Paul Davison

We’re to trying to sketch out what the Bible has to say about poverty and riches – and see where we fit into the picture. Guiding verses have been the wisdom of Proverbs 30:

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:8-9)

Poverty

We have considered the unfortunate poor, that is those who are poor because we live in a fallen world, a broken world – where a tsunami can plunge Indonesian villagers into destitution as everything they own, their source of livelihood, even their own family members are sucked out into the Indian Ocean. Or where an earthquake in Pakistan destroys all the homes, all the houses, cuts off roads and thereby food and fuel leaving lonely mountain dwellers to stave off winter in the Himalayas.

These aren’t people waiting for their insurance assessor to call by and pick up the tab for rebuilding their towns and their homes. Through no particular fault of their own, these people will be financially ruined for years and what little capital they had acquired was all swept away through the quivering of the earth’s crust.

But it’s not only the so called “acts of God” that can bring poverty; there are also the “acts of men”. Because we saw that usually the poor are in poverty, not by accident, but by design; because others have made them that way: the rich oppress the poor. Whether it be through a class system or a caste system, societies can have structural elements that keep the poor in poverty, and the rich in wealth. No matter how hard the poor work, they cannot escape their destitution.

So on one side there are those who are poor because of circumstance beyond their control. But on the other side the Bible can also speak of those in poverty through their own laziness, their own folly, their own greed, their own selfishness. Poverty can be the not surprising result for living a godless life and ignoring God given wisdom. Poverty comes as a more direct punishment for ignoring the Maker of heaven and earth.

Riches

Correspondingly the Bible frequently presents wealth as the product of hard work; prosperity as the reward of diligence. Generally speaking, godly wisdom and godly living will typically result in an increase of wealth. Wealth as a God-given blessing for those that live in his world, his way. God’s good gifts shouldn’t be despised - they should be enjoyed guilt-free with thanksgiving to him who has given them.

But just as there are two sides to the story of the poor, there are two sides to the story of the rich. For wealth is also a risk for the rich. Wealth can so easily become our master a rival for God that corrupts our hearts through greed for more. Yes, wealth can be a sign of God’s blessing, but it can also be a sign of wickedness. A greedy heart will not be concerned with justice, with fairness, with equity.

And so the Bible has strong words for those who have become rich through their oppression of the poor. They have stolen from the widow, the fatherless, and the alien – making them destitute. They have used their power to deny justice to the most needy, the most vulnerable, in society.

Neither Poverty Nor Riches

So from those broad brush presentations of the poor and the rich we see a tension: two types of poor and two types of rich. You can’t therefore simply say the poor are always favoured by God and rich people are evil – but neither can you always say the rich are good and the poor are lazy.

Because above all the God is concerned about more than how much money a person has or doesn’t have. God is concerned with how people respond to him in the midst of their circumstances.

• No ungodly poor people are ever exalted as models to be copied in the Bible
• No godly rich people, who are generous and compassionate in the use of their wealth, are ever condemned in the Bible.

But in a remarkable number of instances throughout history, poverty and piety have been found hand in hand, as have wealth and godlessness. There’s no inherent connection between the items in either pair, just recurring trends.

The rich aren’t necessarily wicked, but frequently surplus goods have led people to imagine that their material resources can secure their futures so that they ignore God, from whom alone comes any security. That was a recurring trend in ancient Israel. Conversely, when the Israelites found themselves in desperate circumstances, they more often than not turned back to God. Again, it hasn’t always been so in the history of humanity, but it frequently has been.

Now on the scale of rich and poor, where do we feature? Am I rich? Am I poor? And of course, it’s a question of who we are being compared with. Compared to the poor of Bangladesh – we are rich. Compared to the wealth people of our own culture – we are poor. And probably, in reality, we don’t feel like either the rich or the poor: we’re just in the middle – neither poor nor rich.

Now does that mean that we are exempt from the Bible’s criticisms of the poor and the rich? Can we smugly point the finger at one or other of those extreme groups – because we’re the centrist party: the middle-class, neither poor nor rich? We aren’t the lazy poor nor are we the wicked rich. We work hard enough to not be numbered among the poor, and we aren’t sufficiently greedy to be counted among the rich.

Or are we trying to live in no-man’s land actually receiving fire from both opposing sides:

If we worked harder we could do better in terms of material prosperity; we’re just middle-class lazy as opposed to destitute lazy. Our level of greed is such that we aren’t actually that generous; we’re just middle-class greedy as opposed to the greed of the famously rich.

In other words, do we bear the worst traits of the poor and the rich – but they are largely papered over because of our modest, yet sufficient supply of money?

Because we’re at neither one extreme nor the other, that doesn’t mean that we are “balanced”. It means that if we would put ourselves in the middle, as being neither poor nor rich, then we too have something to think about regarding material possessions. Wherever we would put ourselves on the continuum between poverty and wealth, wherever we are – there, at that place, God’s word addresses us. Our goal should be not to exemplify the worst traits, but rather the best traits. We should aim to be pious in our poverty and open-handed with our wealth. We should target godliness despite what we lack and generosity despite what we have.

Moderation

If we are to learn from the wise man of Proverbs, then there is some virtue in pursuing moderation in material things. As a generalisation he says, life is easier with modest means; the temptations of forgetting God or dishonouring God can be avoided.

And the theme of moderation is a powerful one throughout the Bible. A key example would be God’s provision of manna for the Israelites in the wilderness. As the Israelites travelled through the desert God provided for their needs. And his method of providing for the people prevents them from becoming too well off.

This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.' The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. (Exodus 16:16-18)

Individuals were to collect varying amounts, based on their abilities, but God would ensure that no-one ever has too much or too little. Gather what you need. Some gathered much, some gathered little and each one had the right amount. There is moderation, there is equity, there is parity: but nevertheless there were differences, some collected more, some collected less, but everyone was satisfied.

Hoarding was not possible:

Then Moses said to them, No-one is to keep any of it until morning. However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. (Exodus 16:19-21)

They simply couldn’t amass a stockpile of manna; it didn’t last more than a day. Even though some tried to stash it way, which presumably means they were collecting more than they needed.

Whether it is manna in the wilderness or food at the supermarket, the temptation is to get more than you need; more than you can sensibly use. It is one thing to generate an income which can be channelled into the purposes of the kingdom of God; it is quite another to accumulate and hoard resources which are likely to be destroyed or disappear before being put to good use. And often that surplus comes at the expense of others having an opportunity for a reasonably descent standard of living.

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you. (James 5:1-6)

They were not to attempt to hoard manna, they were to trust the Lord for their daily provisions. And that trust is to be clearly demonstrated when it came to provision for the Sabbath.

On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much - two omers for each person - and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. “Eat it today”, Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.” Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. (Exodus 16:22-27)

God miraculously provisions on the 6th day of the week so that food can be preserved over the 7th day. God creates a rest day and provides what is need to for it. But still there are those who won’t take advantage of this opportunity for spiritual growth; they lose the benefit on offer by assuming that they must keep work.

If they aren’t grinding away, then nothing good will happen. How will they get ahead if they don’t take advantage of this unique business opportunity; while everyone else is taking the day off they will go out and harvest; they’ll secure their future. But it’s futile. God frustrates their efforts to stock up on manna: there isn’t any there on the 7th day. God is constraining their earning power to modest means, broadly in line with their needs.

It was a test to see if they would learn to follow the Lord’s instructions, the Lord’s pattern, for their lives. And he taught them that lesson for 40 years: 6 days manna, 1 day none … 6 days manna, 1 day none … 6 days manna 1 day none. It’s a lesson that Christians are still to be learning as we are taught by Jesus in the Lord’s prayer: “Give us today our daily bread (Matthew 6:11)

Now for the Israelites manna in the wilderness was a temporary arrangement; it stopped when they arrived in the Promised Land. But the apostle Paul centuries later, finds in this wilderness exercise timeless truth for the Christian community.

One of his undertakings, over many years, was to take up a collection for the poor in Judea. There was famine and persecution and hardship for Christians living in the nation of Israel during the time of his missionary journeys. And so what he did was enlist the help of the Gentile churches he had planted in other parts of the Mediterranean. And in 2 Corinthians 8-9 he is having to chase up the Corinthians about the promises they have made to contribute to this cause. They were quick to make a pledge of support, but they’ve been slowing in actually sending money.

And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: ‘He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.’ (2 Corinthians 8:10-15)

You see the link there back to the story of manna in the wilderness. As Paul applies it here the collection of the manna was about equity, parity. Paul isn’t looking for a role reversal between the rich and poor.

Just as the Israelites would have both gathered and consumed varying amounts in the wilderness according to their needs, so, too, Paul isn’t calling for some form of egalitarian communism. But he does recognise that there are extremes of wealth and poverty which are intolerable in the Christian community. Now these extremes can’t be quantified, and they will vary widely under different economic systems and depend on personal attitudes. But sooner or later every economic system leads to certain people accumulating material possessions above and beyond what they can possibly need or even use just for themselves.

If those who are better off will simply provide from their surplus, all of the most basic human needs of the more impoverished will be met. "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

This theme of moderation is worked out in Jesus’ simple lifestyle: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Luke 9:58). And yet we see Jesus wined and dined by the rich and a bottle of perfume worth more than a year’s wages (something like $30,000) poured over Jesus as a beautiful thing. At his crucifixion they are rolling the dice to see who gets his cloths – that was all he owned.

The poor can’t claim Jesus as their man; the rich can’t claim Jesus as their man – and no, the middle class can’t claim Jesus as their man. He enjoyed certain material blessings and yet he certainly wasn’t owned by Money. Likewise the Apostle Paul, adopts a simple lifestyle:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:12)

Jesus and his apostles present us with a pattern of moderation. They aren’t world-denying monks living up a 40 foot pole. But neither are they consumed by the things of this world. They set before us an example of contentment with what they have. They demonstrate a moderate lifestyle with regard to material wealth. The early church embraced a similar approach:

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No-one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had … There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
(Acts 4:32-35)

As the story of Ananias and Sapphira makes clear, straight after this passage, there was no compulsory giving, no rules, no enforcers: just a generous community of Christians looking to share, looking to achieve an equity, a parity: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

In church history there are numerous examples of this equitable lifestyle.

John Wesley adopted the pattern of determining how much he needed to live on, and then giving away everything that he received over and above that. In one year he decided that ?30 was all he needed (we’re talking about a frugal life in the 1700s) that year he gave away £1,400. Wesley wrote, "If I leave behind me £10 … you and all mankind bear witness against me that I lived and died a thief and a robber." Wesley regarded his life and wealth as a stewardship, entrusted to him by God for the benefit of those around him.

In New Zealand we have a similar example from Robert Laidlaw (founder of Farmers) who again lived off a modest income and was able to give away increasing amounts as his business prospered.

Conclusion

So what are some the implications of a moderate lifestyle, a lifestyle for those who are neither poor nor rich? If we don’t think we belong at either of those extremes – poor or rich – then let’s nevertheless learn lessons from them. Let us pursue godliness with contentment.

If the instruction to those who are poor is to turn to the Lord in their need and to continue “night and day to pray and to ask God for help” – then let us do like wise. Let us call upon the Lord to supply our daily needs, our daily bread. And when we see his provision, then let us be thankful.

If the instruction to those who are rich is to be generous and open-handed with what they have been entrusted - then let us do like wise. Let us give generously, in proportion to what we have received.

I think one of the important implications from this biblical theme of moderation is the idea of a graduated percentage of giving. The more money one makes, the higher the percentage he or she should give away.

We must be very wary of fixed percentages: the tithe, the 10%. For someone with an income of $100,000 a fixed 10% would most likely be negligible. But for someone with an income of $10,000 a fixed 10% could well be crippling. What’s needed isn’t a fixed percentage but a relative proportion.

I’m not talking about cookie-cutter Christians all living off exactly the same amount of dollars and cents. But rather a closing of the gaps between rich and poor in the body of Christ so that no-one lacks.

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