Early this morning, as I enjoyed a hot cup of Joe at the Panara Bread Company, I ran across a Scripture that frightened me: Proverbs 29:7. It says, “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.”
Huh? Although I want to be righteous, I must confess that I’m not spending a whole lot of brain-power, heart-power, soul-power, or body-power on “justice for the poor.” In fact, when I see such verses I cannot help but think of all the people whose poor choices, lack of motivation, and weak work ethic spawned their poverty in the first place.
The righeous care about the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
Don’t hear me wrong: I give to the poor, I help the poor find beneficial resources, and I hope our church will become a safe-harbor for the poor–but I do those things because I’m supposed to, not necessarily because I care to. I think.
Yet the sage Proverb says, “The righteous care about justice for the poor but the wicked have no such concern.”
I wonder: Is it possible to go to church, worship with passion, study God’s word, abstain from the common forms of wickedness, call on the name of the Lord for eternal salvation, and yet be wicked in the eyes of God because of my lack of of concern for the poor?
Is this possible? Perhaps true repentance…
