These Are the Facts...

If only those who have would buy health care for those who don't have--and feed them and otherwise care for them--because certainly the ability to do so exists, government wouldn't need to intervene. Greed is the reason government has to step in to keep countless poor people--many of whom work very hard by the way, from slipping through the cracks. We live in a very selfish society. It's true that ideally, care for the poor should be from “bosom to bosom” (Luke 6:38; Matthew 6:2-4), but the bottom line is, it simply doesn't work that way--because we refuse to be our brother's keeper. Clearly, if so many are up in arms over government intervention to provide for care of the needy, they are not upset because they want to do it themselves—the intent is to hold onto their assets for their own selfish purposes. It’s a lie to say that it is because Conservatives want the opportunity to give without government intervention—if that were so, they would already be meeting the needs and government would not have such an awesome task and burden.

As a Christian, I understand that it was Jesus Christ Who taught the principle of caring for the least of these--and the apostles continued this tradition. To the Conservatives who constantly harp on (accusingly) Marxism and socialism, I say, perhaps Marx, read the Book of Acts and thought it a novel idea to share the wealth, because those 1st Christians, "had all things common" and no one had more than he needed--and everyone had their needs met. That is the love of God in action--it amazes me that the loudest opponents of caring for the least of these in this country are Conservative Christians--it just doesn't add up with Scripture and with the grace of God--and His love. The cross changed everything about how we must love and care for one another. Jesus was not a capitalist—neither were those He chose to lead the early church; from that I surmise, that should not be my goal in life, if I am to be like Christ—and following Paul as he follows Christ, to put it simply.

The current administration, Democrats, (or even as Conservatives suggest, erringly Communists or Socialists) cannot take credit for equality in health care and charity aka love (Agape). These are biblical, and God's plan--in fact, they existed in principle even under the strict code of the Mosaic Law. God had a plan in place at that time, too--He is not a "bootstrap" God. Under the Law, God’s people were commanded to tithe into the storehouse to provide for the "Levite (who were not landowners), the widow, the fatherless and the stranger among you" as those were the only poor (categorically of that day)--under the Law, there were no single mom's, or homeless people, etc.--no one fell through the cracks. Even at that, an additional safety net was in place; when they harvested their fields they were commanded to leave the corners untouched for the poor so that there would always be provision for them. That's a gracious and merciful God--and He has always (and still does) cared for the poor--the problem lies in the fact that we don't have hearts like His--and He wants us to.
Until that happens--voluntarily, many will have to rely on government to do what their Christian brothers and sisters refuse to do. It is a choice we have whether we will give or not; but the choice not to care and provide for the "least of these" is a deadly (eternally) one. Jesus made that abundantly clear. (Matthew 25:31-*46.)

Since the cross, the means that we give is: as "a man purposeth in his heart"--and our hearts are to be governed by LOVE. Jesus' teaching in Matthew 25 was very well-defined --taking care of the least of these leads to eternal life; not doing it leads to eternal damnation. How we give matters also. Motives matter to God (1 Corinthians 13:3) and the spirit and in which we give is of great concern to Him as well (2 Corinthians 9:7). So, it can’t ever be forced—it must come from a heart that is motivated by love and true concern for the welfare of the recipient. We don’t give with strings attached, or guilt, or animosity, either.

The other common arguments that arise with this discussion--abortions, homosexuality, etc. can be answered in light of the Gospel, too. Jesus never said that if we don't speak against those things, we will be damned--He did say not showing love will damn us, though (Matthew 25:46). My point is this: just like in Jesus' day, those who scream the loudest and hardest about immorality are the super-religious. In His day it was the Pharisee's and Sadducee's, in ours it's the Religious Right--however, not once did Jesus bash sinners, publicans or even the woman caught in adultery (Remember how her accusers shamefully, drifted away one by one “beginning at the eldest, even unto the last”?). That simply wasn't how He dealt with sinners--and it shouldn't be the way we deal with them either--it is love that draws people--not a rehearsal of their sins or threats of fire and brimstone. That simply isn't a good foundation to build on--because when the storms and winds of life begin to blow and beat upon them (and they surely will), fear fades quickly, and is forgotten; only love sustains us in the trials of life.

Those in sin don't want or need what we offer them--our rejection has repelled them, and that is NOT the example of Christ. Jesus found a common ground and met them at the point of their need--even eating with them (and we all know the hassle He experienced as a result)--until He won them. He wasn't impressed with the super-religious. They didn't even recognize Him as the King of Kings when He came--because He didn't appear glorious enough for them, in spite of the fact that He had been foretold, prophesied, taught, and awaited by them and their forefathers for centuries.

So what if sinners sin--if they have abortions and more--they are sinners. Sinners, by definition, sin. That is to be expected, and it is no surprise; it is not the job of Christians to correct or judge the world (1 Corinthians 5: 12,13) but to judge ourselves; a job we are not that great at, yet we are compelled to judge people that we aren’t supposed to judge, but to love and woo into God’s Kingdom. It is our vocation to win them (sinners)--by love (John 13:34,35). They won't see love if we are sitting in church next to our brothers and sisters in need or hiding from need in our neighborhoods, cities, nation--and around the globe waiting for them to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Our "neighbors" are our responsibility both individually and collectively. My neighbor is my profession, as a Christian--if he is without and I am have the ability to provide a need and "shut up my bowels of compassion" James says I am no longer a "doer of the Word" and I have "dead faith".

I am not ashamed to be called a liberal—it doesn’t offend me; that's fine--Jesus was a liberal, too; very radically so-- He said "But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." To the money-makers of His day, He was a threat because He exposed their practices—how when at the court of the Gentiles they sat selling over-priced doves and sacrifices and exchanging shekels at an unfair exchange rate to those who were coming to pay the half shekel atonement offering (Exodus 30:15). God hates unjust balances (Proverbs 11:1).

Bottom line, of course government can't give without taking from someone else (but that isn’t new or unique to this administration, the way some make it seem; that hails all the way back to the first Tea Party, in Boston)--but if those who have so much to give, gave freely, government wouldn't have to impose taxation, because the need would already be met. Obviously, that isn’t realistic—human nature deems that it isn’t, and history proves that it isn’t—under every form of government, be it Democratic, Communistic, Socialist or whatever, greed creeps in. There is no Utopia; the have’s want more and the have not’s want something—there has to be compromise. It doesn’t happen left up to individuals; government has to intervene, because most individuals who have, don’t want to share. They feel entitled to hold onto all that they have—Christian or not.

You know, I'm always amazed too, that the very same people who vehemently refuse to pay for a woman to have an abortion, also don't want to pay for social programs to feed and provide medical coverage for the same mother and her unborn child--it's pretty elementary--you can't have it both ways. If she’s poor and her reasoning for the abortion is inability to provide for her child, and there are no social programs to assist her, she really is between the proverbial rock and hard place. Adoption is the general solution, but somehow that isn’t working so well either, because the foster parent system is well over-burdened in America and filled with children who “age-out” with no family connections to speak of. Do I think abortion is the answer? No, but I but also don’t think those who aren’t willing to provide palpable solutions should be the ones to make such decisions.

Now, let’s look back at the Church issue: there was no tithe in the early church. It did not happen until the 2nd century at which time it was voluntary--only later becoming mandatory--and yes, it was under Roman Catholicism. It is all about the heart--grace, and love. If we lived by 1 Timothy 6:17-19, in reality, there would be no need for this discussion. Timothy and the other bishops, apostles and church leaders all lived by the same rule--love. And, "they had all things common..." not by force or coercion, but by choice and the church grew and thrived.  "All those trusting in Yeshua stayed together and had everything in common; in fact, they sold their property and possessions and distributed the proceeds to all who were in need. Continuing faithfully and with singleness of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily, and breaking bread in their several homes, they shared their food in joy and simplicity of heart, praising God and having the respect of all the people. And day after day the Lord kept adding to them those who were being saved." [Acts 2:44-47, Complete Jewish Bible].
I want people to give it out of a sense of free will and love--so does God(that’s the plan He created for us), but when people don't--and that is what we are faced with, in greedy America; it cannot simply be ignored at the expense of needy people. Good governments have a responsibility to all people not just a few.