Ask Kuya Kevin: Poverty and Revenge

Here’s a few good questions from an anonymous writer:

“Some Questions to Kuya
Why God created human?
Why God created beggars?
Do they have more sin than us?
I don’t think they have more sin than us.
All of us are same degree sinners.
Right?
Then, why do they have to spend their life on the road and beg or collect the trash for living?
Why God does not provide them food and place to live?
Why God create people without our will?
Doesn’t God selfish?”

Anonymous,
These are wonderful Questions and I appreciate your honesty. I’ll do my best to answer them.

God created us to have a relationship with Him. You can see this all the way back in Genesis when He created Adam and Eve and walked with them in the Garden of Eden.

Let’s look at this passage in regards to your question about beggars:

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 9:1-5

Just because someone is suffering it does not mean they are sinful. There are many factors involved with poverty. Poverty can be caused by the environment someone grew up in, by unwise life choices, or both.

Sometimes we suffer due to the sins of others (we are hurt by wicked people, corrupt governments, etc). It isn’t fair, but it’s the way things are.

Remember that God created a perfect world. Poverty and other problems happen because we live in a world that has been corrupted by us. The Bible does not promise that this world will be perfect.

Let me give you an example. If you saw a house that had broken windows, holes in the walls, and cracks in the roof, you would not blame the architect. You would probably blame the people living in the house who did not take care of it.

We cannot blame God for the problems that we’ve created. God has given us the freedom to choose. We should do our best to try to help those who are poor and correct systems that create poverty.

“God said that he will revenge for us, if we leave our anger with Him (I don’t remember where it was written in the Bible).
But why doesn’t God leave those sinners and do not kill them?
Why does God leave good people in suffering instead of kill their enemies?”

Here’s the passage you are referring to. Look at it in context and it will become clearer:

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,”
says the Lord.
Instead,
“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.”

-Romans 12:19-20

Christians should forgive and bless our enemies. God will take revenge in the final judgment, but not necessarily right now. He gives people the chance to repent first. We should desire that they repent, not that they be judged.

Jesus is the ultimate example of this. He asked God the Father to forgive his tormenters as he was being crucified.

I’ll give you a few final thoughts for both of these questions.

1. If we want to understand God’s love for us, we must look to the cross: The cross is where God demonstrated His ultimate act of love and sacrifice (thus He is not selfish). Look to the cross—not to the problems of this world.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
-Romans 5:8

2. One day God will judge everyone, but not necessarily in this life. The story of the Rich man and Lazarus is a good example (Luke 16:19-31).

See also: this post on Typhoon Durian. It deals with some of the issues of worldwide suffering.

This is a short answer to a complicated question. I hope it is helpful to you. Thanks again for your question and your honesty.

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Kevin

I am a follower of Jesus, husband, pastor, author, and caffeine addict. Please follow me on Facebook or Twitter. You may also want to consider subscribing to the RSS feed.

8 thoughts on “Ask Kuya Kevin: Poverty and Revenge”

  1. I like your “architecture” parable.

    Even though we are Christians, if we suicide can we go to heaven? or hell?

  2. Mark 5:13
    Why God did not kill bad demons and allowed them to go in to the pigs?
    Don’t you think pigs are innocent?
    Can God kill demon?

    Also in another chapter in Mark, Jesus asked demon come out from the people’s body but did not kill them why?

  3. Mark 6 said something about Jesus hometown people did not like him why?

  4. I believe that suicide is not necessarily a “straight ticket” to hell–I’ve seen that nowhere in the Bible. Someone could suffer from some form of serious mental illness, for example, that may cause him to act in ways that a healthy person would not.

  5. Mark 6 and other passages talk about the reaction of people when Jesus preached in his home town.

    Part of the problem is that people believed the messiah would be a more mysterious figure and people would not know about his background (this belief was part of their religious traditions; not Biblical prophecy).

    For whatever reason, the people could not see beyond the fact that someone they knew growing up could be the messiah.

  6. Because demons are spirits, it seems that they are not “killed” in the sense that people are killed. One day they will be thrown into hell, but some of them are allowed to have influence here on earth.

    Pigs are less important that people. Jesus was also being very Jewish in this miracle–he was killing animals that were unclean to Jews.

  7. The reason why there is poverty because it is their choice.Whether they want to improve their lives or to be that way. A lot of beggars we can see in the streets and even kids are engaged to it.Kids should be in school studying and enjoying their childhood.where are their parents?staying at home supposed to be they arethe one working to their kids? what they are doing?!they let their kids work for them
    I dont tolerate that kind of behaviour.Teach them how to fish. They are responsible for their action. Yes I know it is our duty to feed people who are hungry and I think its the duty of their parents to provide for their needs. And its wrong to have a mindset of mahirap lang ako kaya hanggang dito lang kami. Which is not true. If we really want to have bless bless life we should work unto it.It is ok to extend our help but they should teach themselves how to stand with their own feet and not to be dependent with other people
    I believe God wants to bless HIs children as well financially,health and other stuffs.
    This is my stand with poverty issue

  8. I agree with you partially,. Sometimes it is a matter of choice, but environmental factors also come into play.

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