As followers of Christ, we seek to express and embody God’s reconciling love at all times and in all places. Throughout the Scriptures, God speaks of our purpose to rebuild, restore and renew all that is broken (Isaiah 61). We work to end the brokenness of hunger and poverty in our communities, in our country, and around the world. We partner in God’s work to remove the barriers that impede the flourishing God intended for all people.
The themes below are important faith motivations for working to end hunger.
Scriptures speak to the role and responsibility of leaders in caring for poor people (Psalm 72; Jeremiah 22; Proverbs 31:8-9). In the New Testament, Jesus calls his follows to love their neighbors (Matthew 22:39-40) and warns that the nations will be held accountable and judged for the ways that they have treated the least among them (Matthew 25:31-46).
In the Gospels, Jesus was compassionate to all people, especially the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the hungry, the poor, and the infirmed — the most vulnerable in society (Isaiah 61:1-2; Matthew 11:2-6; Luke 4:18-21). Jesus loved all people — rich and poor — and actively cared for people in need. He urged his disciples to do the same (Matthew 25:31-46). We too are commissioned to do the same today.
Human sin has marred every aspect of creation. Sin is both individual and social, personal and structural. Because of greed and disobedience to God’s commandments, humanity experiences social and economic disparity that leads to hunger and poverty. Through the prophets, God held rulers accountable for the sin of the nation of Israel (Jeremiah 22:1-5). Poverty is a disastrous aspect of human sin.
Many Christians belong to a church, a place where they worship, learn, and practice their faith. Because congregations are where many Christians gather regularly, and because congregations form disciples for work in the world, Bread launches its mobilizing of Christians for advocacy through communities of faith.
Bread partners with local congregations and the denominations or networks to which the churches belong to connect with people of faith. Local churches have structures for teaching and training people to live out their faith in the world. Bread works with people in churches to help carry out this important aspect of Christian faith: loving our neighbors, enabling people to eat, and reconciling the world.
As people of faith, we heed our moral call to engage with our government. Practicing citizenship is our right under the U.S. Constitution. Hunger is a profoundly important issue that should be a top concern of our government. We are serving God when we raise issues of hunger and poverty with our government. It is our responsibility to engage in the processes that remind all elected officials to make relief from hunger and poverty a priority and to address their root causes. To convey this message, concerned people of faith can and should be involved in advocacy before the government.
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Expanding the CTC would do more to reduce hunger and poverty among our nation’s children than any single policy has in decades.
By Jordan Teague, senior international policy advisor
In just five years, Kenya reduced its...
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in faith.” These words from Colossians 2:6 remind us of the faith that is active in love for our neighbors.
The Bible on...
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to respond to changes in need, making it well suited to respond to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bread for the World and its partners are asking Congress to provide $200 million for global nutrition.
In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal.