Is It Spiritual To Be Poor?

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."

But He said to him, "Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?" Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive."And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?'"Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."'"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'

"So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

I grew up in an upper middle class home. My dad was a good lawyer and businessman, and a good steward of his money. As a result we had a nice house, we ate 3 square meals a day and probably to a majority of Portland we were considered “rich.” Though I didn’t know anything else. As I entered grade school I found that people were considered “rich” and people were considered “poor”. It was good to be rich and bad to be poor. It was also bad to be a bully.

Poor Bullies

I’ve only been in one fight in my life and it was with a bully in 3^rd grade, and I picked that fight. For some reason my sense of justice over “cuts in line” overcame my understanding of getting my ass kicked, and so I made an effort to put Dan Clark back in his place by calling him “superman.” I was belittling him with his own name “Dan Clark -> Clark Kent -> Superman” Which doesn’t sound like a bad name to be given, but I was trained at chiding by my sister. So if you were there, you would have seen me using superman’s name in vain. Well, Dan wasn’t interested in being belittled, nor was he interested in giving up his cuts in line. So he got me in a headlock and swung me around until I started crying. Bully 1 Geoff 0.

Another instance of a bully winning and me losing was much more socio-political. Thankfully my little neck didn’t get rung, yet my brain learned a great lesson. I believe we were in science class and Matt Ducher was doing something that caused my justice alert to blink. Matt was strong, mouthy, and bullying someone in some way, and it was up to GeoffreyNeill (Since there were 3 Jeffs in my class I was one word “GeoffraNeill”) to put Matt back in his place. Well, Matt had one deficiency that I could exploit that he couldn’t help. His family was POOR. Realistically, the guy lived in the same neighborhood, and it seemed like they had some trouble financially. Matt wasn’t on school lunch program, nor was he in rags, but I knew I could put him in his place with this weakness. And so not knowing the political nightmare in which I was entering, I uttered the words in a very evil “girl in a back-to-school-special” type of fashion. “Well… You’re Poor!” Matt’s bullying didn’t overshadow what I had just done. It was like the record scratched and everyone knew that I delivered a blow lower than the balls.

Peter Ventrella, was there at the time. He wasn’t best friends with Matt. He was friends with everyone. He was sort of like the fonz of gradeschool. Also he was a part of the “poor” crowd, but because he was so cool, and not a bully he wasn’t a target. However my low blow brought into full swing the power of Peter’s tongue. It wasn’t 3 seconds after my comment that peter said with authority: “Well at least he’s not a RICH BITCH.” (Keep in mind this is gradeschool, and bitch hadn’t been accepted by radio and TV yet)

I knew I was out of line. Peter had got me, and I was the gradeschool Dick. I very quickly learned that economics weren’t one to mess with someone about. Because making someone feel bad because they were poor was like pissing on someone’s grandma. So I learned my lesson. I didn’t want to be that kind of guy that put down others because of their economic standing. Another lesson that I learned at the same time, however, was someone could easily be made fun of for being rich. Being poor was being street, and edgy. Being rich made you a BITCH.

Hiding in High School

As a freshman in High School I rolled with the poor kids. I felt like I had to hide because of my neighborhood. My clothes were purchased to blend in. I didn’t dare get a ride home. I learned that to be poor was the way to be regular, if they knew I lived in my neighborhood they would treat me differently. They wouldn’t be my friend any more. They wouldn’t joke with me. Wealth had social implications to it. Rich hung out with rich kids, poor hung out with poor kids. I was the odd one trying to blend into a NON-BITCH environment. Our economics teacher who was a full on socialist would add fuel to the fire by singling out the rich kids and making them feel like fools for their parents decisions to pursue capitalism. Realistically, though I cannot say that there was one person who would tell me this without getting in trouble, I learned in school that being rich is evil and being poor is good.

Christian Underline

When I became a Christian at 20, life changed for me, and I had many things to work out. One thing I didn’t have to figure out, though, was my view of wealth. As I listened to a constant haranguing about the virtues of giving, I was also inundated with the beatitudes of “blessed are the poor”. I was influenced by John Wesley who said that if you don’t give all you have he has no more hope for you than that of Judas Iscariot. I was taken by Jesus’ decision to tell the rich young ruler to sell all and then in the same breath tell everyone that it’s nearly impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. It reinforced something in my upbringing that said: “The rich are bitches.” Money is evil. And it is spiritual to be poor.

So I ask that question: IS IT SPIRITUAL TO BE POOR?

We are affected by finances every day. It is a super personal thing. It is no question that Jesus was right when he said where your treasure is there your heart will be also. And so it is because of the link to our hearts that I ask “is it Godly to have no money?” Below are some Christian misconceptions that have been taught in my life, telling me that I should hate money because it is evil.

• · In Luke’s Gospel Jesus says “Blessed are the poor.”
• · In Luke 12 We run across a farmer whose life is taken because he has a whole lot of crops
• · Rich Young ruler being told he needs to sell everything and follow him to have eternal life
• · Jesus not too long after says that it is as easy for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven as a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
• · In Timothy we hear that money is the root of all evil
• · Outside the bible we see St. Francis and Dominic taking vows of poverty

Very quickly I want to address each of these because I think we have to be informed, you can skip ahead if you don’t care.

• · Luke’s Gospel - Blessed are the poor: Their poverty is not the contingency for blessedness… their trust in Jesus is what gives the poor “POSSESSION of the kingdom of God”
• · Farmer – God’s going to kill you if you build silos –wealth is deceptive and makes us think we have it put together (that was the message Jesus was getting at.)
• · Rich Young ruler – We need to sell all – If we allow our wealth to keep us from trusting in God, we really will not inherit the eternal life from above. Because something is more important, and will take precedence
• · Camel Eye of a needle –It’s important to see here that Jesus didn’t say “it is so much easier for the poor to enter the kingdom of heaven.” It isn’t. It’s specifically difficult for the rich in this instance because they have been deceived by their finances into thinking that their future is secure and their soul can be at rest with their savings.
• · Timothy: Money root of all evil. Here’s where reading the passage helps “ LOVE of money is the root of all evil” Paul is showing Timothy if you Love money than you will be poised to do what it takes to get money, hence even do evil.
• · Vows of poverty. Francis’ vow was a political statement for the time, like Gandhi’s fasting. Today we have people taking vows of poverty. But really they are vows of non-possession. Their order or church takes care of them. We think of it as better because there is simplicity about it, and they are taken care of. But it really isn’t poverty; if it was poverty they would very quickly be feeling not-spiritual.

Below I have devised a wonderful question that allows us to see a little more clearly:

Answer the following:
Who is more spiritual?

A Jesus following Businessman who lives an upper class lifestyle, is a good steward of his money, and allocates his finances towards the various good that he has prayerfully decided.

A Jesus following person who works 9-5 in a diner and gives most of what he has away.

These points out our economic bias. It also points out what we really think. Some of us would love to have wealth so that we can get the stuff we want. But we are working off of software that is saying. Wealth is evil.

Some of us might think this because we haven’t really thought through the guilt by association. For instance: there are people out there that are putting their efforts towards banning guns, because guns kill. But in reality guns just sit there. Or they look cool. It takes someone picking up that gun and pointing it at me that kills. So we’ve heard the slogan, Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. We also have to be real with the fact that a gun accelerates the matter. But without the intention to kill, we see a gun acting very docile.

The same thing works for money. Many have witnessed finances accelerating the process of evil. Yet this is only a reflection of the person holding and using that money. If the money were to sit in a bank somewhere it would simply accrue interest.

Poverty

To become poor to be spiritual is sort of like wanting to itch your back so you put on a straightjacket. You might accomplish your purposes but there are better ways. When someone spiritualizes poverty they really are not describing poverty. They are actually describing non-possession. They are saying “ahh to be homeless is to have it so good.” But really what they are saying is to be free from the responsibility of possession is a great idea. But anybody who has lived in poverty knows that Poverty is uncool. It makes people feel like God isn’t helping them. Poverty moves people to true desperation where there is no hope. We need to be real with what it is. Non-possession on the other hand can be awesome if you are taken care of, but realistically you have given over your own responsibility to someone else to take care of you. This is not poverty. Poverty is not spiritual; it is the lack of resources that strangle one into desperation

Wealth
Money is easier to live with but it can be deceptive. But just like poverty it isn’t spiritual either. Because you are wealthy doesn’t mean you are IN the Kingdom of God.

Both are statuses that have nothing to do with functioning in the Kingdom of God. There will always be the poor and always be the rich. If you remember when Jesus was on this earth there were poor people and rich people. When the early church was established there were poor people and rich people. There was a distribution of wealth but that didn’t mean that there weren’t those people who needed that wealth, and the others who provided that wealth. There were poor churches in Jerusalem, and rich churches in Corinth. I am not saying that if you are poor that is your lot in life and vice versa if you are rich. You can do whatever to become whatever. But what I’m saying is: that neither is more righteous. God uses both. People who are in Poverty, God will work on removing your entitlement, and it also makes for an environment to cultivate thankfulness. When you have Abundance; God will work on removing your hoarding or greed, and it also makes for an environment to cultivate generosity.

So each isn’t more spiritual or less spiritual but God definitely uses both to develop our character.

Three words:

Possession – Possession is not evil. According to Genesis 1:28 it is actually part of the blessing of being created in the image of God that we would govern over the land, the zoological creatures, etc. To govern over something is to be human. Possession is an extension of our “rule.” Our finances are an extension of our bodies. The issue is we can’t have our possessions possess us. That’s where most of us run into difficulty. But to actually possess a house, a job, a family, a bank account, is not an evil thing. If you think giving is a good thing, yet you don’t like possessing, consider that you cannot truly give something unless you first possess it.

Use – I’m using this word in its negative context. Like someone would USE drugs or USE another person. In a financial context using money means that they use it to accomplish THEIR purposes, not functioning in a greater good. An example of using money would be buying a sex slave, or World War II atrocities like Auschwitz. The German people paid for that. Using money in this context IS evil. It has varying degrees obviously. But here’s the interesting thing: You don’t have to POSESS in order to USE. The reason why this is because you might not possess any money, yet you can still manipulate others that do have money. So whether you have money or not, the opportunity is there for you to USE it to get YOUR WAY.

Trust – Trust in riches is the issue that Jesus is trying to get at with the parable of the farmer. Trust means that you are relying on it to take care of you. Jesus would say that a fool does that. That the farmer didn’t have a clear picture of reality. The reason why someone would make this leap, though, is because wealth is very powerful. You have the ability to USE it to accomplish your purposes. And many would say that if they got a million dollars. They would be set. This is trusting that their money will take care of them. Which realistically it will buy opportunities. But Jesus was trying to let us understand that our father in the heavens has the ability to take care of us much better than paper.

Possession isn’t evil, Using is because it disregards the greater good, and trusting money is letting your USING move you into a fantasy world that is delusional.

There are two spiritual disciplines that are the opposite of Using and allow your Possessions to be allocated towards Good.
Frugality – Not being wasteful, prudently saving, spending smart.
Stewardship - Managing property, finances, or other affairs well.
With both of these I am implying that you are interested in loving God with your possessions and finances.

Today
Today I do not live in my parent’s neighborhood. I don’t have my parents’ money. I don’t consider myself rich or poor, but I am ONLY scraping by. I dove into the bible to see what God has to say about money and I feel like I have a better perspective on finances because of it. Today I see wealth for what it is: an opportunity to do good. I see poverty for what it is: a difficult situation that when looked at properly is tragic. Poverty isn’t a spiritual bump on the god totem pole. The best thing that I have learned is that Just because someone is rich doesn’t mean they’re a bitch; their possessions don’t make them evil.

The sad thing is that one of the reasons I dove into the bible is because I wanted to learn what God had to say about money. So I could have more. Totally trying to USE God to suit my needs. Thankfully he has helped me with this understanding. What I realized is that if I want more money (which actually isn’t an evil thing as long as my heart is in check) I better start living frugally. I better become a good steward of my finances. So by studying the bible I realized that my first step towards more money was to make a budget and keep it. That was my first spiritual step toward not Using money and not Trusting in money. It was to learn where my money was actually going and allocate it properly. It seemed very high school personal finance, but since then, we have been living within our means, less out of control. And we have even been saving.

So today, I wanted you to know that it is good to possess. And with this information I give you, you can do with it what you wish. You can USE it to buy a new silo. Maybe you want to TRUST in it. Maybe you just want to give it away. But today I would hope that you take this information, and be a good steward with it.