Standing for Truth and Defending Your Freedom
Standing for Truth and Defending Your Freedom

Why Are We Losing the War on Poverty?

by Jerry Newcombe, D. Min.

Two years ago, this nation passed a milestone: the 50th anniversary of the “War on Poverty.” It now appears that poverty won that war.

In 1964, then President Lyndon Johnson initiated the War on Poverty to help millions of Americans “escape from squalor and misery and unemployment rolls where other citizens help to carry them.”

It sounds good. In fact, a book written in 1968 by a prominent evangelical said, “For the Christian the ‘war on poverty’ is not a political option. It is a lifelong battle based on the mandate of Jesus Christ who loved the poor.”

On its face, this is correct. Christians should help the poor. However, in the direct political sense, it is far from correct. Who should help the poor? Too many have wrongly assigned God’s commands to the church (or the family, or the individual) to the government.

Rather than alleviate poverty in America, the War on Poverty has actually increased it.

How so? It broke the back of the urban family. By subsidizing illegitimacy, the government got more of it—and in the process chased dad out of the house by providing perverse incentives for fatherless families.

Even liberal commentators like Juan Williams have noted that the high birthrate for unwed mothers has been disastrous for everyone, but especially children. Giving government largesse at taxpayer expense to those in such situations was perhaps well intentioned—but good intentions are not enough. The results have been tragic for America’s families.

Jesus told us to help the poor; but He also told the parable of the talents in which different servants were given different amounts of money to manage. All were held accountable. Those who made something of their talents were commended. The one who wasted his talent was condemned.

God has created us to work, when physically possible, in order to provide for ourselves and to be a blessing to others.

Recognizing the troubles the welfare system was causing, in the 1990s our government worked to reform it. However, according to Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, those reforms, which put millions back to work, have been undermined since then by liberals in Congress and especially by the Obama Administration.

Karl Marx, the father of socialism, famously declared, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” It is the model for many welfare programs. Yet, the Ten Commandments undercut this notion. Where socialism takes by force in order to redistribute wealth, God’s Word reminds us: thou shalt not steal, and thou shalt not covet.

Does this mean that we should in any way oppose helping the poor? Absolutely not! But there is a huge difference between individuals, families, churches, and voluntary organizations reaching out to the needy versus a faceless bureaucracy—the state—doing so, and doing it inefficiently at that.

If we are ever going to see the poor improve their lives, then we must stop undermining families. God has given us the family as the main means for helping those who are needy. Paul said the Christian who will not provide for his family, especially his immediate household, has even denied the faith (1 Timothy 5:8).

If we really care about the poor, then we must help them as much as possible to become independent of government help. In this case, the cliché is true: A hand up is infinitely better than a hand out. Indeed, if our nation were to follow the Bible’s admonitions for helping the poor, we could go a long way toward truly winning “the war on poverty.”