Care for the Powerless

The powerless are not a political argument to be solved but people created in the image of God.

There’s only ever been one Mother Teresa.

Over the decades, I’ve known a few people with a similar passion for the poor, the imprisoned, immigrants, the vulnerable elderly, etc. But such people are not common. The common folk, like me, live with biblical commands to care for the last, least, and left out somewhere in the back of our minds, where a nagging voice lives telling us we should do more. That inner badgering brings the fear that we might be more goat-like (Matthew 25) than we think. Common Christians often struggle to care for the powerless.

That’s just the personal part. We also must think about how our churches care for the powerless. And then there is the behemoth of public policy and government agencies to consider. The needs vary so drastically–a family in front of you who needs help is different than considering what a church should be doing in its community or how a nation enacts an immigration policy.

Even when our hearts long to do good, we can feel overwhelmed by how big the problems seem, or like someone else should be taking care of things. Guilt or shame cling to this confusion, muddying our good impulses or inhibiting good desires with uncertainty about the right way to view a problem or the correct way to engage it. And to be candid, increasingly in our current moment, care is sometimes traded for harm.

To care for people in the ways Jesus intended, let’s make taking care of the powerless part of a wise life, something more like enacted common sense. We can then bring that posture into legitimate discussions about “how best to care for the least of these.”

Proverbs on the Powerless

The powerless—widows, orphans, the poor, the migrant, the homeless—are not firstly a political argument to be solved through a leftist or rightist paradigm. People who have never had power or who have lost agency to care for themselves are the Lord’s image bearers. God has given his people, of whatever political persuasion or in whatever political environment, the charge to care for the powerless.

In the book of Proverbs, fidelity to the call of God is described as wisdom. Wisdom is not defined by denominational, national, political, or social sources. Wisdom is alignment with, and an extension of, God’s creative purposes. Those creative purposes, through Jesus, restore life into a world broken by sin and death.

Living wisely includes living responsibly under God, which includes helping the poor, the widow and the orphan, both as individuals, and through various institutions.

Individually and corporately, the people of God are to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves for the rights of all who are destitute (Proverbs 31:8-9); to be kind to the needy (Proverbs 14:21); to not shut their ears to the cry of the poor (Proverbs 21:13). A summary of Proverbial wisdom says this:

The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.

Proverbs 29:7

Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

Proverbs 28:27

In Proverbs, help is also the special responsibility of those in positions of power. If a king judges the poor with equity, his throne will be established forever (Proverbs 29:14). And to the contrary, like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people (Proverbs 28:15).

It is outside the scope of this article to describe the wicked rulers of this earth, but Lord help us! Thy kingdom come soon! Not for us, but for the truly oppressed!

The Letter of James contains a statement that adheres tightly to the worldview of Proverbs:

The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father’s point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans and widows, and who remains true to the Lord—not soiled and dirtied by his contacts with the world.

James 1:27, TLB

James sees caring for the powerless as fundamental, not something for “Mother Teresa” types. He describes such care as the natural overflow of a heart filled with love and commitment to Jesus. The overflow of true worship is caring for the powerless.

The powerless are never to be used by us for any reason whatsoever. And it is also true that there are aspects of our formation into Christlikeness that can be developed only by engaging with the powerless. As Elizabeth O’Connor writes, “Christian spirituality is comprised of a twin journey, the journey inward and the journey outward. Inward in various spiritual practices and outward in deeds of mercy.”

There are many different barriers we face to caring for the powerless: the overwhelming scale of needs, insulation from those without power, or our own shame or confusion. But as people called to wise living in alignment with God, we must habituate lives that serve the powerless.

Let’s start with something small.

• Week 1: Just notice the powerless people on your path and in your newsfeed. Who is God putting in front of you?

• Week 2: Brainstorm some things you might do to care for those God has placed in front of you.

• Week 3: Try to do one simple, wise act of kindness in Jesus’ name per day.

As with everything in the Christian life, we care for others because we have known the care of God. And when we align ourselves with the wise and loving ways of God to care for the people he loves, he will transform our souls and heal the world.