Micah 6:8 on Poverty and Development

Thinking about the poor and development always brings me back to Micah 6:8. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."  This is so critical to me in my approach to the issue of poverty. God asks us to act justly. To recognize justice when we see it, and to seek it. This may mean a firm hand with the poor, avoiding excessive handouts or doing things that may bring harm to them. This may also mean trying to put right social systems that have exploited and broken the poor.

God asks us to love mercy. Justice helps us get what we deserve, but mercy comes flying in when we ought not to get what we justly deserve. The bleeding man on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho didn’t really need justice, he needed mercy! The countless sick and dying people whom Jesus healed were already receiving justice, but Jesus gave them mercy. For us this may mean casting our own cares aside to care extravagantly for the poor. It may mean giving of ourselves until there isn’t much left. It brings us to a place of compassion where we connect with the poor on a personal level.

And God calls us to walk humbly with Him. If we’re not doing this, what else do we have? We can’t have pride before God, especially when we’re doing development. If we do, we’re putting ourselves in God’s place as the savior of the poor. The poor don’t need a savior, they already have one. Nor should we presume to tell God how we’re going to go about His work. It’s His work, and we are privileged to be used by Him. We get to join Him. This humility must translate into our attitudes toward the poor as well, and then we’re in the right position to do development.