"God's Mercy; God's Heart for the Poor and Needy" by Brett Kreider

A Book Review

My friend Brett Kreider sent me his new book and thought it might resonate with me. It did way more than that. It is excellent, full of great insights, and very straightforward about what the scriptures say. Even though Brett is very erudite, the book is an easy read. It is a collection of 42 short devotionals so that it can be read as a regular book or according to the daily devotionals over 42 days.

As usual, I will highlight a few of my main takeaways:

• God always plans provisions against greed and to take care of the materially poor. We see in the Old Testament how God had planned years of Jubilee, had ordered his people to leave a portion of the harvest so the poor could pick their own grain, and many other measures. Those were dignified measures and not handouts.

  “God did not intend for people to accumulate property other than what was allocated to them and provided laws meant to take care of every need for citizens.” (p.26)

• Greed and materialism are grave sins in God’s mind. Colossians 3:5 says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Greed is on the same level as immorality, yet you would not know that from what is taught in many churches today. I even come across adverts and posts promoting workshops to teach “Christians” how to make more money!

• Brett explains very well how greed leads to disconnect and apathy. “Our isolation leads us to try to meet our own needs, but then we become people who don’t need people. We buy into the individualism of Western culture that expects every individual to meet their own needs. Why is this a problem? People who don’t need people don’t recognize the needs of others. Instead, we can blame people for their unfortunate circumstances, whether they had anything to do with it or not. We create this bubble that is so common in today’s suburban living - we surround ourselves with everything we need and no longer even interact with people who have significant needs. We forget how to live in interdependence, and our hearts become calloused. We don’t even realize that we have a need to be needed!” (p. 10)

  Brett admits very humbly how this affects him: “ Sometimes I feel like I live in a bubble. I’m disconnected from people who have significant physical needs. I rarely encounter the poorest and neediest in my community. Disconnection makes it much easier for me to rationalize why I’m not more involved in helping poor and needy people.” (p.65)

  This leads to apathy: “It is easy to grow complacent in our relationship with God and our heart for the poor when all our needs are met.” (p.30). We all know how God felt about Sodom’s apathy towards the needs of the poor, and what happened to them as a result (Ez16:49-59). Also Jer5: 27-31.

• Feeling for people and helping is not enough. We are also instructed by God to advocate. God expects us to support the poor and the foreigner. Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
  and release from darkness for the prisoner.”

  King Josiah was praised for defending the cause of the needy (2 Kings 22-23). Yes, he did find the Book of the Law, but the reason he was praised was because of the way he obeyed the book by supporting the weak and the poor.

  Giving our money is not enough. Doing acts of service is also good, but not enough. We have to use our voice and our privilege to advocate. Yes, people may accuse you of being “political”. Let them. They are misinformed and have not read their bibles properly.

• Our service to the materially poor and the oppressed should be relational. We should be personally involved, not just give money so others can serve. “People don’t need a handout from someone with more resources, they need a brother or sister to walk with them through their pain and suffering.” (p.45). Or in the words of my friend John Porter, “Be with people in their weakness tenderly.”

  Relationship poverty often goes hand in hand with material poverty and oppression: “To walk humbly with God is to partner with him in how he treats people. Sometimes in our attempts to be religious, we do all the religious things but fail to walk with God in a way that reflects his mercy and justice. Religion without compassion lacks humility and fails to reflect or honor God.” (p.93)

  “Jesus chose to grow up in a poor family. He willingly experienced the pain, suffering, and shame of poverty. He understood relationship poverty - he grew up as one of the few kids his age, and later his closest friends abandoned him, leaving him to die at the hands of the misled authorities.” (p.106)

  We have to be personally connected and involved at a relational level: “While charity and social welfare programs have some benefits, they are no substitute for active involvement in serving people across all of their needs - relationally, emotionally, and spiritually.” (p.163) And let us not forget that we may not be poor materially, but we are all poor in spirit (Rev 3:14-21).

• This will prevent us from falling into the “Savior Complex”. When we know we are poor relationally or in spirit, it makes it easier to connect with the materially poor. It also keeps us humble and protects us from a sense of superiority.

• Brett emphasizes several times ( and rightly so) that this is not something we can delegate like some form of Corban. Supporting our neighbors in their time of need is not an event or an activity once a month, or something that can be delegated to a para-church organization. “A heart for the poor and needy is not something we manufacture by adding a discipline to our life or an event to our schedule. The only heart worth sharing is a heart touched by God, opened to his healing, shared with his people, an overflowing with the Holy Spirit.” (p. 44)

• One of the things Brett talks about is the fact that the kingdom of God is here now. We can be obsessed with the afterlife that we neglect the needs of our neighbors right here on earth. We overspiritualize when Jesus did not do that.

• God makes the church grow. In the book of Acts, we see the church thrive. They loved people, served people, shared their possessions, healed the sick, etc. And the church grew. Did they talk about their faith? Absolutely. But mainly, people saw their faith, their love, their care. In the early days of our church in India, God blessed our work, but I suspect one reason was that every member of the church was personally involved on a weekly basis in serving the poor. It was an integral part of our discipleship. And that was a much more effective way to share about Jesus than handing out invitations to church.

  “Christians can often live lives that are indistinguishable from their neighbors, co-workers, friends, and families. Why is that? Could it be that we are full of the wrong thing?” (p. 146)

• And finally, a challenge or an invitation to my readers. Brett’s book is excellent, but it is one more book written by a white American man. Nothing personal against Brett. He is my friend and a wonderful Christian and writer. But it is time we hear from non-American voices. I would love to read more articles and books by people in the majority world (formerly known as the “developing world” - a rather demeaning term). Some of my friends in this part of the world where I live (South Asia) are writing, but we need more. And we need more women! More young people. So please take up your pens and write. Share from your rich experience. We have a lot to learn from you!