Caring For The Least Of These Should Not Be A Partisan Issue
(ANALYSIS) Someone recently shared an Instagram post of someone reading the “Red Words” (the words in the Gospels spoken by Jesus himself), specifically, sections of Matthew 25, which include the passage:
“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”
Her only commentary was flashing headlines about the deportation of migrants, the cutting of SNAP and Medicaid benefits and the taking over of Gaza — and her statement halfway through, “I don’t know. Sounds pretty liberal.” She ends with a quote from the Rev. Benjamin Cremer.
“Beware of any Christian movement that demands the government be an instrument of God’s wrath but never a source of God’s mercy, generosity, or compassion.”
So, are Jesus’s words in Matthew 25 “liberal”? I guess that depends on what one’s definition of “liberal” is. And that’s part of the problem. We can’t easily define something as complex as someone’s socio-political or theological viewpoints with one word, especially when that word, like many in our language, has had a massive shift in meaning over the centuries. (Eighteenth century economist Adam Smith was a “liberal.” Justin Trudeau is a Liberal.) To quote Marcus Aurelius, “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”
Defining the question
So, what is the truth? Does Jesus command that we fund SNAP and Medicaid and welcome anyone who wants to come to the United States, regardless of background?
I’ll return to Cremer’s quote. Yes, we should “beware of any Christian movement that demands the government be an instrument.” I’m going to stop the quote there though. Government, except in very specifically defined areas, should not be an instrument at all.
As Jefferson, someone who most consider “classically liberal” and a self-proclaimed Anti-Federalist, stated, “That government is best which governs least.” I don’t know if agreeing with this makes me a liberal, a conservative, an Anti-Federalist or a Mugwump, but I do believe it is congruent with my Christian faith.
Yes, Jesus commanded us to take care of the poor, the sick and the imprisoned. He also commanded us to take care of the stranger, even telling stories of “Good Samaritans.”
Here’s where I might disagree with Jen Hamilton and Cremer. All of Jesus’ commandments were directed at us primarily as citizens of heaven, not citizens of Rome. When He told us to “render unto Caesar,” that wasn’t an endorsement of Caesar’s empire. It was more a begrudging acceptance that He was speaking to people who still had worldly attachments.
God’s perfect plan doesn’t involve a massive bureaucratic state funded by taxes. God’s perfect plan actually involves us all voluntarily taking care of each other in a direct and highly personal way.
The parable of the Good Samaritan involves a guy who had no obligation to care for some poor soul left for dead on the side of the road but doing it anyway. He picked the man up, delivered him to an inn and paid the innkeeper money to take care of him. He didn’t say to himself that he’d paid his taxes, and it was the Romans’ responsibility to take care of the man on the side of the road.
The principle of subsidiarity
In fact, to bring in the Catholic view on things, the Catechism supports the idea of subsidiarity, opposing collectivism, and stating “neither the state nor any larger society should substitute itself for the initiative and responsibility of individuals and intermediary bodies.”
If you prefer the Protestant view, Martin Luther also acknowledged the principle of the Kingdom’s Left Hand (civil authority, restraining evil) and Right Hand (church, spiritual care, charity).
In this case, civil government is permitted but never as an instrument of divine mercy. In his “Temporal Authority,” he states “God has ordained the powers of government for the punishment of the wicked and the protection of the upright.”
But why does it matter? Isn’t a federal welfare program just a community taking care of itself on a larger level and more efficiently? No, it’s not more efficient. While many things may scale, they eventually hit a point of diseconomy, and collapse from complex fragility.
But let’s say that we haven’t reached that point with the U.S. welfare state. It’s still wrong and here’s where it gets spiritual. When we unburden ourselves of the personal responsibility involved in caring for others, we rob both ourselves and the recipient of the spiritual connection that can be made, and that spirituality, that true humanity, is more important than any monetary treasure. “Man does not live on bread alone.” (Mt 4:4)
We see it in our culture today. People aren’t dying of a hunger for food so much as they’re dying of a hunger for companionship. Recent studies have shown that loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 26-45% and that anywhere from 20-50% of Americans express feeling lonely.
Beyond political labels
So, forget whether government programs are liberal or conservative. Forget whether or not they’re more efficient than giving at the local level. Forget whether or not they’re being abused.
If we’re looking at it from a “Christian” perspective (another word that has too vague a meaning in today’s culture), what Jesus commanded in Matthew 25, it means taking care of each other one-on-one (more or less). It means taking the responsibility for “the least of these” on a very personal level.
Since we’re coming up on Christmas, here’s a line from “A Christmas Carol” where Scrooge states that he’s paid his taxes and that’s enough.
“I help to support the establishments [Union workhouses and the Treadmill and the Poor Law, government welfare programs of their day] I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.”
Perhaps more importantly even than caring for the “least of these,” as important as that is, is how we treat everyone, in general. Before pointing out the speck in your neighbor’s eye, remove the log in your own. (Mt. 7:3)
It doesn’t matter whether we choose to call Jesus’ words “liberal” or “conservative.” Calling out people one has never met and brandishing large groups of people with judgmental labels when one has no idea of their motivations is most certainly not what Jesus called for.
Instead, let us work together, on a personal level, to care for everyone in our communities, be they our preconceived notion of “rich” or “poor,”, since, as “A Christmas Carol” showed us, Scrooge, before his change of heart, was far poorer than Bob Cratchett in what really matters.
Let us strive to spend more time caring for others in the truest sense and less time feeding the devil’s divisiveness, chastising those we think we disagree with.
This piece originally appeared at FaVS News.
Mark Griswold is a recent convert from evangelical Christianity to Catholicism. Originally from Seattle, he now lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with his wife and three sons. He’s a writer, ghostwriter, book editor, publisher and writing coach. He has written scores of poems, hundreds of essays, dozens of shorts stories and a novel. He's also hosted two radio programs, one airing Greek music and the other a talk show covering history, world culture, food and politics. When not writing, he loves the outdoors and participating in scouting activities with his sons, world travel and being a lifelong learner of history, religion, literature, public policy and philosophy. You can find his essays and other non-fiction at instaurare.com and his poetry and fiction at allofitstrue.com.