Poor, Poorer, Poorest

Have you ever considered that your definition of riches and poverty could be perverted when they are compared with God’s definitions? How would you feel if God spoke into your values and told you that all you had always believed was wrong?

And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. (Mark 12: 41 – 44)

Look at the implications of what Christ is saying. The poor widow has given more than the accumulated giving of all of the rich. Simply saying, their huge gifts were minuscule when compared with the two mites the poor widow gave.

Does this give you a spin? How does two cents become worth more than thousands of more precious currency. How can a cent be worth more than many shillings?

On the other hand, if the giver of the cent out-gave many givers of several shillings, who then is richer than the other? Can a poorer person out-give the willing rich giver?

God wants us to look at riches and poverty using His perspective. This will then help us appreciate not only His reality but especially help us to start living in that reality. Then we will be at peace when as ministers we relate with our supporters. We will then know how to deal with the desperately poor givers whose giving appears to overshadow the really rich givers in God’s sight.

What do I mean? God sees things differently from what we call earthly reality. As an example the rich gave incomparably more money than probably thousands, even millions of the giving of that poor widow. Even the translation of that coin to a mite may be instructive. A mite is the smallest insect. Some are barely visible, some requiring a microscope to see. This means that in terms of value, that coin was almost worthless. It may be compared to a cent that becomes useful in its hundreds or like the Japanese yen.

How does God say that someone who gave the equivalent of ten yen gave more than a hundred wealthy fellows who gave an average of twenty dollars each?  What kind of math does God do to come to such a conclusion? What does it speak to us about poverty?

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. (Proverbs 23:6)

Here God seems to point at the reason the poor widow out-gave all those rich characters. It might have to do with the motivation of that giving. You see this wealthy fellow is giving you his dainties, in other words the best he has, but at the same time is counting the cost of offering the same to you. God joins the attitude to his heart, a heart that does not have a place for somebody else. He does not give out of generosity but more out of a desire to profit from his giving. He simply does not give. He simply uses his giving as a tool of trade. The poor widow gave her livelihood. She did not leave anything for herself as she gave.

It is no surprise that their giving is not acknowledged by God who sees its motivation. In God’s sight that kind of generous giving is a step away from stinginess. Otherwise explain to me why two cents can be greater giving than several large gifts?

But let us get back to our topic, poverty. Who does God call a poor man, at least in His eyes? This is because God does not use money as the gauge of our riches or lack of them because He owns everything anyway. His gauge is therefore of a different nature.

As we have seen when we looked at that poor widow, unreserved giving is an indicator of a rich person. Giving that is guarded and limited is in God’s eyes the product of a poor heart. The amount is not the unit God uses to gauge as we many times are led to believe.

Let me give you two incidences in my life in ministry. I once visited a relatively wealthy friend and was given a very bumpy mattress to sleep on. It was a most uncomfortable night. I also remember visiting a family that had a small house. They made supper and then the whole family wanted to go and look for alternative places to spend the night as they left me their house as it was not big enough for all of us. Imagine even the small children needing to vacate the house so that the preacher can sleep undisturbed! The thing that saved the day was that the place was generally very warm and so I used that to convince them that the house was too hot to sleep in. But even then the man of the house joined me as I slept outside. I also remember being given food that was being prepared for the children even as the said children watched as there was no other food in the house. Again I had to use wisdom so that the children can get to eat their food without the hosts feeling that the preacher was rejecting their hospitality. I don’t want to mention some experiences I have gone through in the hands of the wealthy as many are simply shameful. But let me say that not all the wealthy are inhospitable.

But the point I want to make is that God does not look at our bank balance to gauge how rich we are. Only the person who is rich can give unreservedly and generously. We are therefore deceived when we think that the people who have the healthiest bank balances and give huge gifts are truly rich.

How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. (2Corinthians 8:2)

Again we see churches whose physical reality was extreme poverty yet their spiritual reality was great riches. In fact we see them pleading with the apostles to be allowed to give and especially minister to the saints. Were they poor or rich?

You see need can be relative depending on where you are standing. We must therefore define our terms before we agree on what need is. We can be arguing about plenty when we are discussing great need. Let us look at a verse that does not talk directly about this to get the point across.

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. (Ecclesiastes 5:12)

Who is needy here? One has almost nothing, sometimes sleeping on close to an empty stomach and the other is wallowing in plenty yet we see the reality of their lives in their sleep cycles. The plenteously provided is unable to sleep even as the visibly needy sleep soundly. Why is that?

Need is what makes a man poor. A needy person is the one who must have or they feel at the danger of death. And that is why generosity is one clear indication of wealth, at least in the spiritual.

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! (Mark 10:21- 24)

This agrees with our argument. This young man appeared very rich but the lack of security in that wealth disqualified him from the kingdom of God. In other words he was so needy (poor) that he could not afford to give anything to join the kingdom Christ was inviting him to. That for me is the definition of poverty, a need that is so pressing that even the call of God is not adequate to challenge.

Again I will say that among the richest people I have come across in ministry are people who are many times visibly needy. I remember one young person who walked so far to bring me twenty shillings (equivalent to a quarter dollar). In fact the twenty shillings could not have be enough to pay his fare had he decided to use public means. Yet he so joyfully gave me that twenty shillings after walking such a distance due to the love he had for me and appreciation of my ministry. And he could not be persuaded otherwise. I remember people who have come and squeezed a coin or small note as they greeted me yet their circumstances indicated such need because they wanted to partner in the ministry I am involved in.

Compare that to those who will give you generously because your prayers have had an impact in some area of their life. Compare that to those who will take care of all your expenses if you went to minister to them. Compare that to people who will give so much because you have gone to pray for their businesses or family. Compare that to people who will give you a suit so that you can accompany them to some function.

Look at succession cases in the courts to get what I mean. Why should people haggle for years in the courts for the pittance that is their father’s wealth? Why spend so much time and money to fight over property, time that would be better spent looking for some other wealth? Why does someone more or less imprison their parent to ensure that their father’s wealth ends up with them? How can someone go to court to prove their father insane or something close to that to ensure they are included in his will? How can someone kill his father or competitor in the family for the pittance called inheritance?

What kind of poverty is that? Do you realize that Esau was even wiser than that, profane as he was? At least he realized that before his father died he had enough time to make his own fortune, something he did.

How do I hate my brother because he stands in the way of me accessing a particular portion of my father’s estate? How can I fight my mother because she is entitled to a portion of the estate? For example I know a son who evicted his mother from his portion of the land when she subdivided the land and gave the sons title deeds.

If that is not abject poverty then tell me what is. When I MUST have a portion of what my father has and will pull no stops to ensure the same, When I MUST get a return of all my investment and have no place for grace in my dealings with others, When even my giving in church must be prompted by some enticement, When I give to soothe my conscience, Then I am saying that I am really very poor. I just cannot give for nothing. In fact I cannot give as I then will be losing without expecting a return.

Compare that with Barnabas who sells his land, gives the money to the church and then takes off to the mission field where he has to go through seasons of want as he ministered. Compare that with Elisha who destroys the tools of his trade to go and pour water on Elijah. Compare that with the apostles who after the greatest catch of their lives leave all that wealth for others even as they followed Christ. Compare that with Zacchaeus who discovers the level of his poverty and decides to reverse it by giving probably all of it to access salvation.

Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:12 – 14)

The poor cannot be able to take the risk that obedience to this counsel calls for. They cannot give for nothing and expecting nothing. A poor man is so full of today that even eternity is a mirage that must be dismissed. God’s principles do not make sense to this poor man. The sad part is that he is wealthy if we used worldly assessment.

In fact that is why I argue that the tithe is an Old Testament practice preachers use to goad people to give as their poverty has locked out the leading of God to give under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Preachers choose to take advantage of the spiritual poverty of their congregations to get as much from them as possible instead of connecting them to God who will replace that poverty with His wealth. And this because they are scared that the giving then released will most likely not be directed at their whims or greed.

Otherwise explain to me why the churches that minister to the down and out of society find it very hard to access support whereas churches that may be doing nothing about Christ’s ministry except crafty PR packaging are wallowing in more money than they know how to use. Explain to me why ministers who are called away from the limelight have issues with support when those who are perverting the gospel on radio and TV have no problem getting support to preach a counterfeit gospel. Explain to me why you must really convince someone to support you in ministry as if you are the Holy Spirit.

This is why we abuse a person sent to us to minister to just because he has money. He comes loaded with sins looking for the solution to all that sin but we instead see how loaded he is with money and look for opportunities of accessing that money. In fact even when his sin is open we decide not to preach against sin for fear that we may offend all that money away. We therefore offer him opportunities to use that money on us and ours instead of seeing beyond his money to the cry of poverty and sin in his heart that has brought him to us for ministry. Since he may not really know how he needs to access God’s grace, and especially because he many times will be in business, he will think that using that money is his way of bribing God to meet his thirsting heart and especially because that is the thrust of our preaching. Our folly in not extending ministry to him because we thought we are the ones who needed to access his money locks him out of God’s grace especially due to his level of poverty as we have just seen. He then feels very good as he feels he has paid for grace especially because his pastor might due to the level of his poverty also behaves as if the pauper is the prince because of his businesslike giving. But we open ourselves to the judgment of heaven by so doing.

It is therefore my argument that one clear indicator of poverty is a giving that is dictated by self interest, however spiritual we may make it look. A giving that has me somewhere near is also dictated by poverty. A giving that must really be explained to convince me is also guided by poverty. A giving that expects a return in kind is guided by poverty.

Giving is therefore not gauged by the amount but by the heart’s intent. This is because God is not moved by the amount as He owns everything and is the one that has given it anyway.

Let me close with these verses from Proverbs.

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. (Matthew 5:42)

He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. (Proverbs 22:9)

He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want. (Proverbs 22:16)

If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee. (Proverbs 25:21, 22)

Is that your understanding of poverty and wealth?