I don't believe we should be enabling their habits of gambling, laziness, or just plain refusal to work, by giving to them.
I remember one character in a town I visited, standing on a street corner...panhandling. He was dressed in dirty and shabby clothing, wore a cast on his right leg, and leaned heavily on two crutches. He held up a cardboard sign, imploring the public to help him, since he was "injured" and could not work. I'd never seen him before, so gave him a dollar. In the months that followed I noticed him still there on that street corner, still wearing that same cast. I thought "wow...that leg sure is slow to heal...".
Then, some 9 or 10 months later, I noticed he was still there, still in a leg cast, and still begging for a handout. That's when I noticed the cast was now on his LEFT leg...
In Luke 12: 45-46..Jesus said `` but and if that servant say in his heart My Lord delays in his coming , and he shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidens, and to eat and drink and to be drunken ..... The Lord of the servant will come on that day and when he looks not for him and the hour when he is not aware and will cut him off and appoint him with the unbelievers `` see Jesus said `` and to eat`` which means he became a hoarder and stopped charity , Jesus said he would stop short on his salvation ............. See all His believers must give charity and be willing to accept charity to themselves because all that Jesus gives to his believers is charity and all that Jesus believers can give in the name of Jesus is charity, or if they give outside charity then there is NO point of contact with Jesus and the giving is,;`` they got their reward;`` Jesus said....Some people will not accept charity because of the pride nature and even religious rules and are not of God ..... Other scripture is Mark 12; 41-44......``And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and looked how the people cast money into the treasury; and many that were rich cast in much....and there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing ...... and he called unto his his disciples , and said to them `Very truly I say to you That this poor widow has cast more in than all they which have cast in the treasury..... For all they did cast in of their abundance , but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living....``....
Thank you for the contribution, but it appears that Luke 12:45 is not address a poor person per se and some could even read the verse as referring to a head servant who abuses his fellow servants, and who steals from his master. A thief and an abusers.
I'm dying to know why you quoted Mark 12; 41-44,
"They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
I don't mean to be rude, but the question wasn't what you believed but rather what Jesus taught.
Thank you.
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Jesus always tried to help the poor, and if you have any kind of internet surfing skills at all you can look up what it is exactly that Jesus had to say about the poor. Are you poor people skeptical? Like, do you think they really don't exist and they're all faking it? What's your dealio, Emilio.
Let's take the opposite view about what Jeusu thought about the poor. What He said about the rich.
Paraphrased: It's as difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
In order to be saved we must trust in Christ alone. This may be more difficult for those who's every earthly desires are met by their earthly riches. Now I have met solid Christians who are wealthy but they have as Jesus points as the condition of all Christians in the sermon on the mount a poverty of spirit. They know that these earthly things are not eternal and they trust in God alone for their security.
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