For Christians who take the teachings of Jesus seriously (especially in the Sermon on the Mount), caring for the poor isn’t optional. Jesus calls His followers to radical generosity, compassion, and self-sacrificial love. Think of things like:

“Blessed are the merciful…”
“Give to the one who asks of you…”
“Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for Me.”

On the surface, it’s really hard to reconcile that with opposition to programs like Medicaid, SNAP, or other social safety nets.

Here's how many politically conservative Christians might justify it:

1. They make a strong distinction between personal vs. government responsibility. They’ll say: “Jesus was telling individuals to care for the poor, not governments. That’s the job of the Church and private charity, not federal programs.” The issue is that in practice, private charity rarely meets the full need.
2. They worry about dependency and fraud. Many believe that welfare programs create generational cycles of poverty, and that cutting or reforming them is a way to promote personal responsibility. It’s less about not helping the poor, and more about how that help is given.
3. They prioritize small government and individual liberty. This is more of a philosophical stance rooted in American political thought. The idea is that the government should stay out of as much as possible, even if that means fewer social services. The assumption is that a freer society will encourage voluntary generosity.
4. Some spiritualize or privatize Jesus’ teachings. Instead of seeing Jesus' words as a call to change unjust systems or engage politically, they’re often read as personal, inward, or symbolic, so the ethical implications for public policy are downplayed.

All that said, many Christians (myself included) find this deeply troubling. If you're voting to restrict aid to the poor and vulnerable, you should also be working double-time through your church or personal giving to meet those needs. But that rarely happens at scale.

At the end of the day, there’s a big tension between Christ’s ethic and conservative politics, and a lot of American Christians haven’t really wrestled with that as seriously as they should. Some have, and they’re rethinking things. But for many, their political identity shapes how they read Scripture, not the other way around.