Can someone be a Christian and not follow Jesus’ example of siding with the poor and oppressed?

Luke consistently shows Jesus gravitating toward economically and politically powerless persons, including women, social outcasts and the poor. Do you think that the Lukan Jesus’ concerns for the socially marginal and “unrespectable” people—such as prostitutes, notorious sinners, and tax collectors who collaborated with the “evil empire” of Rome—is sufficiently recognized or honored by today’s political and religious leaders? Can someone be a Christian and not follow Jesus’ example of siding with the poor and oppressed? Explain your answer.