In Christianity, IT's the given ... the assumption ... the ignored. IT's the thing we all know is right, but the thing we do the least. IT's the thing that calls for us to get our hands dirty with people in places that most don't want to go.
IT is the poor, the needy, the abused, the widowed, the destitute, the diseased, the addicted, the uneducated, the homeless, the lonely, the depressed, the challenged, the unemployed, the broken. We live in a world filled with IT.
Sadly, many of us who call ourselves Christians treat IT like an it. We make IT nameless and faceless with no personality -- just a fuzzy slate framed on the wall. We may send some money to someone else who can get the funds to IT, but we distance ourselves from actual contact with IT.
Jesus, however, took a different view of IT. He used terms like "he," "she," "they," and "them." He saw their great need, and commanded us to do something about it. In fact, it wasn't just a single command. The Bible has nearly a hundred passages devoted to the poor, needy, widowed and fatherless. And, not a single one of them lets us off the hook in caring for them.
Proverbs 21:13 - Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.
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