Only the strong survive. This appears to be one of the givens of life. From the daily competition of species for territory and food, to the power play of nations for economic and military dominance, to the competitive nature of the business world (just ask K-Mart and American Motors) there is a struggle for survival…and the strong always seem to come out on top. This understanding is part of the ebb and flow of the Biblical story. As we read the Bible there is the constant turnover of kingdoms (Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans) each overcoming and annihilating their predecessor. Even the kingdoms of Judah and Israel (the two kingdoms which came into being with the division of the kingdom founded by David) were constantly striving to dominate the other as well as the minor kingdoms around them.
We might assume then that this is how God works. God favors the strong. If we made this assumption we would not be the first to do so. There has been a strong bias within Judaism, Christianity and Islam that has equated victory (military and economic) with God's favor and blessing. We can see this in the Islamic conquests, the Christian Crusades and the belief of kings like David and Solomon that their success was purely God's doing. This tradition continues in prayers of believers for God to grant them victory in everything from sports to war. Jesus was constantly coming up against this in his ministry where people were looking for a messiah who would defeat the Romans through military power.
What is interesting about this view of God and power is that it actually runs counter to scriptural teachings. How so? To begin with God's plan for the world was a creation in which each portion of that creation worked cooperatively with all other parts of creation in order to maximize the enjoyment of life. In other words all human beings, having been created in the image of God, were to share their God given gifts and talents in such a way that each maximized their human potential for the benefit of not only self but community. This kind of cooperation was to be made possible by the realization that God was in charge…not kings, princes or presidents. Human life was to be organized around God's plan and not the dominance of one group over another (Jesus makes this clear when he tells his disciples that they are not to "lord" it one over the other). Cooperation and not competition was to be the order of God's world.
This view of maximizing the gifts of all for the benefit of all is made clear throughout the Bible as God commands God's people to make sure and care for the powerless and vulnerable. This orientation first appears in Genesis where God places a mark on Cain in order that no one should kill him. This orientation continues as God commands God's people to care for the widow, the orphan and the sojourner (meaning immigrants who have no kin to protect them). God's people were to do this because there was a time when they were vulnerable (in Egypt) and God protected them. The Bible is replete with examples of how this concern for the most vulnerable was to be carried out. Farmers were to leave grain at the edge of their fields for the poor to gather. Those with olive groves were not to gather all of the olives from the trees but leave some for the neediest. Jesus commands his followers to give to all who beg.
I realize that this kind of language (insuring the needs of all are met) makes some of us nervous. After all it might allow some people to not do their fair share and live off of the beneficence of others. Let me be clear that this attitude of just taking is not Biblical either. Scripture sees work as good and necessary. God's bias for the weak is based on God's desire that all have an opportunity to participate in the bounty of creation knowing that the economic and power structures of the real world seldom if ever make such participation possible. So as we go about our life together let's look for those ways in which we might assist the weak that they might enjoy the benefits of creation even as have we.
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