Real Poor

I continually find the tedious task of budgeting to be depressing. I often procrastinate for months before subjecting myself to an all night marathon because I dread the minute figures I eventually derive.

I’m sure there are some that might boast of small bank accounts, but I do not find myself among their number. Perhaps some think poverty can slim us down enough to enter the narrow gates. Jesus did say, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into heaven.”

Can I just say I find this verse disconcerting, especially after I visited www.globalrichlist.com and discovered I’m in the top 10% of income earners in the world. Even though I tend not to see myself as rich, my excess extends to rooms in my house with no inherent purpose, sheltering for my automobiles, a transportation budget that rivals my mortgage, and a comfortable thermostat that prevents me from breaking a sweat. While most of the world struggles not to starve, I’m trying to ignore the opposing message from my abdomen every time I walk past the mirror.

There are numerous passages like this one where Jesus tells the rich young ruler to sell all of his possessions, or similarly where He tells a parable in which the unnamed rich man finds himself in Hell, while the poor, yet identified Lazarus finds himself in Heaven. One might wonder if the likes of Jeremiah Wright are correct in their assumption that God does in fact favor the poor.

But I cannot ignore the Old Testament Heroes like Job, Abraham, David, and Solomon. These guys were filthy rich, and they were blessed so because of their “righteousness,” or more accurately, their faith. And I find many places in scripture that speak of riches as a good thing (Proverbs 10:22), or even “the answer for everything.” (Ecclesiastes 10:19)

Furthermore, if God owns everything, in reality we are all poor. Perhaps it’s not the almighty dollar that is the problem, but the pride that sees it as such. It’s not our bulging wallets, but our egos that strain the pockets that hold it. When we think of ourselves as “rich,” not lacking in anything and in need of nothing, we cease our dependency on the one that truly provides “our daily bread.” Truth is, without Him we not only would be without our next meal, but without our next breath.

I think I finally understand what Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are the Meek.” Our tendency is to measure ourselves back to back to other men. It is, after all, easy to feel tall when using such a small ruler. But when we evaluate our stature with the divine, we conclude a drastically different size However, to do so requires a more prostrate position.