The Tragedy of Poverty
Poverty is not necessarily a virtue. At the very least, we need food, clothing, shelter, transportation and financial security. Poverty can have a negative spiritual effect on a person's life. It can be dangerous to our ethics and values. Poverty can become fertile ground in which cheating and thievery flourish. Physical want also causes fear for self and alienates a person from society.
The poverty problem is compounded when nearly everyone cheats. People may get caught in a greed syndrome, feeling the need to get ahead or simply to survive economically. If a poor person or one experiencing economic problems is in a tight spot financially, he or she might not be above stretching the rules or taking advantage of someone else. Those in poverty--or threatened by financial disaster--can convince themselves that the end (financial security) justifies the means (cheating). When one is down-and-out it's easy to blame someone else for one's condition and feel that others "owe you."
There is and ideal individual economic condition. It preserves healthy values and yet ensures an abundant standard of living. The correct balance avoids the potentially negative effect of extreme poverty or of inordinate wealth on our spiritual lives. This sound principle was given 3,000 years ago by a man named Agur, whose words were preserved in the book of Proverbs.
Agur didn't strive to possess great wealth, but he certainly wasn't interested in poverty. He knew that both those living in hovels and in magnificent mansions are equally in danger of denying God. Agur knew that both poverty and wealth could put him at risk spiritually. He could forsake God, lose his way in this world, and do harm to his fellowman. "Give me neither poverty nor wealth, but provide me with the food I need," Agur asked God. I don't want to be rich, he said, "For if I have too much I shall deny you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'" (Proverbs 30:8, Revised English Bible throughout, unless specified).
But destitution wasn't a condition Agur wanted either. "If I am reduced to poverty I shall steal," said Agur, "and besmirch the name of my God" (verse 9).
The ideal society is one in which individuals and families share in the work and wealth of the nation. Suppose, however, that one is poor and any personal efforts seem not to improve his or her economic condition.
The Bible counsels both rich and poor to trust in God for their needs (Matthew 6:33, Psalm 37:25). It also counsels the prosperous to help the poor (Deutoronomy 15:7-8).
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The Dangers of Wealth
We live in a topsy-turvy world of confused money values. Our generation needs moral and spiritual guidelines about wealth and material things. Those guidelines are found in the pages of a timeless guide to all ethical behavior--the Bible.
The Bible explains, for example that God should be acknowledged as the source of national and personal prosperity. "Remember the Lord your God," we read in the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament, "it is he who gives you strength to become prosperous" (Deutoronomy 8:18). This teaching instructs us to see ourselves as trustees of what God gives to us. We are not really the owners of the earth's wealth. That belongs to God (see Exodus 19:5, Deutoronomy 10:14, Haggai 2:8).
Nations throughout history have suffered economic tragedies. These do not happen to a people who remember that God is the source of all wealth and prosperity. But once we cut ourselves off from God in our thinking about prosperity and wealth, we lose our moorings. We discover ourselves adrift in a sea of competition, corruption and selfishness--all in the pursuit of money.
The accumulation of money and power (the two travel together) can become ends in themselves. They become false materialistic idols. Both begin to corrupt the spirit. As the apostle Paul put it, "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (Timothy 6:10, New King James).
It is not money itself, of course, but the love of money that lead to evil. Any biblical warning is not against prosperity or making a just profit, but against greed and selfishness. Jesus often warned about potential corrupting influence of riches. "Be on your guard against greed of every kind," he cautioned. "Even when someone has more than enough, his possessions do not give him life" (Luke 12:15).
On one occasion Jesus said people could not oblige two masters. His advice was: "You cannot serve God and Money" (Matthew 6:24). Jesus counseled a course of action that contradicts the common practice of amassing ever-greater amounts of wealth. He told his followers, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth" (Matthew 6:19). He wanted his followers to have their minds fixed on the eternal treasure--the kingdom of God--not on mammon (verse 21).
Jesus also encouraged his disciples not to be apprehensive about their physical needs. He advised people to look up to God--the source of all wealth and prosperity. By doing so he re-echoed the advice of Moses in Deutoronomy. "Set you mind on God's kingdom and his justice before everything else," said Jesus, "and all the rest will come to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).
Jesus consistently painted a negative picture of those who greedily pursued wealth. He saw the endless pursuit of money as something that can drive a wedge between the person and God. Jesus understood riches, luxury and opulence can become idols, creating a false sense of security. They bestow a power that can easily drive a person to arrogance, cheating and selfishness.
For this reason, Jesus said wealth posed a challenge to the spirit. It was harder for a rich person to fulfill his true purpose in life, said Jesus, than for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24).
In our materialistic age, we would do well to heed these words of caution about the danger of unrestricted wealth. ❒