Jesus clarified the meaning of the Law of Moses. In the process He clarified the underlying meaning of all God’s Laws under all Law Covenants. This He did in the process of showing how the leaders and teachers of His nation were utterly wrong in embracing Aristotle and Hellenism. Modern Judaism is simply more of the same sin, so don’t expect devout Jews to help you understand God’s justice, since they have no clue.
Nor can you ask anyone representing the popular philosophical strains dominating the discussion in the West. For example, Progressives are all about helping the common man, but are quite willing to rob every one else to do so. They alone know what is best, and become hostile with even the slightest protest to their plans. They are the most hateful and oppressive groups on the earth. Almost as hateful are Conservatives, though libertarians are a faint bit better. However, where those two converge is the insistence anyone in poverty must have done something stupid to get there. Thus, they have no responsibility to help the poor. They believe the one best thing they can do for the poor is get themselves richer, because their favorite lie is “rising prosperity, like water, causes all boats to rise.” It’s been proven utterly false, but they keep saying it.
Sometimes God is the one who brings poverty. His sovereign will is typically incomprehensible, so don’t assume someone poor made bad choices. He does it to His children and His enemies, and it will never make sense to us on a human level.
Jesus had it right. First, don’t talk about fixing any socio-economic issues until you restore society to the biblical pattern. If you can’t live with your blood kin, live with your spiritual kin. Not just gather once in a while, but reside together like a clan. You must build that extended family society to reduce the imbalances which make the world an ugly place. You can’t keep Babylon at bay if you keep following Babylon’s social planning — which is precisely what Classical Liberalism (American Conservatism) is. Without that extended family dependency and social structure, you can’t fix a single issue, and you can’t have God’s justice.
Once you have that, then you can understand what Jesus said about poverty. He said there will always be imbalances because mankind is fallen. That means even when you do economics right, it’s not possible for everyone to make it big. Some folks simply find themselves outside the family support system, for any number of reasons. But under God’s Laws, you were to assume nothing, only that you were responsible for doing something. If you have material to contribute, you give alms, as it were. If not, give what you have. Look up Peter and John and their helping of the lame man at the entrance of the Temple. But you are always prepared to give something.
It’s none of your business what strangers do with the coins you drop in their tin cup; God says that’s His business. You prepare yourself to give. Set it aside as a portion of what you carry into the wider public world. Give when the opportunity comes. You aren’t looking at effectiveness; you are looking at obedience to a divine command. Indeed, you don’t have to interact with the recipient at all, because they are simply the agent. As far as you are concerned, the money went to God, because that’s how He sees it. Again, without the family bond, any attempt at significant involvement in their needs is usually sin.
In general, avoid mixing charity with direct outreach. Don’t use benevolence as a trap to capture someone’s time for your holy sales pitch. Find some other way to express the love of God; He will create proper opportunities. If they want to become family, and you sense God’s peace in it, get involved. If not, do what God’s peace does allow. If they seek to become family, seek to lighten their misery, but make righteous demands on them to contribute what they can in return. That’s the way it works. It is absolutely evil to have any significant involvement without those family ties. Family always comes first, but you had better be ready to give outside the family bonds.
Property is not sacred, not a God given right. Nor is your stuff community property unless you have that extended family social structure, where everyone is responsible to everyone else in a bond of commitment. All of it belongs to God. It is a tool for His glory, and stuff comes and goes, almost randomly, as His servants seek a clear conscience.
