Gospel for the poor…
Apr 7th, 2010 by ljkim
The one thing we need more than money (especially when we’re poor), is the Gospel. Now many will disagree, but let me explain… I believe in the value of social services and hands-on ministry to people in need. But for the poor in a money driven society, I believe that the Gospel message is more important than money and has to come first! Here’s why – and here’s something that you probably wouldn’t understand unless you’ve ever been in these shoes: the poor spend more than the rich and upper middle class. Middle class people look down on the poor because of this: the poor make what appears to be bad financial choices…but there’s good reason for it.
For instance: one of the tendencies that aggravates social workers in inner cities is the tendency that people have of using all the money they get as soon as they get it. Someone gets a $5k tax refund, guess who’s spending $5k at the mall this weekend? If there’s a choice between an extravagant dinner and a nice dinner at a restaurant, poor people often shoot for the extravagant. Now I don’t expect you to understand right away. Sociologists explain it by saying that in the mindset of uncertainty (you never know what’s going to happen to you tomorrow) of the inner city poor – you focus on the here and now. But I don’t think that quite explains it. That’s an outsider’s perspective. (Also Barbara Ehrenreich wrote an excellent book about her experience trying to live off minimum wage – and the ways in which the poor are forced to really spend more than the middle class… This is true, but only a part of the picture.)
When you have money, it can be a small inconvenience to brown bag a lunch instead of buying one. When you have a home it can be fun to sleep outdoors in tents. When you have socio-economic dignity, it’s fine to get the boring car, or cheap watch, or cheap no-name clothes. But society is against the poor. So when you are poor, choosing the cheap stuff is a slap in the face… Wealthy parents can deny their kids of playstations and tv’s – or let their college aged kids slum it and work for their own meal – all in the name of teaching them good values; but when you’re poor, it’s heart breaking to watch your children want for material things.
This is why the Gospel is more important than money. If you knew who you were in Christ – the real you, the identity and family connections that have been bought with Jesus’ blood – you’d have no reason to ever feel the shame of lacking money. Let me say that again: the danger of being poor is that you look to the things money can buy to buy yourself a dignity, a sense of worth, a “righteousness.” Do you see that? But if you find what you have in Jesus – you won’t need money to affirm you…
By the way – that’s also the first step in being able to make sound financial choices. Money is just money – throwing it around can’t buy you self-worth. Unless you see that – you’ll never be truly rich.
If you’re struggling financially right now, I want to do anything I can to help. Just as others were there to help me. One of my earliest positive memories of the church growing up was two deacons coming to my apartment with bags of groceries. When my mom asked what this was for, they shrugged and told us they were doing this for everybody.
But more important than the material help, financial advice and opportunities – is the Gospel…because it explains who we are…and gives us dignity that money can’t buy.
Related posts:
this is very helpful, especially for my generation (and especially from the classic asian american middle class background).
we tend to get caught up in the material things and as we progress to careers, we are often taught to lean on careers that provide the financial security, sometimes to the detriment of our gifts.
overall, I think it also ladders up to the happiness issue. We can classify people who live in countryside or small village as poor (economically speaking) people, but they could be even happier living off the land.