Economic Justice

Scripture calls us to lend a helping hand to those who are in need — brother, neighbor, and stranger alike. Indeed, the Bible has approximately 2,000 verses about caring for the vulnerable. There is perhaps no clearer prophetic call.

Key Points:

• The budget is a moral document. It defines the set of values that govern us as a nation.
• Christ calls all nations to promote the common good by giving a hand-up to those who are in need. Indeed, all nations will ultimately be judged on how they treat the most vulnerable members of society (Matthew 25:31-45).
• A Christian worldview calls us to put the lowly first and humble the mighty.

Issue Analysis:

The country faces deep economic anxiety. The average American worker has not felt the benefits of our growing economy. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Median wages are stagnating. Health care costs are rising. In short, working Americans feel squeezed. At the same time, after progress under the Clinton Administration, the poverty rate is once again rising, the minimum wage remains wretchedly low, and millions of children still live in poverty. Faced with these challenges, Republicans still insist on giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, creating unsustainable deficits and staggering income inequality.

There is perhaps no issue as central to Democrats and Christians alike as economic justice. The Democratic approach is expressed in the third of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms,” a “freedom from want — which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants — everywhere in the world.”

The Christian call to economic justice is summarized in the passage, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Luke 6:20), and in the promise that all nations will be judged on how they treat “the least of these” in our society: the hungry, the thirsty, the excluded, the sick, the naked, and the imprisoned (Matthew 25:31-46). Together, these statements lie at the heart of this website’s mission — a mission guided by Christian compassion and love.

What Scripture Says:

Scripture is filled with passages that offer sweeping calls to help others:

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31)

“Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments’.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

“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.” (James 2:18-19)

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God . . . because God is love.” (I John 4:7-8)

“I hate and I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your solemn assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like an ever-flowing stream!” (Amos 5:21-24)

Scripture is also filled with passages that call specifically for assisting the poor and the vulnerable:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'” (Matthew 25:34-45)

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 23:21-23)

“‘Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?’ declares the Lord. ‘But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.’” (Jeremiah 22:15-17)

“I will be swift to bear witness … against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow, and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”
(Malachi 3:5)

“You seem eager for God to come near you. Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Yet is not this the kind of fasting I, your Lord, have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice…to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them?” (Isaiah 58: 2-7)

“He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” (Proverbs 14:31)

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs.” (Isaiah 58: 9-11)

“Mercy triumphs over judgment! 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.” (James 2: 14-17)

“Jesus answered [to the rich man], “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)

“Learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1: 17)

“When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you.” (Luke 14: 13-14)

“Endow the king with your justice, O God . . . he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence.” (Psalm 72:1, 12-14a)

“If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident so he can continue to live among you…you must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit.” (Leviticus 25: 35-38)

Scripture announces that the work of Christ exalts the lowly and humbles the mighty:

“He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.” (Luke 1: 51-53)

“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth…Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years…they will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord…the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox…they will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.” (Is. 65:17-25)

“Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices…but you neglect the more important matters of the Law — justice, mercy, and faithfulness…You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. On the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23:23-28)

“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” (Ezekiel 16:48-50)

“For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins — you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate.” (Amos 5:12-13)

“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor.” (James 2:1-6)

Faithful Democrats are committed, in sum, to a politics of the Beatitudes — a politics that prioritizes the meek, the needy, the struggling, those who need the help of their neighbor the most. As such, we end with that key passage from the Sermon on the Mount:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5: 3-12)