This week, David Gist reflected on the meaning of the phrase “You will always have the poor among you,” or “with you.” It’s a rather famous phrase — or infamous, given how this passage has been used to perpetuate greed and capitalism. But what was the context for this phrase, initially from Deuteronomy?

David was called to work with Bread for the World just over 20 years ago. The organization was started in the 70’s in response to churches working hard to serve the needy but not able to make much headway. And so founder Art Simon decided to focus on the root causes of hunger. He gathered pastors and lay-leaders for Bible study. They concluded that God not only cared about “the least of these,” but about our laws and structures — and how society relates to the least of these. In addition, they concluded that the world does not have a scarcity problem, but a distribution problem.

Hear more below as David highlights other passages that demonstrate God’s priorities (especially Deuteronomy 15:1-11), the effectiveness of past letter-writing campaigns to congress, and as he walks us through a letter campaign to advocate for the least of these as God calls us to do. You can participate in current hunger advocacy at: www.bread.org/go or learn more at: www.bread.org/go. Find your 9-digit zip code at: https://tools.usps.com/zip-code-lookup.htm?byaddress