Fifty years ago President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on poverty.” Many critics have argued that if this was indeed a war, then poverty was the victor. That may be a crass response, but it is easy to see why critics would say such a thing.

The number of Americans living in poverty is higher today than it was in 1964. It isn’t that we haven’t tried to make a difference. It isn’t we haven’t spent lots of money in the war on poverty. Trillions of dollars have been spent to alleviate poverty, yet we seem to be losing ground not gaining ground.

Many of the programs were no doubt launched with a great deal of idealism. But when they weren’t working, few wanted to dismantle them for fear of being labeled as insensitive to the needs of the poor. Some welfare programs became quite partisan in their orientation. The editors of National Review point out that the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents “the welfare bureaucrats at the Administration for Children and Families, is a large political donor that gives about 94 percent of its largesse to Democrats.”

There have been attempts to restructure our welfare society. Newt Gingrich reminds us in a recent interview that welfare reform was an important achievement by the Republican Congress that Democratic President Clinton ended up signing. He believes it is important for Congress and citizens to be “actively involved in trying to find ways that work to help Americans.” He believes the first step is to have the “courage to stand up to the left and insist that we look at why, after 50 years and $16 trillion, did big government fail?”

I also believe that churches and Christian ministries can have an important role in dealing with poverty. The poor not only have economic challenges but social, cultural, and spiritual challenges. An excellent book on what Christians have done in the past and what they can do in the future is Marvin Olasky’s book, The Tragedy of American Compassion. We as Christians need to consider what we can do to help the poor.