Matthew 26 - Tumblr Posts

Jesus was really right when he said the poor will always be with us. A lot of christians have struggled with Matthew 26:11, and it has caused a lot of people to subconsciously justify a de-prioritizing of the poor; we can bedeck our churches in opulence while people starve. We can make priorities of everything that makes our lives easier, and leave the hard work of caring for the poor for later, for our "thoughts and prayers." The poor will always be with us, so they can wait while we attend to our internal hungers.

I think what Jesus meant is that human greed will corrupt every system, which will always result in poor or disenfranchised people. We've tried a bunch of different socio-economic structures since then, and not one of them has worked to uplift all people. The eternal struggle against evil isn't about fighting off intangible demons, it's about fighting off the evil in our own hearts. We are never going to construct a "perfect system" that eliminates poverty automatically because someone will always try to take advantage of it. Instead, we must work every day, even when things are good and people are taken care of, to make sure that we see each other as deserving of dignity. We are never going to be able to legislate, dictate, or delegate our way into perspective. We have to work towards it, consciously, to make sure those around us are cared for. Vanity of vanities, a generation goes and a generation comes, but the poor remain forever.

The poor will always be with us because someone is always going to try and profit by depriving others. It is our mission and responsibility to improve as much of it as we can.