The Christian Responsibility Towards Hunger and Poverty

Hunger is not the scarcity of food but rather it is the excess of it. The profuse hollow faces of the hungry and poor pervade while a privileged few are webbed in amour propre and opulence. This state of imbalance is inherent in disharmonious social relationships where the destitute and the hungry cling at the mercy of the privileged. Furthermore, bereaved of their right to adequate food and often classified as riffraff of society their dignity is threatened. It is, therefore, not only a political or economic responsibility but a moral human obligation to poise the extreme injustice and oust the stigma that accompanies it. But more importantly, what is the Christian response to such a culture caught in between vanity and opulence oblivious to those in need?

The reality of the pervasiveness of poverty and hunger with evident lack of stewardship exemplified in Christ for the poor is, perhaps, the realization of the prophetic proclamation in John 12:8, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” The crisis of hunger and poverty was prevalent in both the Old and New Testament times and the Christian responsibility towards it is vivid and explicit; to love, exhibit compassion and act on their behalf. The unambiguous attention merited to this matter rallies towards an affirmation that this is the will of God. The palpable love and identification of God with the poor entails their deliverance and not an acceptance of their conditions: Her poor I will satisfy with bread (Psalms 132:15). It is neither impartiality towards the rich, for they are equally loved, but their abundance often leads to overindulgence and stands as an impediment in their relationship with God and others. Therefore, their self-indulgent ways are rebuked because it skews their thoughts and stifles their spiritual growth. To be fully committed they need, in the words of Martin Luther, a conversion of the heart, mind, and purse.

Eating was a large part of Jesus’ ministry and it was from the context of indiscriminately sharing a meal that he broke social barriers and provided a new sense of self as God's children. Food was a medium for the physical, social, and spiritual growth and it significantly reoriented the frame of reference of poverty inextricably connected with sin, disgrace, and marginalization. Jesus saw humans in their totality, hungering for and requiring both physical and spiritual nourishment. It was in the meals Jesus shared with the poor that we witness one of the greatest lessons of feeding the hungry. He was moved with compassion to feed the multitude who received spiritual feeding and was famished by the third day. He knew the importance of food and the role it played to enhance the expression of spiritual living. It wouldn’t be too much to say, then, that it would do no good to preach the gospel to the hungry if they are not fed simultaneously. Jesus, however, did not exaggerate the importance of food because it is ultimately an ingredient in living the life of the Spirit: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). In his association with food, therefore, is an uncanny balance between the physical and spiritual nourishment of the body where either one is not overpowering the other.

Only when we grasp and foster the compassionate sincerity in the ministry of Jesus to the poor and hungry and comprehend the necessity of both physical and spiritual sustenance shall we expel any compromised self-righteous charity as a substitute. Thus, failing to reiterate the accentuated stewardship of Jesus is like rejecting him altogether. Moreover, the biblical perspective of food and the significant role it plays underscore Christian responsibility as closely tied to the welfare of the poor and the hungry. Such a response manifests the gospel’s veracity to not only the poor but also the larger culture in question. As we oscillate between the extremes of overindulgence and poverty, the response to the crisis is not blowing in the wind but lies in Jesus who was rich but for our sake became poor.