Are you helping the poor? In a 2018 New York Times article, the author Paul Sullivan notes that “red counties, which are overwhelmingly Republican, tend to report higher charitable contributions than Democratic-dominated blue counties, according to a new study on giving, although giving in blue counties is often bolstered by a combination of charitable donations and higher taxes.” Sullivan’s writing followed another New York Times article in 2008 in which liberal writer Nicholas Kristof challenged his fellow liberals to step up. In his article Bleeding Heart Tightwads, Kristof wrote:
Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates.
Both Sullivan and Kristof note that Republicans tend to be more religious. Therefore, much of their giving goes to churches; they often provide for the collective good through private institutions. They are often mocked by their liberal cohorts, who view helping the poor as a central government’s vital role. They contend that by not voting for increased government spending on the poor, they are hypocrites—they are not real Christians.
When it comes to evidence of such hypocrisy, they rely on biblical passages such as the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.
Whether it is from Matthew or other passages, the liberal argues that the Bible should compel Christians to support increased taxes to help the poor. During the 2016 Democratic presidential debate, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg invoked Proverbs 14:31 as proof that “the minimum wage is just too low.” He noted that “so-called conservative Christian senators right now in the Senate are blocking a bill to raise the minimum wage when Scripture says that ‘whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker.” The passage, of course, says nothing about establishing a minimum wage. It is addressing taking advantage of the worker.
This is in line with other Old Testament writings such as Exodus 23:3, “You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.” and Deuteronomy 24:14-15, “each day you shall give him his wages.” Buttigieg would have a better argument that the Bible instructs wages to be paid daily rather than weekly than he does that the passage means an arbitrary minimum wage to be set by the government.
Another passage often invoked during political discussion comes from Matthew 22:21, when Jesus tells the Pharisees and Herodians to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” he sets the framework for how we should think about religion and the state even today. The 1994 Catechism instructs the faithful that it is morally obligatory to pay one’s taxes for the common good. The definition of the “common good,” however, is and will always be debated.
The Catholic social teaching principle of subsidiarity, the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks that cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level, is an important principle to keep in mind in such a debate. Practical wisdom and empirical evidence tell us that the best help comes from the local level. Who knows better what your brother needs than you? Centralized bureaucracies must be constructed that serve the lowest common denominator and cannot consider each individual’s highly unique needs. This makes them highly inefficient.
Moreover, Jesus was not speaking only of the poor in economic terms, but also of the poor in spirit. Many people are alone and have struggles that are not financial. The government can 
not visit those in prison. People often need more than a check to show up each week; they need to know someone cares. Giving of yourself shows compassion and can provide love and hope well beyond any official state currency. It also brings you closer to God. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus says, Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Obviously, the government has a role to play in helping the needy. It also has many indispensable functions to perform, which cannot be accomplished by individuals acting alone. Historically, the government has recognized the role that private institutions can and should play in helping their communities; this is why Churches and other nonprofits exist. However, the flip side of subsidiarity is that the Christian has a personal responsibility to help the poor economically and in spirit.
As the government increases its role the individual feels a sense of personal responsibility has been lifted. The person who voted for the politician who promised to do more for the poor mistakenly feels he has met his obligation. This is why, as studies have shown, when the government increases taxes, the individual gives less. Relying on the government to help the needy outsources our personal moral responsibility.
There is, however, no example of Jesus telling his followers to take from those who aren’t Christians and give to the poor. Nowhere is it written that helping the poor should be at the hands of elected government bureaucrats. He is telling Christians to do it. All people are called to make the common good a greater reality, relying on the government alone ignores another Catholic social teaching, solidarity. As Pope John Paul II wrote in Sollicitudo Rei Socialis 38, solidarity is not a “feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and each individual. We are all really responsible for all. ”
We can help in many ways beyond monetary donations by volunteering our time and services and by praying conscientiously for those in need. There is always something we can do, even if we cannot afford to donate money. What is essential is to do what we can. When we encounter those in need face-to-face, we encounter Christ. When we outsource our personal responsibility, we avoid meeting Christ.