What Christians Owe the Poor

Christianity may not save us from the recession, and in fact may have helped cause it, but for a refreshing number of people of faith, the economic downturn has brought an opportunity to step up their ministries to the poor.

Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, a minister who serves as the leader of the National Council of Churches, has been a vocal advocate of Christians doing more to help the poor. In an much-discussed essay published last week, he chastised fellow religious people for not paying nearly enough attention to the struggling people in their communities.

"Working together, we can accomplish the abatement of poverty worldwide," Kinnamon writes. "But even if we fail, it is clear God is commanding us to make the effort. God is not on the side of social scientists, politicians or cynics. God is on the side of the poor."

At yesterday's National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama brought a similar message. Contrasting Americans' response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti with their interest in the poverty all around them, he said "we become numb to the day-to-day crises, the slow-moving tragedies of children without food and men without shelter and families without health care."

Kinnamon's essay comes off as tough love; he doesn't give Christians credit for taking their responsibility to the poor more seriously than secular people, which surveys consistently show they do. (Sociologist Robert Wuthnow's book God and Mammon in America is an excellent, if slightly outdated, exploration of this divide.) In Kinnamon's mind, the Bible gives Christians an elevated responsibility to fight poverty, and they are not living up to it.

Ministries to the poor have always been a part of most Christian religious groups (and most religious institutions of any faith), if for no other reason than because churchgoers understand the plight of low-income people -- they're significantly more likely to live in poverty themselves. One of the most favorable signs from the pews is that church attendance is up significantly during the recession. Surely that's in part because people want God to intervene on their own behalf, but many new churchgoers report feeling drawn to get involved so they can help others.

Jim Wallis' increasing prominence on the national scene is another good sign for those concerned about poverty. Wallis is the most famous progressive Christian in the country, consulting with President Obama and other officials regularly. His magazine, books and sermons preach social justice above all else -- on The Daily Show last month, he suggested that bankers be required to send their bonuses to Haiti. Bailing out banks and auto companies with money that could be used to buy food for the hungry, he says, is a "sin of Biblical proportions." That's a message that even skeptics of organized religion can get on board with.

Photo credit: tbower