I am amazed at how often Christians get up in arms over issues that they hear presented repeatedly on the News. And, it is very likely that this position was something that was presented to them on their favorite news channel. If they are a conservative it is likely that they got this viewpoint from Fox News or heard it seven times from a presidential candidate.
News stations have become incredibly volatile and one sided. To watch the news now isn’t really watching the news. On the right you have Fox News and on the left you have MSNBC. In the middle to left area you have CNN (some would argue this point and say that it is far left or far right…). NBC and ABC probably fall closer to the middle than CNN…depending on how you are looking at it anyway. It is not CNN, NBC, and ABC that seem to cause the most troubles for people. It’s Fox News and MSNBC. Neither of these stations even attempt to hide their agendas. Even though I would find myself agreeing with Fox News more, I think it does greater damage to Christians. And here’s why.
Fox News has become a rallying point for Conservative Evangelicals. And this has become the case so much that many people equate being a Christian with agreeing with the opinions on Fox News, even when it is an opinion that God hates.
One Horrific Example
I have heard on a number of occasions people being disgusted that their money goes to recipients of government aid. I have heard that multiple times people have said something derogatory about a person holding a WIC check in their hands to pay for their food. But the story isn’t told as if the person speaking has done something wrong. It is actually lauded by believers and then baptised with a Scripture such as “if they won’t work than they shouldn’t eat” which is a paraphrase of 2 Thessalonians 3:10. Disregard for a moment how badly the passage is taken out of context for this usage and think about why they are saying this.
It is not the case that the average American sees the people who are on government assistance laying around and not working. The reason I say this so confidently is that the research doesn’t bear this out. It is simply not the case that most people on government assistance are not working, the opposite is actually the case.
So, why would people be so up in arms over the issue of government assistance?
Here is what I believe to be happening. The Republican Party and Fox News has pushed the idea that those on government assistance are lazy, no good, drug addicts who would actually work if they didn’t get assistance. Since Conservative Christians have bought the lie that Fox News represents what they should believe about politics, it is taken without consideration. And an unChristian response to a person who likely works a full time job and isn’t paid enough money to support the family is lauded as a good thing to do when in fact it is disgusting.
Biblically Speaking
From Scripture there isn’t really much about government assistance to the poor that would apply to our country. Interestingly though, God’s people were mandated to help the needy in their land.
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after you harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”-Leviticus 19:9-10 ESV
Obviously, the situation was different because this was a Theocracy. We don’t live in a land that is governed as it was. Yet, it does help us to see that there is nothing morally wrong with a government mandating that aid go to the poor in its country. Essentially that is what God does hear with the Israelites.
It would probably be better to work toward pay being raised so that people with low income jobs would not need this aid. Again, from a Christian perspective it makes more sense to work toward higher pay than to ridicule the working person in the grocery store line. Especially since God has shown Himself to be against those who oppress the poor and not the poor themselves.
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”- Malachi 3:5 ESV
The Net Bible translates the phrase “those who oppress the hired worker” as “those who exploit workers”. I think that the damage done by extreme politics and news shows should be obvious by now.
The berading of a person at a check out line can never be lauded by Christians. That is a behavior that cannot ever be glorified. It is an act that is demeaning and degrading toward a person who is likely working a job that doesn’t pay the bills. And the extreme propaganda of a news station and political party made it all seem like this was the right thing to do.
A Biblical Response
A biblical response to a person who needs government assistance would likely be to treat them as Jesus said to treat poor people. While I never would say that Jesus’ teaching on the poor is a mandate for how a government should treat the poor, I do believe that it is a mandate for how we as individuals should treat the poor. It would be better for this person to be treated with kindness and compassion. Maybe even use your money to give them something.
Just google the phrase “how we are to treat the poor according to Scripture” and you’ll find that God requires us to have compassion upon the poor and needy in our society. And you’ll also find that God despises contempt for the needy.
I know of people that have abused the system that is in place. And, when that is the case, they should be punished for it and the money taken away. But, this is not what happens most of the time and to treat people who are in need with contempt is heaping God’s judgment upon yourself.
“Whoever mocks the poor insults His Maker;
He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.”
-Proverbs 17:5 ESV
Concluding Thoughts
I agree with much of what Fox News says. And, I will likely be voting for a Republican whenever elections come around. I believe that the death of babies outweighs any other issue and for that reason I will likely be voting Republican. Yet, there is a sense in which we can buy propaganda hook, line, and sinker without considering what we should believe on the matter. Don’t do that. Think as you watch the news and politicians because we don’t want extreme politics to hinder our faith.
R. Dwain Minor
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