Poor Standards

(Proverbs 29:14 KJV)  The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.

How does God judge a society?  This indicates that leadership will be judge on how it deals with the poor, not how it deals with the rich.  Historically we don’t have much record of the poor people.  They didn’t leave stone palaces or gold dishes.  They tended to live in structures that were made of light materials and eat with wooden utensils.  They didn’t tend to be literate and so left no written records.  At the same time they made up the majority of the population.  In spite of what the movies show about warlords and dictators, the ones who built and lasted were the ones who gave the “poor” (1800b) a square shake.

We should also look at the way in which our society deals with the poor.  We should do it with an eye on God’s standards.  The measurement is not how much we give the poor but are they dealt with on a standard of “truth” (571) and justice.  We need to ask ourselves if the current atmosphere of welfare and subsidies is really preparing the poor to stop being poor.  We should not have one set of scales for the poor and another for the rich.

So?  People need just enough help to succeed if they are willing to pick up the ball and run with it.  If we bend the rules they become dependent on our largesse.  If they need to work harder they learn to stand on their own two feet.  Truth gives a level playing field.