Who Were the Poor in the New Testament?

Tony Cooke

I recently shared an article entitled Common Sense Thoughts on Prosperity. In this follow-up article, I am addressing Scripture’s emphasis on helping the poor. There are countless reasons why poverty exists in the world, but I want to begin by focusing on one very specific type of lack experienced in New Testament times: the economic ramifications of persecution.
https://tonycooke.org/articles-by-tony-cooke/common-sense-thoughts-on-prosperity/

Hebrews 10:32-34 (NLT)
32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering.
33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.
34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

This may be a foreign concept for those of us who grew up in the modern west, but such persecution is still a reality for many believers around the world. In the first century, Christians could be denied employment or fired from jobs because of their faith in Christ and their refusal to worship the Roman gods. In various parts of the world today, the property of Christians is seized, entire villages of Christians are destroyed, and churches are burned to the ground.

Historically, lack occurred for other reasons also. During a meeting in Antioch, Agabus “predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius). So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could” (Acts 11:28-29 NLT). It was Barnabas and Paul who hand-carried this offering to Jerusalem.

When Paul met with Jerusalem church leaders concerning his ministry and message, they acknowledged his divine assignment, and “their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do” (Gal 2:10 NLT). Later, Paul told believers in Rome that believers in Greece had “eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem” (Rom 15:26 NLT).

In the New Testament, we see an emphasis on poverty in Jerusalem, but scarcity was prevalent for a majority of people throughout the Roman Empire in the first century. I mentioned in the last article that there were wealthy people in the Ephesian church, and there certainly were. But perhaps twenty-five percent of the people there were slaves. In Corinth, perhaps as many as fifty-percent of its residents were slaves. Yet beyond slavery, there were significant levels of lack and neediness in the first century.

General Background Information

If you review the Bible’s teaching on the poor, you quickly see that God promoted kindness, mercy, and generosity toward the poor, and he despised the poor being exploited and oppressed. Here are some references along these lines.

• Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do. There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need (Deut 15:10-11, NLT).
• Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble (Psa 41:1 NLT).
• Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people (Psa 82:3-4, NLT).
• While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has” (Luke 21:1-4 NLT).
• Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you (James 1:27 (NLT).

Stern Words in Scripture

During a time of national crisis, Nehemiah became furious when he learned that the wealthy in Judea were exploiting the poor during the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. Not only had many mortgaged their fields, vineyards, and homes in order to buy food, but some had even sold their children into slavery.

Nehemiah 5:6-7 reads, “I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, ‘Each of you is exacting usury from his brother.’ So I called a great assembly against them” (NLT). Not only did Nehemiah command the usury (i.e., unusually high interest) to stop, but he also commanded the return of what had been unjustly taken.

The apostle James wrote his epistle to Jewish Christians who had been scattered abroad because of persecution. Even then, there were rich people among the believers who were taking advantage of the poor. The harsh rebukes of James are found in 2:1-7 and 5:1-6, but remember, the issue is not that some individuals had wealth, but that they were oppressing and taking advantage of the poor. One of James’ complaints was that the rich were cheating workers out of the pay they had earned and deserved (Jas 5:4).

I remember sitting in a restaurant in a certain nation. When it was time to pay the bill, my friend asked the server if she would receive the tip if he included it on the credit card. The server looked a bit embarrassed, but said, “No, we don’t receive tips that are left that way.” My friend knew it was a common practice for the owners and managers there to keep the tips that were intended for the servers. We handed a cash tip to the server, and it was gratefully received.

In addition to James’ sharp words, the apostle Paul asked the Corinthians, “Do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor?” (1 Corinthians 11:22 NLT). In Corinth, the rich who had flexible schedules would arrive at church early and enjoy a feast, including some getting drunk. By the time the poor got off work and arrived, the food was gone, and there was nothing for those that had the greatest need.

Paul had reminded them earlier:

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NLT)
26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.
27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.
29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

Jesus Did Not Measure Poverty and Material Riches by Bank Accounts

In the classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” George Bailey took a devastating financial hit and desperately lacked money. He agonized over his plight, but as things turned around, his little brother Harry called him “the richest man in town.” Why? Because George was rich in friends.

The church in ancient Smyrna had undergone severe persecution and the people had suffered greatly, but Jesus said, “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich!” (Rev 2:9 NLT). At the same time, the church in Laodicea lived in the midst of great wealth, but by trusting in material things, they had lost their fervency for Jesus. He said, “You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev 3:17 NLT).

Consider the wisdom of Solomon’s statement:

Proverbs 13:7 (AMP)
7 One man considers himself rich, yet has nothing [to keep permanently]; another man considers himself poor, yet has great [and indestructible] riches.

It is sad when some flaunt their wealth (or supposed wealth) in an attempt to impress others, and some get themselves in trouble this way. Someone once said, “We spend money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like.” I really don’t care what people drive or wear, but it is problematic when insecurity or pride compels them to broadcast their wealth to impress others.

I once spoke at a ministers’ conference, and one of the speakers stood in front of hundreds of pastors and boasted that he had paid $800 for his shoes. I knew many of those ministers, and most were bi-vocational, and some were working two or three jobs in order to faithfully pastor their people. We should remember Paul’s admonition that “love does not parade itself, is not puffed up” (1 Cor 13:4 NKJV). The Amplified states that love “is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.”

Some of the pastors came to me later and shared with me how disheartened they were when that statement was made. Can you imagine Paul or John standing before one of the churches and pointing out how expensive their sandals were? That is absolutely antithetical to the entire tone and tenor of the New Testament. We are called to lift up Jesus and others, not ourselves.

I realize that alms giving is just one type of giving in Scripture. We celebrate all the kinds of generosity and giving that God enjoins. D. L. Moody said, “When God gave Christ to this world, He gave the best He had, and He wants us to do the same.” We should joyfully give to support our churches, to the spread of the gospel, and to support those in need.