JESUS TELLS US THAT “The poor you will always have with you.” (Matt. 26:11a) This is, in every age including ours, undeniably and historically accurate. From the feudal systems in place during the age of pharaohs, emperors and kings to the present-day slums of India, Africa, and Mexico—or for that matter on the outskirts of everywhere and every town—the poor are with us. Just as undeniably, so too are the wealthy with us, as they also always have been. All the caste systems that have ever existed can be distilled to the two basic classes of people: the haves, and the have-nots. This is true across geographic boundaries, regardless of first, second, or third-world locale.

As of the twenty-first century, the rich are the richest they have ever been, with the top one-percent owning fully fifty percent of the world’s wealth, in whatever way those assets are classified. While the middle-classes of the first-world countries fare far better than those—if even they exist—in the rest of the world, the comparison is stark indeed. One in every hundred, only seven hundred million of the seven billion current world population, own the most and the best of everything, leaving the rest to struggle. Jesus’ clarifying statement comes in the midst of criticism—from his own disciples—as a former prostitute anoints him with expensive oil. They ask him, offended, “Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” (Matt. 26:8-9) His rebuttal concludes with “but you will not always have me.” (Matt. 26:11b)

Good, caring people of all times and all faiths and cultures have gone to great length and effort to take care of the poor, the ill, the unfortunate, the dispossessed. Across the two millennia of Christianity, much has been made, and well-made, of the social gospel. Before St. Francis and beyond Mother Teresa, proponents point to Jesus’ own words to the rich young ruler, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” (Mark 10:21) James, similarly, says “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)

There is no denying that scripture calls those who are better off in the world to help those in need. The O.T. proclaims these same values. The Psalmist says, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psa. 82:3-4) And Solomon also calls us to this responsibility. “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Prov. 31:8-9) We note, and agree, that the bible teaches a shared incumbent social responsibility that calls out a moral burden to be met by those who have encountered favor in this life. Further, there is a warning to those, who, focused only on their own needs and desires, shirk this obligation. “Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.” (Prov. 11:4)

The social gospel and the evangelical gospel exist in an inseparable bond. But let us distinguish between the social gospel and the evangelical gospel, and do so as best we can through Jesus’ own teaching. First, we note that the scriptures that promote the social gospel promote the concept of the responsibility of the individual. Always, the blessed are called to bless others. But when it comes to the evangelical gospel, the blessings of this world are of a far lower order in comparison to the realm above—so much so, that when Jesus addresses the poor, he calls them blessed. Balanced against the rich, entrapped by their own status, the poor are elevated in the kingdom of heaven. “Truly I tell you,” he says to his disciples, “it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 19:23) But as they look on, they hear him say to the poor, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3) To those mesmerized by the illusion of worldly wealth, Jesus says “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36) But to those who follow him, especially including the poor addressed in the Sermon on the Mount, he says “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.” (Matt. 5:12)

In balance, both gospels are necessary, but there are two very different realities that they address. In this life, death is the great equalizer; in the life to come, it is the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ that opens the door to the realized abundant life of heaven. Jesus’ story of the poor Lazarus, secure in the bosom of Abraham, and the rich man forever in Hades underscores this essential point. (cf. Luke 16:19-31)

The poor of the world exist in legions that have physical needs that far outweigh the best efforts of those who minister in the heart and activities of the social gospel, and most will die with very few of those needs met. It is heartbreaking for those with a heart of compassion, both sympathetic and empathetic to those needs. Very few of the rich of the world will ever be truly concerned, especially at a personally sacrificial level, with these needs—they never have, and they never will. Perhaps this helps us to see, hear, and understand Jesus more clearly. “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” (Matt. 26:11)

Jesus’ words to his first disciples, however, permeate their time in our hearing, for he also said “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19-20)

Q. In which ways do I fulfill both gospels?