Cut Through the Cultural Norms

Proverbs 29:7 (KJV) The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.

The underlying point of this verse is a corrective we need today.  It involves the attitude we should have toward the “poor”.

When the Bible talks about the “poor” it is talking a different language than what we are using today.  Today we say poor as a comparative term in the light of the materialistic affluence of our society.  We consider someone poor if they have less than some arbitrary standard conceived by a social worker concerned about the latest grant request or politician out for votes.  It is a floating standard created for manipulation.

Those kind of poor are also addressed in Proverbs but the word used is sluggard.

Biblical poor are people who missed their last meal and don’t know where the next will come from.  The righteous are to used discernment in considering their situation.  The word used there is “yada”  which means to know well.  The phrase has the idea of judging.

So?  We are to be concerned for the genuine poor.  We are also not supposed to waste the resources which could be used to help them on people who just want someone to pay for their cable.