The Gospel, politics, and the poor.

As the American presidential campaign is now fully underway and will continue to be present in the thoughts of many all the way to November, as Christians, we ought to remind ourselves of the teaching of the Gospel, as outlined by Jesus himself, regarding a topic that comes up rather frequently in political debates and speeches: poverty.  Which solution to poverty will actually help the most is a matter for ongoing debate, not only among politicians but economists as well, but what our attitude, as Christians, toward those living in poverty ought to be, is not.  Our attitude is not optional, we have been commanded, as representatives of the Gospel of grace to treat the poor as Jesus did.  The words of the great commentator, Matthew Henry, written in 1721 when the political and economic landscapes were much different, still hold true today for they concern the Gospel's unchanging truths: "Those ought to be relieved by charity whom the providence of God has any way disabled to get their own bread...though there are cheats among such, yet they must not therefore be all thought such."
Why do so many Christians have a negative attitude toward the poor?  Is it that we give ourselves credit for our own success in warding off poverty, instead of giving God praise, so therefore we give the poor blame for their failure to avoid poverty, instead of seeing the providence of God at work there as well?  If so, our failure is a failure to recognize the authority and power of God.  Is it instead fear that motivates our lack of pity, a fear that recognizes that we ourselves could some day live in poverty if our ability to work were to be compromised, so therefore we blame the poor as a way of whistling past the graveyard and pretending we could never be in their worn-out shoes?  If so, our failure is that we lack trust in the goodness of God.  But perhaps the problem lies deeper, and darker, perhaps the reason that far too many Christians in America are dismissive of the poor, even hostile to the poor, is that we simply are not, as a Church, truly living out the Gospel.  We have instead adopted a Gospel-hybrid, mixing it with the American Dream and the promises of capitalism to replace the Gospel's call for a community that helps those in need with the American fixation upon the individual.  Maybe we, those who make up the Church, just don't like the poor.  Shame upon us to the extent that is true.
Let the politicians say what they will about poverty, we have to get our own house in order, we need to stop blaming the poor for being poor, and start loving them as Christ did, offering them grace and mercy in their time of need, and rejoicing when our effort in his name wins a victory for the kingdom of God.