[15] If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, [16] and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? [17] Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
- James 2:15-17 KJVAAE
Brothers and sisters, are all human beings. This is unquestionable, as we are told to "love our neighbor," not "love our Christian neighbor only."
This implies much.
First of all, in those days, the brothers and sisters who were Christians only, relied upon the community, for their food, and for their clothing. This is made plain in Acts:
[44] And all that believed were together, and had all things common; [45] and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. [46] And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, [47] praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
- Acts 2:44-47 KJVAAE
Seemingly, the vast majority would not be unclothed and hungry. Those who say James' writing about giving to the poor references "only Christians," are looking at it from a different viewpoint than that of the early church. We can look at it from that viewpoint, which assumes the early church was wrong, or we can look at it from the perspective of the early church, which references giving to all people, as a general statement. We can see that it references "all people," because neighbors were not always Christians in those days.
Thirdly, and lastly, I would argue that James' verse about giving to the poor references MAINLY non-Christians, as those to whom we should give. This is because, if we look at Acts, Christians all provided for each other already, as it should be today.
Since it is not that way today, though, the cynic takes the easy way out, and sees how even Christians are not provided for today, by many people. They then minimize the whole context of scripture, and say that "loving your neighbor," only applies to "Christian" neighbors, since in the West, there are seemingly Christians everywhere.
This is folly, and defeats the purpose of the Gospel. To those cynics who believe this, I quote scripture:
[30] Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. [31] And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. [32] For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. [33] And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. [34] And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. [35] But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. [36] Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Luke 6:30-36 KJVAAE
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