Who Is Responsible For The Needy?

“Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

“Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” [1]

Historically, the churches of our Lord bore responsibility for benevolence. This is not to say that unchurched people could not be charitable; it is, rather, acknowledgement that benevolence in modern, especially western, thought was initiated by and fostered among the churches. This is especially true in North America. The first charities were church-based; and church sponsored charitable institutions continued to be the rule until quite recently in the history of our nation. To verify this statement, one need but think of how many orphanages, how many hospitals, how many centres for education were begun by government, comparing that number to those that grew out of church ministries. Though governments have assumed oversight of most of these institutions, more through regulation than through default, it cannot be denied that institutions of education and higher learning, medical facilities and homes for the vulnerable were disproportionately initiated and operated by the churches throughout the earliest years of our nation.

Historically, governments—whether regal or imperial—concerned themselves primarily with the welfare of the ruling class. The mass of people living under a given government were viewed as vassals, responsible to produce goods to benefit the state. It was only with the advent of the modern democratic state in the western world that governmental benevolence was introduced. And this development of governmental benevolence grew out of seizure of benevolent ministries from the churches.

In a bygone era—not so many years ago, though well before the modern state usurped the role of social benefactor—families accepted responsibility of providing for their own family members; and the churches served as a safety net for those rare instances where family no longer existed or where family was unable to assist its members. In most instances in the western world, local governments assumed responsibility to care for the indigent who had no family to provide for their needs and who had no immediate access to the churches.

However, as modern, western governments have grown larger and more powerful, churches and religious organisations have been shouldered aside as governmental agencies arrogated to themselves the role of administering benevolence through compelling altruism (redistribution of wealth). The churches of the western world have faced increasingly restrictive regulations that effectively ensure their role in providing benevolence is marginalised as the population has been educated to be dependent upon government for assistance.

Thus, we have achieved the modern welfare state, the condition defined by a populace that is increasingly dependent upon government for care and even for the act of making decisions. The churches increasingly are reduced to a position of irrelevance, especially when thinking of benevolence. Though the citizenry thinks casually of the churches as centres for benevolence, churches have grown increasingly dependent upon government for permission to do what is natural to the redeemed of the Lord. Thus, government usurps the place of God without even a whimper from the pulpit.

Writing Timothy, Paul provides guidelines for the role of a congregation in benevolent ministries. These Scriptures should not be taken as exhaustive; however, they are definitive for directing the Community of Faith in administering benevolence. Though the world looks to governments as the source of every blessing, we who follow the Master are required to give thanks for our government without exalting it above God. We Christians are called to follow Christ the Lord in all things, just as we do in caring for the needy.

CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY FOR FAMILY — The context in which the message occurs is Christian responsibility to the vulnerable. The immediate focus of the Apostle’s instruction was widows. Care of those who were widows was a great concern in the early congregations of our Lord. Therefore, Paul instructs Timothy, “Honour widows who are truly widows.” The honour expected is financial and material provision that will ensure they are not destitute. The underlying theme is the intersection of individual responsibility toward the needy with congregational responsibility toward the needy.

Christians are taught to pray,