Matthew 6:16-34
We’re not to worry about food, drink, clothing? In today’s world? What about the hundreds of thousands of homeless people in our cities? (Jesus mentions “housing” elsewhere: Foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.) (Mt. 8:20) We have poor in our own country who have to decide between paying rent or buying food or filling prescriptions. What is Jesus’ answer for them today? I know His answer – His answer is “us”. We take care of them. But how? We have homeless shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, government programs. But look at what COVID has done to millions of families!! We’ve already spent $4 trillion on a number of federal programs to meet these needs and President Biden is asking for $2 trillion more. We’ve let the government supplant the churches in taking care of society’s needs. How did that happen? Did the church abdicate its responsibility? What to do? What is Jesus’ answer for today?
See also: March 12 / Matt. 6:16-24; March 13 / Matt. 6:25-34
You are correct that the government has supplanted the Church (at least in the U.S.) in tending to society’s needs. How much of that was driven by politicians’ “taking” that position and how much was simply abdication of responsibility by the Church is probably debatable, but the result is the same: we now have a society that, by and large, looks to the government for solutions much more readily than it does to God. And that is precisely what Jesus warns against. He tells us instead to “…seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Mt. 6:33) Perhaps our society should start listening to Jesus and take His advice rather than looking to “somebody else” (including the government) to solve its (our) problems.
To my thinking, government assistance began with Social Security in 1933, at the depths of the Depression, when we were suffering with 25% unemployment. But that program was different than today’s programs in that we are “paying forward” for our future. In truth, the program was drawn up so that back then and still today current workers pay into the fund and retirees draw out from the fund. So when we draw SS retirement today, we’re getting back what we’ve paid in (more or less). Many other government programs today are very different: workers pay taxes and non-workers draw benefits. I’m painting with a broad brush here, but government attempts to alleviate poverty in the 1960s are the history for many “entitlement” programs today that are targeted to the poor; to many voters these entitlement programs have created a “welfare society”. We as a church can do better than that!