Several of my columns have focused on the plight of the poor in the United States and the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of fewer and fewer people over the last three decades. Some readers have challenged me on a couple of grounds: First, that religious leaders should concern themselves with spiritual issues and stay out of politics and economics.

And, second, that it is the church’s responsibility, not the state’s, to administer charity and address the needs of the poor. I’d like to respond.

The scriptures are full of political and economic commentary.

Moses confronts Pharaoh, charging the Egyptian economic system with oppression of labor. In some sense, the Exodus is a strike - a labor movement confronting unjust, coercive productivity demands.

God acts on behalf of theoppressed laborers.

Over and over the prophets address secular officials to declare God’s demands for justice. Isaiah and Jeremiah opposed certain military policies.

Amos spoke passionately for social justice, demanding that the rich and powerful address gross inequalities and the needs of the poor.

In a similar prophetic spirit, Jesus framed his preaching in a political metaphor - the Kingdom of God - announcing that in him, God’s Kingdom draws near to bring “good news to the poor” and “freedom to the oppressed.” (Luke 4:18) Many of hisparables are economic commentaries, particularly his parable of the sheep and the goats, which declares the nations will be judged solely on how they feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit the imprisoned (Matthew 25:31). Jesus was executed by Roman authorities as an enemy of the state.

If you read the Bible and the story of Jesus, you are reading documents that are vitally concerned with politics and economics, and with God’s demand for justice. I would be doing only part of my job as a Christian minister if I concerned myself only with “spiritual” matters.

In Jesus, the spiritual becomes incarnate - enfleshed. Flesh matters - hunger, illness, poverty, homelessness.

Some of my readers will say, yes, our religious tradition demands that we address economic issues and respondcompassionately to the plight of the poor, but that is the church’s responsibility, not the state’s. They tell me I am ceding to the state what the church should be doing.

Maybe. But let’s be as real and practical as the biblical prophets. They demanded justice not only from religious leaders but also from the leaders of state and business.

U.S. food banks and food charities, many of them church-related, deliver about $5 billion worth of groceries every year, an impressive figure. But that is only about 6 percent of the value of federal food programs, Food stamps and reduced-price/free school lunches. Recently proposed cuts by the House of Representatives would cut three times as much food aid to the poor as they receive from all food charities in the United States combined.

The needs of the poor simply exceed thechurch’s resources. Only the government has the resources and means to effectively combat our most profound suffering - hunger, homelessness, mental illness and other deep ills. Private and church charity simply isn’t enough.

I join other Christian leaders who are deeply concerned about how the recent debate about our federal deficit has been framed. Yes, we have a deficit, but it is not the fault of the poor. The rich and powerful have created the deficit.

For 30 years, Congress and the White House have changed tax and regulation policies to favor the rich and powerful. Income and wealth has shifted dramatically toward fewer people. The economic field of play is no longer level.

It does favor the 1 percent over the 99 percent.

The Bush White House inherited a surplus federal budget. Then they startedtwo wars and passed no appropriation to pay for them. They adopted a prescription drug benefit written by the drug lobby and passed no appropriation to pay for it. They cut taxes primarily to benefit the wealthy. Democrats and Republicans both get blame for undercutting financial regulations that opened the door to speculative frauds that collapsed the economy. Thus the deficit.

It’s the rich and powerful who got us into this mess. The message of the prophets should now be, do not try to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. Do not cut programs that benefit “the least of these.” Reform the tax code so it will be progressive.

Let those of us who are wealthy pay a larger share.

We can afford it. It is only just.

LOWELL GRISHAM IS AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST WHO LIVES IN FAYETTEVILLE.

Opinion, Pages 17 on 12/04/2011