Why the Poor?

The other Mark Edwards (the younger, buffer version) asked an interesting question: Aren't the well off people just as important as the needy?

I have been wrestling with a similar question for some time. The bible teaches that God is impartial, showing no favoritism. I assume this means that he loves every single person the same and that he desires for all to be reconciled to him.

However, as I read through the bible, it is also clear that God has a sort of preference, or however you want to say it, for the poor; not exclusively, but, nonetheless, there seems to be a special emphasis on the poor, weak and oppressed. It is also clear that he has a special emphasis on the lost person, or at least, a certain type of lost person. He didn’t seem too keen on the arrogant lost.

So the question is: Why? If God is impartial, why does he seem to have a special affinity toward the poor?

Then the more interesting question: What implications does this have for us as Jesus followers?

Some thoughts about this have been brewing in my mind for some time. I will post some of them below as I have time. Does anybody else have some thoughts about this topic?