Somehow, people have always associated one’s financial status with their spiritual one. This isn’t just something that Christians do, as it was a common understanding in many ancient religions that the only way to wealth was through the blessing of whatever deity they served. People have sought the blessings of their gods throughout the ages, for this very purpose.
Yet something interesting happened in the Middle Ages, where the Roman Catholic Church in Europe started teaching that piety required poverty, so anyone who was not poor, could not be holy. There is a strong belief that the Church did this so that they could take the people’s money. While a rather cynical view of the Church, there is ample evidence to point to this as being the truth. Even if it wasn’t, the Catholic Church benefited greatly from it, using the people’s offerings to build massive cathedrals and make gold and gem encrusted articles for the altars.
From that time on, the Christian world held with the idea that poverty was a sign of holiness. Catholic priests and nuns were required to take a vow of poverty, as part of becoming a priest or nun. The idea was to focus on the spiritual, rather than the material; but the argument can be made that taking that outside the priesthood is problematic, because it doesn’t put food on the table for one’s children.
Then the prosperity gospel came, growing out of the Word of Faith movement. For the first time in over a millennia, some preachers were not only saying that Christians could be wealthy and still be good people, but that it was God’s will for them to be wealthy. If they had enough faith, they could command wealth into their lives and God would make that wealth appear.
There are still those who preach against wealth, claiming that the only way that anyone can become wealthy is by stealing from others. This is actually a social message, rather than a spiritual one and it grows out of Marxist philosophy. It contends that there is only a fixed amount of wealth in the world and to get “more than their fair share” the wealthy are taking too much from the poor. There is no scriptural basis for this viewpoint and it fails to take into account many of the basic facts of economics.
So, which is right? Is it more holy for a believer to be rich or poor? How about neither. While God has caused some people to become wealthy; this is no indication that He wants to make every believer wealthy. Nor does He expect every believer to become poor, just to show their piety. Financial or material blessing is secondary in God’s book; it’s not His number one focus, even if it becomes ours.
Poverty is a Relative Term
When we look at poverty, we have to realize that those who are poor are so, in relation to those around them. What was considered poverty in Biblical times is considerably different from poverty today. Those we call poor today would probably have been thought to be rich back then. That’s because their poor were reduced to begging for their food. Our poor today, at least here in the United States, are not.
Actually, many of the poor in the United States would be considered amongst the one-percenters, on a worldwide basis. Poverty is still much more common in the world that wealth. While there are plenty of well-off people in the world today, almost half of the people in the world live on $6.85 per day or less and almost a quarter live on less than $3.65 per day.
As bad as that sounds, it’s actually considerably better than it was in the past, as free-market economies are helping to raise more and more people out of poverty. Even many of those mentioned above are at a higher standard of living than they were 10 years ago.
The Case Against Poverty as a Sign of Holiness
There is nothing in the Bible that says that a poor person is holy or that they are not. Being poor is not even a sign that one does not love money, merely a sign that one doesn’t have it. Most poor people are preoccupied with money and how to get it. This can be to the point where they are distracted from serving God or even to the point where they resort to crime to get what they think they need.
In Old Testament times, poverty was seen as a sign that one was
Saying that we should not be preoccupied with material wealth is not the same as saying that we should desire or even accept poverty. One can be rich and not preoccupied with wealth, just as easily as one can be poor and not preoccupied with it. The issue is one of the heart, not of the wallet.
Although Jesus spoke of the poor in the Beatitudes, He didn’t say that poverty is a blessing. Rather, He said that the poor’s blessing is found elsewhere, in the Kingdom of God, rather than in their material wealth.
Then He lifted up His eyes towards His disciples, and said: “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. – Luke 6:20-21
The Kingdom of God and our focus on it, was always included in Jesus’ message. He didn’t preach a prosperity message or a poverty one. Rather, He always taught that true prosperity was in our relationship with the Father, not in our relationship with the bank. Some who are spiritually rich, might be materially poor, while others are also materially rich. That’s really not the issue.
The Case Against Wealth as a Sign of Holiness
To be honest, there’s much more in the Bible, which speaks out against being wealthy, than there is that speaks against being poor. While there is no specific place in the Bible that says that being wealthy is sin, we don’t find any place where it actually says it is good either.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” – Matthew 19:23-24
Please note that it doesn’t say that the rich man can’t enter heaven or that the rich man is automatically a sinner. Rather, it says that it is difficult for that rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. That begs the question… why? But before we answer that, let’s look at how His disciples responded to that statement. In verse 25 they answered Him, “greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25). This shows us that in the time of Jesus, the Jewish people related financial prosperity with God’s blessing. Those who were wealthy had received their wealth from God, a huge difference from what was taught in the Middle Ages and the social message against the wealthy.
So, if the wealthy aren’t automatically sinners and their wealth doesn’t make it impossible for them to be saved, what’s the problem with it? The basic problem is that the wealthy have their money to fall back on, rather than needing to depend on God. When they have a problem, they try to figure out how to buy their way out of it, rather than praying. It is difficult to have faith in God, when you don’t need to use it. As one wealthy man put it, “Why do I need God, I’ve got enough money to solve all my problems.”
This is not to say that one cannot be rich and still have faith in God. There have been and still are people who are wealthy and have still chosen to serve God. While their numbers may not come close to those who are poor and turn to God, they still exist. Some of them are even blessed by God, so that they can finance the work of God here on earth.
What Does God Want?
While we humans may fixate on finances, regardless of where we live in the world or what our personal financial state is, God is not that concerned about it. He is much more concerned with our spiritual state, the condition of our heart. Everything He does in our lives is based on that, not on how much money we give to our local church or to missions. To assume that He cares about our financial state requires ignoring His true focus.
This is not to say that God wants us rich or poor. When we look at the scriptures overall, there is no real blessing associated with either state. God knows we have needs and doesn’t want us living without them being met. He is more than willing to meet those needs. Jesus told His disciples:
Therefore do not be like them (those who pray using vain repetitions). For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. – Matthew 6:8
God’s knowledge of what we need doesn’t negate our need to pray for those things though. As we pray for our needs, we demonstrate to God our recognition of our dependence on Him. That’s important. It’s not that God needs to know that we need Him; but that we need to remind ourselves that we do.
But that verse in Matthew comes before a much better-known passage, what we refer to as the Lord’s Prayer. When we look at that prayer, we find that the prayer of petition (asking God for things) is the shortest part, consisting of a mere seven words. That makes it a mere 10.6% of the total prayer. Yet when we look at the prayer life of most believers, the prayer of petition is 90% or more of their prayer, showing their focus on material blessing.
Sadly, most of those prayers of petition aren’t really for necessities, but for needs. In the Lord’s Prayer, the petition consists of “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). That’s pretty basic. We need bread or food in order to survive. We don’t need a new car, a fancy wardrobe or a larger television set. Yet that’s where people’s prayers tend to be focused.
God is perfectly willing to give us what we need and even some of what we want, when it serves His purpose. I lived on the road for nine years in a 33-foot motorhome that God gave me. That wasn’t a vacation; that was traveling and ministering with my family. I asked Him for it, so that I would not have to leave my family at home, while I was traveling and ministering. He saw fit to provide.
But that’s not the same as someone wanting God to give them a motorhome so that they can go on vacation. I don’t know if He would ever do that, but I don’t have the faith to ask for it. In fact, there were several occasions during those nine years, when believers got mad at me, because I was not willing to pray for God to do just that. But my having a motorhome to travel and minister was not equal to them having one to go on vacation.
This is not to say that God made me wealthy during those years. If anything, they were the poorest of my life, financially speaking. Nevertheless, God met my needs and those of my family. We didn’t have extra, but we had what we needed.
But What About the Poor?
Was it wrong for me to live in a motorhome, when there were still poor in the world? I’m sure there are those who would think so, especially if they didn’t understand what we were doing, while on those travels. But their thoughts don’t make me wrong, any more than someone else’s thoughts would have made me right. Only God can decide that.
When Mary came to Jesus, anointing His feet with oil and wiping them with her hair, Judas complained, saying:
Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? – John 12:5
But this was Judas, who would later sell Jesus to the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). His concern wasn’t about the poor, but about the money. As the treasurer for Jesus’ ministry, he saw an opportunity lost, where he could have stolen some of the money. That’s what he was complaining about.
This tells us something important about those who are preoccupied with money. That is, there is a strong risk of them giving up the Lord for that money. We must all guard our hearts against this, as we are all equally susceptible to falling into this particular trap. But Jesus didn’t answer, talking about that danger on that day, but rather talking about the poor.
But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you shall have with you always, but Me you do not always have.” – John 12:7-8
What an interesting statement. I am sure that Jesus could cure poverty at a word, if He so chose; but He hasn’t chosen to do so. Rather, He said that we would always have poor amongst us. Why is that so? Could it be that we need the poor; that they serve some purpose in our lives?
At what is known as the White Throne Judgment, Jesus will sit on the throne and separate the people, much “as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats, placing the sheep on His right hand and the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:32). There He will say to those He considers His own:
I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” – Mathew 25:35-36
Jesus clearly takes it personally how we treat those in poverty. As we are helping them, we are both showing Jesus’ love for them and learning how to walk in that love ourselves. We are becoming more like Him in a very practical way; that of caring for those in need. The Apostle James goes on to call this sort of action “true religion before God the Father” (James 1:27). We even find this talked about in the book of Proverbs.
He who is gracious and lends a hand to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him for his good deed. – Proverbs 19:17 Amp
If there’s anything we are to learn in this life, it’s to show love as God shows love. That means unconditional love. Not love where we will get something in return. That’s the beauty of showing love to the poor; they can’t repay. That makes any act of love towards them the kind of unconditional love that God wants us to have. He repays us, as a reward for achieving that level of love, as well as for being His hands and feet here in the earth, showing His love to those who need.
Yes, the poor will be with us always; but that doesn’t mean that we are to ignore their plight. Rather, it falls to us, not to the government, to ease their plight, helping them in their time of need. This is, as James put it “true religion,” the kind that brings glory to God, rather than bringing glory to ourselves.
As we read from the beatitudes, those people’s riches are in heaven, not here on earth. That’s the riches we need as well; ones that are stored up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can destroy (Matthew 6:19-20). Those are the only riches we will be able to take with us; all others must be left behind.