Evangelicals & Hunger

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. Psalm 37:25

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 2 Thessalonians  3:10

Yesterday, Thanksgiving 2025, I was fortunate enough to participate in my fraternity’s chapter Thanksgiving Service Project, where the men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Pi Theta Lambda Chapter, partnered with Meals on Wheels to deliver Thanksgiving meals to Senior Citizens.

During my deliveries, I needed to stop for gas, and while pumping, a young lady who clearly looked like someone going through a rough period, not a short one, approached me, indicating she needed some food.

Providentially, I had secured one more meal than was needed (turned out not to be the case, actually, but that is a story for another day), so my mind quickly pivoted to “give her the extra meal.”

Surprisingly, I could see the wheels spinning in her head that I was not going to give her money but food instead. She graciously accepted the meal, and we both went on with our respective days. For me, it meant delivering the remaining meals, getting home, deep-frying some turkey, consuming unhealthy portions of good food cooked by my wife and youngest daughter, and watching some exciting football. I was in bed by 6:30, getting old ain't no joke or for the faint of heart. The young lady to parts unknown.

Now, back to the two Bible verses mentioned to buffet this blog and discussion. One from the Psalms, which are tricky to interpret and draw life lessons properly, and one from the Epistle, a very didactic passage with a straightforward indication of a principle with direct force on how one should govern their lives.

In other words, the passage that one who does not work should not eat is an explicit teaching from God’s Word that there are consequences for our actions, and sometimes very dire consequences for our negative actions. I frequently see that, despite this clear Biblical teaching, it is rarely contemplated when I engage with those from the Left about controversial moral life issues like hunger.

King David writes under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration that he had never seen the righteous forsaken. While I grant that, from the nature of the statement being found in the Psalms, David is not positing here an absolute truth, but rather something that is overwhelmingly true.

The matter is even more stark when we consider the passage in 2 Thessalonians. If one does not do “A,” then one should not expect “B” to take place, plain and simple.

I submit that this principle can be applied to all arenas of life. In recent days, I have blogged about the recent healthcare debate here in America. I posited that if one had a good job, one never had to worry about not having healthcare and thus did not need government-provided healthcare.

One Liberal interlocutor tried to grind the conversation down to a halt debating with me over what constituted a good job. I thought the question was sophomoric, as I had already stated the question's premise in how I coined the phrase: a good job is one where a person never has to worry about not having healthcare. Healthcare was one of the primary reasons I chose to join the military as a life vocation.

I knew the military provided top-notch medical benefits at no cost to the service member and their family, a huge consideration, especially with the ever-increasing cost of healthcare in America.

Now, when the Apostle Paul wrote that a man who does not work should not expect to eat, he necessarily infers that God would not rain down manna from heaven to provide one’s daily substance. One had to put in the physical labor for the blessing to manifest itself.

What I am trying to do is make the case that, especially in a prosperous place like America, those who struggle financially do so more in spite of and not because of.

People do not like to hear this, but I am going to say it out loud and be ready to deal with the hue & cries: people who struggle in America especially deserve to struggle, and they have no one to blame but themselves, full-stop, period, and friggin end of story.

Now, let me quickly postulate I am not referring to minor children under the care of full-grown adults, nor feeble senior citizens, or those who deal with intellectual difficulties. I am referring only to normal, full-grade adults with all their physical and mental faculties.

Could God’s Word not be any more explicit in the matter? Righteous people do not beg for bread, and working people do not go hungry. I believe I can safely posit as well: righteous people do not need the government's help for health insurance, and working people do not need ObamaCare.

Yet, all I see ubiquitously from the Left is that the average American can not afford health care, and I cry BS. I am 61 years old (and yes, I know I do not look a day over 50, but that is besides the point), and I have never struggled to secure adequate health insurance.

Well, wait a minute, that is not true: early on in my marriage, because of the high cost of health care and my wages, I chose not to get coverage through my employer. I played the game of medical Russian Roulette and soon found out it wasn't the game I wanted to play, as I subsequently had to support a wife and three children.

Our first child, my eldest daughter, got sick, so I had to take her to one of those free clinics. It was so demoralizing, and I pledged to myself that day that I would not be at the mercy of the government's healthcare. As momma taught me, “When you know better, then you have to do better.”

I would eventually take on jobs and positions where I had good health care and never had to worry about subjecting my family to the whims of free governmental healthcare.

So, do we take God at His Word or don't we? I am only addressing this question to professing Christ-followers.

If so, why are you up in arms about people not being able to secure decent health care or going hungry, and again, I am not addressing small children, the mentally ill, or senior adults.

I am taking to middle America, able-bodied men and women like the young lady I encountered today. I do not need to know her to know her likely story: that she was panhandling on Thanksgiving Day when she should have been home with her family, enjoying a good meal, as I would later that day after completing my service project delivery. She is in her current station in life because of bad decisions. Be it dropping out of school, doing drugs, having sex or whatever she volitionally made bad choices and now she is facing the consequence of those bad actions.

Can it state such absolutely? I concede that the answer here is a resounding no. Yet, I can do so generally because the data are overwhelming: when people do not follow the Success Sequence, they experience a lack of human flourishing.

Some will instantly accuse me of elitism, snobbery, or a false sense of moral superiority, and I again cry BS. I grew up poor, but there was always at least something to eat in my home growing up. It may not have been something I truly found really appealing, but my parents always ensured there was food on the table.

I know the story that percolates that xx percentage of children in America go to bed hungry every night, and my heart breaks for them, but they are the only victims in that tragic scenario. The mother, especially the father, is to blame, not society or the government.

I again turn your attention back to 2 Thessalonians. The Apostle Paul does not lay at the feet of the government the responsibility to ensure little Johnny does not go to bed hungry tonight. He lays this responsibility at the individual's feet. Paul goes on to postulate that a person is worse than an infidel who does not provide for his own.

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8

You do know that the government existed when Paul penned these words, right? So, according to God’s prescription for human flourishing, the government is nowhere in the conversation about feeding individuals; it is the family, namely the father, to ensure no Child is Left Behind.

Our world is so jacked up, and it is so because while the vast majority of Americans classify themselves as Christ-followers, it is not anywhere close to reality, living according to biblical fidelity.

Very rarely, when I enter into debate in the public square, do I encounter one with a decidedly Christian/Evangelical worldview.

Regrettably, this is even more true when I dialogue with the average AA. I see a whole lot of Bible verse citations and Church attendance, but rarely, if ever, do I encounter any orthopraxy alongside the alleged orthodoxy.

In conclusion, God does not judge on a curve. Didactic passages are teachings with the full force of commands, not mere suggestions, for daily living.

If you are an adult with all of your faculties and you went to bed hungry on Thanksgiving, I submit that reality requires an honest come-to-Jesus discussion. The words of King David should sound in your ear: David had never seen the righteous forsaken, nor had his seed begged bread.

I will gladly participate in the next opportunity to help feed people experiencing poverty. Today, it was delivering meals to Senior Citizens [the Bible speaks to that issue as well]. My local Church, First Baptist of New Braunfels, will serve at one of our local food pantries on Monday (it's always the first Monday of every month), and, Lord willing, I will be there.

My church participates in a local festival, Wassailfest, and, again, Lord willing, I have registered to serve as a Prayer Agent, hand out Gospel Tracts, and engage with people.

My only point in bringing up these two scenarios is that I am not sitting back passively, telling people they have to do better and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, as I did. No, that would be low-brow snobbery of the worst kind, not an attitude Jesus Christ would bless or sanction.

I am more than willing and eager to help, but not all those desiring our help deserve it, and we may be, in fact, doing more harm than good and expressly interfering with God’s desire to display either His wrath or discipline.

I have three grown children, and all three know I would move heaven and earth to help them if they needed it, but they also know that if they are not doing what they need to do for themselves, they betta not look my way, because they know I would not have nuttin for ‘em.

To paraphrase Frederick Douglass' great retort in response to the inquiry as to what should be done to the Negro after they were emancipated, Douglass famously and, I believe, God-inspiredly said, “Absolutely nothing. If the apple falls from the tree, let it fall.”

Accordingly, I ask, “What shall be done to Ricky’s three adult children?” I reply, “Absolutely nothing, if the apple falls from the tree, let it fall.”

God’s Word says that Tiara, Ricky Jr., and Constance will not work; then Tiara, Ricky Jr., and Constance should not eat, period, full stop, and end of story.

Now, my main man, Mr. Malachi, is an entirely different beast altogether, but even with that, it is a short-term disposition. One day, if the good Lord tarries His coming, even my beloved grandson moves to the other side of the ledger.

As usual, let me know what you think. Until then, keep your hands to the plow and seek to serve for an Audience of One.

With fear & trembling,

Ricky V Kyles Sr. DEd.Min.