Proverbs 19:6

Many will entreat the favor of the prince, and every man is a friend to him that gives gifts. 

Everybody wants to get ahead in life. So when a certain person is in control of who gets promoted, that person will be the recipient of many entreaties. People know where the “bread is buttered,” and you can be sure they will butter up the fellow who holds all the butter! Of course, those who sit in the place of influence face the temptation to give way to bribery and to deal unjustly. The temptation to pride is even greater. When a man is in a place of power, he often forgets his own obligations to his superiors and to God Himself. A man never has the right to pervert justice to his own ends, even if he stands to benefit from those who give him gifts and honor.

Proverbs 19:7

All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? He pursues them with words, yet they [abandon] him. 

This verse presents an even more severe indictment on the poor man than did verse 4 of this chapter. Not only does he fail to win many friends, but here we read that his brothers withdraw from him. He can’t even curry the favor of his own brothers! To accurately grasp the scenario, you must define the poor as the truly indigent poor—those without the means to provide for their basic needs, such as shelter and food. These are the blind beggars on the side of the road, the maimed at the pool of Bethesda.

When a man has sunk to the bottom of society due to his misfortunes, his addictions, his gambling, his homosexuality, or other destructive habits, it is not uncommon for his own brothers to “give up on him.” Occasionally, they may toss a few dollars his way, but they soon discover that they cannot fix his fundamental problem, whatever it happens to be. So they abandon him. They don’t invite him over for the holidays, especially if he is likely to be an unhealthy influence on their families.

As Christians, we do not want to countenance sins in others, but we also must be careful to minister to those in need. In the New Testament we find Christ treating the immediate physical need of the sick, but then He instructs them to “sin no more” (John 5:1–15). He is careful not to separate the spiritual needs of a man from his physical needs, for His real agenda is to see complete healing in both body and soul of the poor and needy. Though we ourselves are not the Lord Christ who is sovereign in healing, we do what we can for our poor relatives. We should, for example, provide needed shelter and food for our needy mothers or grandmothers (1 Tim. 5:8ff). Nevertheless, we should not support able-bodied men who just refuse to work, for as the Apostle says, “If a man will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 2:10).

Christ crossed a universe to reach out to the poor and needy. If this be the case, we should be able to cross a city to find the ones who need to hear the message of the Gospel. There is no question that the circumstances of poor people and the sin that often proliferates in poor districts creates distance. But we ought to always be ready to cross that divide to carry the good news of the Gospel. Should the message be rejected, the distance between us remains. Still, we should always be those attempting to reach out across the chasms in order to seek a unity that is only possible in subjection to Christ (Gal. 3:28). We love the strangers in order that they might love Christ (Heb. 13:2)!

Family Discussion Questions:

1. Should we be more friendly to the person in charge of hiring or handing out business contracts and promotions in the work place?

2. How is a person reduced to severe poverty? Is it due to his lack of character or other reasons?

3. What sorts of poor people can we effectively help? Are there any poor people that we cannot or should not help?