Exceptions to caring for the poor?

A person may be poor because of self-indulgence.

Whoever loves pleasure will suffer want;
    whoever loves wine and oil will not be rich. - Proverbs 21:17

Someone may make a decent income but waste it on drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, expensive convenience foods, costly recreation, or gambling (including lotteries).

A person may be poor due to laziness.

 A slack hand causes poverty,
    but the hand of the diligent makes rich. - Proverbs 10:4

 The lazy person does not plow in season;
    harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found. - Proverbs 20:4

 Fools fold their hands
    and consume their own flesh. - Ecclesiastes 4:5

Ultimately, the lazy man is poor by choice.

Every act of provision to a lazy person who is poor removes the incentive to be responsible for themselves and makes them more dependent on others. Paul commands the Thessalonian church to stop taking care of the lazy and reminds them of the rule he issued when present with them.

  For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.- 2 Thessalonians 3:10

The point is not to let people starve - the point is that  people who are faced with starvation will be motivated to work and support themselves as God intended.

The appetite of workers works for them;
    their hunger urges them on. - Proverbs 16:26

Lazy and self-indulgent people do not need financial support - they need incentives to no longer be lazy and self-indulgent.

 Laziness brings on deep sleep;
    an idle person will suffer hunger. - Proverbs 19:15

  Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. - Galatians 6:7

The question is not simply, "What shall we do for the poor?" but "Which poor?" The truly poor must be helped. - thoughtfully and carefully.

Teaching the poor to give

2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9 are the longest passages on giving in the Bible and it starts by focusing on the Macedonians who lived in extreme poverty, yet who gave simply according to their means but they did give beyond their ability. 

God blesses giving and when we hang on to what is His, it's never in our best interest - the poor are not hurt by giving, they are helped by giving.

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. - Malachi 3:10

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.  Luke 6:38

If we do not teach people about giving, we deprive them of what God would have provided if they had learned to become givers.

Money is spiritual

A steward is someone entrusted with another person's wealth or property and charged with responsibility of managing it in the owner's best interest. - Ben Patterson

A steward is entrusted with sufficient resources and the authority to carry out their designated responsibilities.

As a fundraiser I have come up with my own definition of what stewardship is - stewardship is the conscientious management of things that really matter.

God delegated to us authority over all His creation.

You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field - Psalm 8:6-7

God expects us to use all the resources He gives us to best carry out our responsibilities.  A steward's  primary goal is to be found faithful by their master as the stewards uses the master's resources to accomplish the tasks delegated to them.

Our use of money and possessions is only one aspect of stewardship.  The tabernacle was built by people giving their time, energy, skills, money and possessions.  How we view and handle our money will correspond with how we view and handle our time, talents, family, church, vocation and every facet of life.

Eleven of the thirty-nine parables of Jesus deal with finances and money directly --  

• investment
• indebtedness
• hiring procedures and wage structures
• leasing
• capital, investments, banking, and interest
• money lenders, interest and debt cancellation
• storing up
• architectural planning, building construction and cost analysis
• finding lost money
• wealth, estate planning, spending
• financial management and debt reduction
• wealth and poverty
• giving and greed
• harvest

The parables normally have one central point that should not be obscured by uncertainties about secondary issues - the steward is praised for their shrewdness in using their master's money to invest in His relationships with people.

There will be a day when we will be terminated from this life, a day in which we shall give an account for our stewardship.  Consequently, we should use wisely what little remaining time and influence we have before our term of stewardship is done.

Jesus doesn't tell us to stay away from the mammon of unrighteousness or "worldly wealth," but to use it strategically.

And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the [a]wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings. - Luke 16:9

Money can be a tool for Christ.

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much." - Luke 16:10

We are continually tested in little things.

God pays a great deal of attention to the "little things." He numbers the hairs on our head, cares for the lilies of the field and is concerned with the fall of a single sparrow.  What we do with the little time, a little talent, and a little money tells God a lot.

Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of earthly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? - Luke 16:11

What are true riches?

Having been faithful in handling our resources in this life, we are granted leadership of others in the next.

And if you have not been faithful in the use of that [earthly wealth]which belongs to another [whether God or man, and of which you are a trustee], who will give you that which is your own? - Luke 16:12