“There are over 900 passages of Scripture that deal specifically with the poor. To be a follower of Christ and be in harmony with the will of God requires that you respond to the poor sacrificially, that you give yourself to the poor in love. It is the most heavily dealt with issue in the entire Scripture. When a person has the heart of Christ, that person has a heart for the poor.” – Dr Tony Campolo
Off this website
No Guarantees 
how proactive are we suppose to be in finding the poor? do we just dedicate each day to god and just wait and see who comes across our path. do we research the poorest country in the world and fly there? compared to other countries our government does a damn good job of looking after the poor in perth, so why do the poor need me? – charlie
the government might do a good job of looking after the poor that fit in with the “system” – but try the parks and the alleys and the abandoned buildings late at night and you’ll find a stream of the poorest of the poor who slip under the radar of most of us.
the other places to check of course are the jails and detention centres and emergency rooms and soup kitches and hostels and the shooting galleries – but then again, who’s got time for any of that?!
900 passages that deal with the poor. Compare this to about 500 verses on prayer… less than 500 verses on faith but more that 2350 verses on money and possesions!
I agree that having a heart for the poor is very important for any follower of Jesus Christ. But if feeding the poor becomes a “token offering” then I believe we are foolong ourselves if we are not being financially accountable before God. Hard word for a materialist church living in a material world… but worth concidering don’t you think?