A Moral Obligation

 A Moral Obligation

In the book of Leviticus we read.

“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.’ ” Leviticus 23:22.

The American evangelist Tony Campolo said,

“These issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.” Tony Campolo.

I believe as Christians we have a moral obligation to help those in need, and scripture backs this up. In the book of James we read,

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  

If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” James 2:14-20.

In the Jewish faith there is a concept known as Tzedakah. I got this explanation of tzedakah from Jewish web site it states,

"Tzedakah is the Hebrew word for acts that we call charity in English: giving assistance and money to the poor and needy or to other worthy causes. However the nature of tzedakah is very different from the idea of charity. The word "charity suggests benevolence and generosity, a magnanimous act by the wealthy and the powerful for the benefit of the poor and needy....

In Judaism giving to the poor is not viewed as a generous, magnanimous act, it is simply and act of righteousness, performance of a duty giving the poor their due.

We have no way of knowing why a person is poor and in need. And its not our place to judge the poor. 

It is however, our moral obligation to help the poor when we can.

Please think about it.

How we preach it.

How we preach it
The apostle Paul writes,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
The late evangelist Charles H. Spurgeon wrote,
“We are not responsible to God for the soul that are saved, but we are responsible for the Gospel that is preached, and for the way in which we preach it” Charles H. Spurgeon.
Put simply Spurgeon is saying we must preach the gospel message truthfully.
We should never take what it says out of context.
We should never twist what it says to make it say what we believe or want to believe.
So the question becomes,
If you claim to be a believer in Christ Jesus are you presenting the gospel message correctly?
Please think about it.