Always With Us? What Jesus Really Said About the Poor

Always With Us

By Liz Theoharis. A theological call for ending the abomination of systemic poverty. Re-examines Jesus’s words “the poor you will always have with you” (Matthew 26:11) that are often used to suggest that ending poverty is impossible, that poverty is a result of moral failures, and that the poor themselves have no role in changing their situation. Uses the lived reality of the poor and shows how this passage is taken out of context, distorted, and politicized to justify theories about the inevitability of inequality. Reinterprets the text to show that it is actually one of the strongest biblical mandates to end poverty and documents stories of poor people themselves organizing to improve their lot and illuminates the implications for the church. Argues that poverty is not inevitable and that it is a systemic sin, and that all Christians have a responsibility to partner with the poor to end poverty once and for all. Read more.