In Christ, we lack no good thing...

In the Bible, the poor are often understood to be God's chosen people because they are poor... and they are His chosen because they are poor in spirit. But, we are not to assume that the 'poor' are the righteous in that being poor is both a virtue and noble. Jesus never said that the rich cannot be born again. Abraham was rich land owner and so was Job...

Yes, its harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom because he often puts his mind on the material things of his life. But even a poor man can be just as materialistic... just by looking for someone else to bail them out or to blame for their poverty.

When you look at the world, often people in dire straits get themselves there through sin: drugs, alcohol, greed, and ignorance. If being poor was the means by which God intended for us to be saved then why send His Son to die for us... God could just saved all the poor as they perished in this fallen world... since they were already righteous.

So, how are we to understand the book of James? A Warning against Favoritism ~ James 2:1-3, My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man “You must stand,” or, “Sit at my feet,”…

You see, every man in this fallen world is born poor in spirit. A man must be born again, born in the spirit. Given that truth, The poor can be any one or all of these: healthy, wealthy, unhealthy, or impoverished...

In James 2, by pointing the rich man being given the better seat, we suppose that he has the 'better spirit' when in fact he may not. But, he may as well. Showing no favoritism means to suppose that all are poor in spirit, because that is the truth in a fallen world and why God sent His Son to save it.

Of course, we are never to overlook anyone we see suffering in spiritual poverty and when someone is in need of food and clothes, those who are already born again in the Spirit, will gladly give to them what is needed so that the person receiving will also become born again in Christ Jesus. 

And certainly for all brothers and sisters in Christ (born again), it is a 'no brainer' that we reach out to them when they lack a necessity (food/clothes) reminding and encouraging them that in Christ they lack no good thing.