True justice doesn’t leave people where they are. It lifts them to where God wants them to be.
I want to address messages that people send to me concerning how I feel about taking care of migrants, immigrants, and poor people. I’ve established this perspective having grown up in what many would consider poverty. After escaping that lifestyle, I later moved my family to the inner city of St. Louis to work with impoverished people. I’ve also spent years studying Scripture and have traveled to more than a dozen countries doing missions work with truly poor and disenfranchised people. My understanding comes from both experience and Scripture.
When I read the Bible’s call to “care for the poor,” I don’t think about entitlements or endless handouts. In America, poverty looks different. Most people who qualify as “poor” by government standards still have food, clothes, and a roof over their heads. I’ve worked in the inner city. I’ve seen it firsthand. People have access to resources, assistance, and opportunities that most of the world can only dream of. So when I read about the poor in Scripture, I think of those who truly don’t know where their next meal is coming from, people in parts of the world who are literally struggling to survive.
Sometimes people love to quote Scripture at Christians when it comes to politics, especially on issues like immigration or welfare. They’ll say, “Jesus said to care for the poor,” as if that means we should throw open our borders or expand government dependency. I would point you to Proverbs 31:8–9, which tells us to “speak up and judge fairly.” Fairness means considering everyone. That includes the legal immigrant who worked and sacrificed to come here the right way, the refugee family who fled war and built something from nothing, and yes, the taxpayer who is expected to carry the burden. That is justice.
I recently had a conversation with a young man who is of Indian descent and currently in medical school at the University of Missouri. He told me his parents migrated here from India with nothing. They took jobs in the IT field and worked their way up, but they had clear expectations for their children to become doctors, lawyers, or engineers. That mindset of sacrifice, hard work, and expectation for the next generation to go further is powerful. Many Indian families follow that same pattern. Some start by purchasing small hotels, renovating them, and even living in them while they grow their businesses. They make sacrifices so their children can receive a quality education and build upon what their parents started. That is a picture of perseverance and faith.
In my area, we have a large Ukrainian population. These are good, hard-working people who fled the devastation of war. They came here with nothing except their determination and gratitude that they were now in the greatest country in the world. Instead of looking for government handouts, they found apprenticeships, learned trades, and built new lives. Many of them now own landscaping, construction, and mechanic businesses. They are raising their families with a sense of pride, gratitude, and hope for the future. That is what it means to rise with dignity.
Stories like these remind me that helping the poor is about more than giving, it’s about guiding, inspiring, and equipping. Jeremiah 5:28 describes the wealthy and powerful of Judah who had grown complacent in their prosperity, neglecting justice for the vulnerable like the fatherless and the needy. It is a powerful indictment of social injustice, where material success led to spiritual bankruptcy and arrogance. The verse says, “They have grown fat and sleek,” revealing how comfort can dull compassion. God’s expectation is not simply to give handouts, but to defend the cause of the poor in ways that restore dignity, purpose, and self-sufficiency.
I understand that we cannot compare every people group to another. However, while we are helping those who are poor and in need, we have to instill the mindset that this is temporary. There must be a vision and a goal to improve life for yourself and your children for generations to come. That is what it means to defend the cause of the poor, to help them rise above their current struggle so they do not remain there generationally. When we help people get on their feet, the goal is not for them to stay dependent or just survive paycheck to paycheck. It is to inspire them to build, to grow, and to succeed so that their families can thrive for years to come. That is the promise of the American dream. And that is not just the American dream, it’s God’s design for flourishing.
So yes, let’s care for the poor, but let’s do it with wisdom, fairness, and purpose. Let’s help the truly oppressed, not the willfully idle. Let’s honor those who come the right way, who work hard, who build, and who sacrifice. Because that is what I believe God honors too.
– Alex
