KC Podcast - Episode 117: Passing the Baton

Our Problem with Alms

Why is it that anytime evangelical Christians sit down to talk about giving to the poor, the conversation consistently and immediately jumps straight to 2 Thessalonians 3:10? The Bible is literally full of commands to give to the poor, to care for the poor, to make sure the poor are treated justly and with compassion. However, the one thing we are most worried about, the thing that most petrifies us, is that we might accidentally give some money to someone who has not been properly vetted and found to be above suspicion of laziness. In other words, we are far more worried about possibly giving something to the "undeserving" poor than we are about possibly failing to give to the "deserving" poor.

I think, given our culture of consumerism, that  most of us (myself included) fail by not giving enough of our substance to those in need, not by giving with too much liberality and prodigality. So I'm just throwing this thought out there for my readers. Do you agree that we focus too much on the danger of giving to a lazy person and too little on the basic requirement to give? Or do you think the evangelical Christian world has a good balance on the issue?

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