Originally published on James and Dave’s Bible Page
“Whose side would Jesus be on, the wealthy businessman’s, or the poor farmer’s?” In the many discourses about Christianity and politics, questions like this one often come up in order to make the case that God cannot be tied to popular right-wing political ideologies (a point which, as I discussed in the previous message, I happen to agree with).
The question is certainly legitimate. After all, Jesus did forcefully confront misuse of wealth and power, and He also called us to show sacrificial compassion to the poor. Unfortunately, questions like this one are often aimed not at lifting the poor out of poverty, but at stirring up strife and class warfare. Ultimately, this sort of rhetoric does more harm than good, as it appeals not to Christian compassion, but to sins such as envy and covetousness, which are the direct opposite of what Jesus taught.
As we will see, God looks at much more than how much money a person may or may not have. In His Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), Jesus teaches us how proper stewardship of our material goods can lead to tremendous blessing, and how God is actually displeased with us when our lives are not productive. It is not a matter of pitting one economic (or racial, or gender) group against the other. We are reminded of this in the famous list of “Cannots,” which are commonly attributed to Abraham Lincoln:
- You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
- You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer…
- You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich…
- You cannot promote unity by inciting class hatred…
- You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves (1).
The church of Jesus Christ is to be a place where rich and poor meet together (Proverbs 22:2), where racial and gender prejudices are cast away (Galatians 3:28), and we embrace the common goal of “…coming in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Ephesians 4:13). It is in this sort of environment that mature, stable disciples are made who can learn to rise above their circumstances, whatever they may be, and can become fruitful, productive members of society. An important part of this is learning biblical principles of proper education (Deuteronomy 4:9; Proverbs 10:14, 2 Timothy 4:13) and a strong work ethic (Proverbs 10:4; Ecclesiastes 3:13;5:19; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). It also involves learning proper financial stewardship, which would include tithing and giving, (Malachi. 3:8-10; 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2; 2 Corinthians 8, 9; Hebrews 7:8), saving and investing (Deuteronomy 28:5; Proverbs 6:6-11) and understanding that it is God who gives us the power to acquire wealth in the first place (Deuteronomy 8:18). These are the very laws that Jesus’ compassion for the poor are based upon (see Matthew 4:4).
Given the common misconception that “poverty is spiritual,” some will no doubt be surprised that these sort of concepts are taught in the Bible. Society today tends to look very sporadically at Jesus’ teachings, often isolating certain tenets, then stretching them into concepts that are totally the opposite of His true message. This is especially true of His teachings on money. The popular notion that Jesus was indiscriminately against all rich people is simply not accurate. In fact, He had numerous wealthy followers
