Government is a charity. This is a liberal view that the government is a charity. And liberal Christians that believe it is the job of the government to take care of the poor are viewing government as the church. But government isn't the church. Charity is the role of the church, not the government.
Jesus never looked to the government to take care of people, he looked to the church which are his followers. The church can and does help people in America and many around the world through missions. But the government isn't the church. The problem is people think they are actually doing something to help the poor when they vote for people in the government to take money from others to give it to the poor. It means a person gets to feel good and righteous without getting dirty. Charity by force isn't charity.
Jesus called on the church to help widows and orphans, not able-bodied men and woman who can take care of themselves. And ask yourself this when was the last time you checked on a widow in your life like your mother, grandmother, an aunt, or a neighbor down the street? When was the last time you volunteer at the Big Brothers and Big Sisters or even checked on that family you know that are struggling to make ends meet. Instead too many of us expect the government to do it. If we each took care of our families, we would need less help from our government.
Does this mean there shouldn't be any safety net for people? No. But it isn't the job of the government to take care of people for their entire lives. But government compassion shouldn't be measured by how much we spend on welfare or how many people are on welfare. It should be measured by how many are helped in getting off government assistance.
Christians shouldn't look to government to do the work of the church and citizens shouldn't view government as charity. Instead the church should do the work that Jesus called it to do. People should give and help at charities they support. And families should help each other. If we had stronger families, then most of our issues would not be an issue today.
