"This is what the Lord says: ‘For the many crimes of Israel, I will punish them. For silver, they sell people who have done nothing wrong; they sell the poor to buy a pair of sandals. They walk on poor people as if they were dirt, and they refuse to be fair to those who are suffering. Fathers and sons have sexual relations with the same woman, and so they ruin my holy name. As they worship at their altars, they lie down on clothes taken from the poor. They fine people and with that money they buy wine to drink in the house of their god." (NCV)
Amos was called to be a prophet to Israel and now God begins to speak directly to Israel, last and most completely. Why? Because it was with Israel (and Judah) that He had the most intimate relationships and because God expects more from His people than from the remainder of the world. It is to His people that He has given His word (and now, to the Church, His Holy Spirit). The unbelieving world sins from ignorance; God’s people sin from knowledge.
There are two specific areas of sin listed in the accusations against Israel: (1) Persecution against the poor, and (2) sexual sin. There could also be a third sin which is implied and that is persecution against women since in that day a woman didn’t have the right to refuse to have sex; she could lose her marriage and thus both her livelihood and her home.
There are two verses in scripture which is often taken out of context as a way to refuse to help those who are in more need than we are:
"But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always." (Matthew 26:10-11 NKJV).
"For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:10 NKJV).
These verses have been used (both spoken and implied) wrongly to justify a lack of ministry to those around us. The first verse was given as an admonition to the disciples themselves who criticized the woman anointing Jesus—doing an act worship—by saying that the oil should have been sold and given to the poor. Jesus wasn’t saying not to give to the poor; He was for this one instance defending this woman’s love and devotion to Him. In the Thessalonians scripture, Paul isn’t dealing with the poor, but rather with idle Christians who were more busy being gossips (v. 11) and not tending to their own business.
Scripture is replete with commands that we give, give, and continue to give to others, trusting God Himself to provide for our needs.
• We are told if someone demands our coat, to also give our cloak (Matthew 5:40).
• We are told how to give alms (gifts to the poor, Matthew 6:20).
• If someone takes from us, we aren’t to ask them to return what they took (Luke 6:30).
• Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all that he had and give it to the poor (Matthew 19:21).
• In Matthew 25:35ff, Jesus tells us that in doing ministry to the poor—feeding, clothing and visiting them—we are ministering to God Himself.
• We are to share half of what we have with those who have none (Luke 3:11).
• Paul talked about a regular offering that was to be a gift to the poor Christians in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:1).
• Giving to the poor was an obligation assumed by all the apostles (Galatians 2:10).
• We are to help anyone in need, but particularly to help other Christians in need (Galatians 6:10).
• The purpose of honest work isn’t to accumulate for ourselves, but to have enough to help the poor (Ephesians 4:28).
• We are to care for orphans and widows (James 1:27).
In Amos, the Lord condemned the Israelites for persecuting the poor in numerous ways: for selling them in slavery, for walking over them, refusing to be fair, and for penalizing them with money. The other day, I watched a video on Facebook about a wonderful young Asian man who spent his life giving to others. He wasn’t a Christian, but just a nice person. It was a video encouraging others to give, even sacrificially, to help those around him. The video made me sad because that’s really how Christians should be viewed and instead we are viewed by most nonbelievers as quite the opposite. We are viewed as being self-centered, self-interested, and demanding. I greatly admire Matthew and Caroline Barnett, the pastors of the Dream Center in Los Angeles, not because the Dream Center is getting it perfect, but because they are at least doing something; they are at least trying to help the poorest of the poor around them. And they’re doing it in ways that respect people, that love them, that try to help them, rather than demeaning and belittling them.
Let me give you some very depressing news about the American church.
"Giving USA, a non-profit foundation that studies philanthropy in the United States, in its 2008 report found 33.4% of estimated total giving, $103.32 billion, went to houses of worship and denominational organizations in 2007"1.
To put some perspective on this, the 2013-2014 budget for the City of Los Angeles will be about $5 million2. The State of California’s total budget in 2013 was about $228 billion3. The American Church raises about half of what the State of California does in taxes (remember, the tax rate is much higher than the percentage of tithe or 10%).
It gets worse.
According to another report, 85% of all church monies go directly to the internal operation of the church: salaries, buildings, and supplies4. Eighty-five percent! We could operate half of California every year—that’s every school, every public works, every state agency—and with all that money, 85% goes to make our own lives more comfortable while people in our communities are homeless, hungry, and needy. On the bright side, 85-90% of the churches provide direct assistance in either cash or food to people in need5 which says we’re aware as a church of our Biblical mandate. The question is, is it enough?
If we have, as a church body, enough money to run half of California (California is so large as to be considered in many economic forecasts it’s own country), then why aren’t we having more of an impact on our communities. Is it because while we provide assistance, that assistance is minimal?
We have to remember that often, reading scripture, what we see is a very flat account of the reality of the people who were actually living during that time. The Israelites who lived during the time of Amos were just like us, folks trying to get by. They weren’t like some kind of villain in a movie who laughs evilly because he’s defying God; they were just families following along with the culture of the day . . . and yet God condemns them. Why? Because they knew better. They had the advantage of the Torah (God’s law) and His presence because they were His people and yet the culture around them became more influential in their choices than did what they knew to be true about God’s commands.
How is this different from us?
That’s a question we need to ask ourselves in a daily basis. Where does our money go and do we need to spend it as we do or are there other options we should be choosing? Is our giving sacrificial enough? Do we believe that all of our money really belongs to God (as does even each breath we take) and, in obedience, it should go where He deems best, or do we believe that—after our tithe is paid—we can spend what’s left as frivolously as we wish without giving it a second thought?
I think it comes down to the idea of what do we really need? Perhaps this is the day, the week, the month that we, as a Church, think about what needs really are and then begin to look around and see how we can minister to the Lord by meeting the needs of those around us.
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
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