"All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." (NIV)
Like verse 6, this verse can also be interpreted two ways; however, in this case, either interpretation may apply equally. The first interpretation is the obvious surface interpretation: Remember the physically poor, those in poverty. The second is a little deeper: Remember the spiritually poor, the lost and the doubtful.
This is the command of missions in a nutshell, also summed up in James 2:14-17: Preach the gospel to provide for spiritual needs, and provide for physical needs so that 1) the poor may see Christ's kindness in you and want to experience God's love themselves, and 2) those who are both spiritually and physically needy would live long enough to have the gospel preached to them and be able to commit their lives to Christ.
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