Introduction

One of the qualifying properties of Zion is that there be no poor there.¹ Because our ability to achieve Zion is inescapably tied to our ability to care for the poor, our effort to achieve Zion can be measured by how much effort we expend in caring for the poor.

Care for the poor may seem to some to be an auxiliary commandment. After all, Jesus said that loving our neighbor was the second commandment, second to the commandment to love God.² And yet, king Benjamin taught that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God,”³ suggesting that the way that we serve God is through serving our neighbor. Therefore, in a sense, there is only one real great commandment, and it has to do with caring for the poor.⁴ A significant indication of how well we are living the first great commandment is through analyzing how well we are living the second great commandment. Proverbs 14:31 suggests that the relationship holds in reverse as well: “He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.” We can measure our love of God by the love we have for our neighbor, and we can measure our disobedience towards God by the degree of poor treatment that we dispense on our neighbor.

Jesus taught it this way:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. (Matthew 25:31-45.)

These instructions appeared in the New Testament. Do they apply to our dispensation? It turns out that we have been directly commanded in this dispensation to care for the poor. The Lord said,

Remember in all things the poor and the needy (D&C 52:40.)

Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment. (D&C 104:18.)

And they shall look to the poor and the needy, and administer to their relief that they shall not suffer... (D&C 38:35.)

And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and the widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor. (D&C 83:6.)

Verily, thus saith the Lord, in addition to the laws of the church concerning women and children, those who belong to the church, who have lost their husbands or fathers: Women have claim on their husbands for their maintenance, until their husbands are taken; and if they are not found transgressors they shall have fellowship in the church. And if they are not faithful they shall not have fellowship in the church; yet they may remain upon their inheritances according to the laws of the land. All children have claim upon their parents for their maintenance until they are of age. And after that, they have claim upon the church, or in other words upon the Lord’s storehouse, if their parents have not wherewith to give them inheritances. And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor. Amen. (D&C 83:1-6.)

The Lord has been clear and repetitive in his admonition to care for the poor. It is one fulfillment of both the first and second great commandments. It is how he has told us he will interpret our fidelity to him. Modern Mormonism answers this charge through tithing and fast offerings.