What if we stopped rewriting the Bible’s clearest truths?
Today’s Bible (with qualifications) reads:
Share with God’s people who are in need … unless you think there won’t be enough to go around.
Practice hospitality … unless they aren’t your kind of people.
Look after orphans and widows … unless they come from a dangerous part of town.
Anyone who has food should share with those who have none … unless they are addicts and felons and you’re not comfortable inviting them over.
Do not withhold your shirt or coat from those who need them … unless they’re lazy.
Associate with people of low position … unless you consider them to be untrustworthy.
Give to everyone who asks you … unless they are trespassing; then go ahead and shoot them.
Blessed are the peacemakers … unless you’re afraid of their political agenda and you prefer to fight.
If anyone wants to sue you, give them your shirt … unless you have a good lawyer.
Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless or widow … unless you can justify a more “religious” and moral agenda.
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? … unless you’re in debt or you have a big mortgage.
If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor … unless it makes you look like a socialist.
Love immigrants and strangers … unless they look scary and don’t speak English.
With qualifications, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me … unless you were too busy with other church projects, because piety is more important than love. As a matter of fact, you can ignore everything in the Bible that goes against the American Dream. Let’s just pretend that poor people are lazy and foreigners are greedy. That gets you off the hook.
Moreover, forget what the Bible says about diversity in the body of Christ. We don’t actually need posers. People “like you” will suffice. Stay safe in your suburban church. Feel good about a few convenient mission trips. Learn from my mistakes and don’t mess around with creeps, unless you want to get yourself crucified. Religious people always get mad as adders when you try to help the scum of the earth. Take care of your wealthy neighbors. Leave the losers alone so you can live a long and prosperous life. Pat yourself on the back for taking care of your kids. “Your kind” is all that really matters. Be blessed and let the Lord expand your borders. That’s true religion, to prosper and be blessed with lots of stuff.
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35 Bible Verses about Social Justice
In contrast, here is an unedited, short list of scriptures about love and justice for the weak. There are over 2000 similar verses in the Bible[1]:
“Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” — Luke 3:11
“If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” — Luke 6:29b-30
“If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” — Matthew 5:40
“Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” — Matthew 5:42
“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” — Matthew 11:4-5
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ — Matthew 25:44-45
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” — Luke 4:18-19
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? — 1 John 3:17
All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. — Acts 2:44-45
All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along. — Galatians 2:10
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. — Romans 12:13
Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. — Romans 12:16
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. — Hebrews 13:2
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. — 1 Timothy 6:17-18
“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” — Acts 20:35
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.” — 2 Corinthians 8:13-15
Treat everyone with high regard. — 1 Peter 2:17
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. — James 1:27
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land … — Amos 8:4
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. — Psalm 146:7-9
What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. — Micah 6:8
Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble. — Psalm 41:1
For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them. — Psalm 109:31
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” — Leviticus 19:33-34a
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. — Deuteronomy 10:18-19
He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. — Proverbs 14:31
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. — Proverbs 19:17
The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor. — Proverbs 22:9
Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the Lord will take up their case and will exact life for life. — Proverbs 22:22-23
Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. — Proverbs 31:9
He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. — Proverbs 17:5
Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered. — Proverbs 21:13
The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. — Proverbs 29:7
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. — Isaiah 1:17
Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow … — Jeremiah 22:3
Image by Maureen Simon, www.instagram.com/maureen.simon, used with permission.
[1] “A List of Some of the More Than 2000 Verses in Scripture on Poverty and Justice,” Sojourners, https://sojo.net/list-some-more-2000verses-scripture-poverty-and-justice.
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