Benjamin G. Robinson
Pastoral Context Paper
Preceptor: Tim Wardle
The Wealth of Poverty
During the Disciple Bible Study of Luke that you are leading, your group begins discussing the story of Jesus, the rich young man, and Jesus’ words to the disciples, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (18:25). Sandy, a young CPA, says, “I am certainly not poor. I don’t know many poor people who drive a Lexus. But I have clients whose assets are far greater than my own. How do I know if I am the rich person who cannot enter the Kingdom?” Ralph, the owner of a statewide dry cleaning company, speaks up, “I know I am rich. But I’ve always thought that the riches I have were God’s gifts blessing me for my faithfulness. I mean, I started with nothing. By working 16 hour days I bought out the guy in whose dry cleaning store I worked. But from the beginning I decided I’d run my stores they way I thought Jesus would. I pay my workers well more than minimum wage. I don’t operate on Sundays. I tithe. I’ve tried to be faithful and my business has prospered. We’re at 30 stores state-wide and growing. How can God’s material blessings for my faithfulness keep me out of the Kingdom?”
Pastor: Well, those are some pretty huge questions, and very important ones. You know, these are not new questions. Christians of all ages have struggled with how to faithfully respond to the demands of the Gospel. In fact, these were questions in the earliest days of the Church.
Sandy: So the early Christians thought about this stuff too? What did they say?
Pastor: You bet they did. They actually had a lot to say, especially people like the Desert Fathers.
Ralph: Desert Fathers? There’s not much money to be made in the desert. I’m guessing they didn’t have very positive things to say about money.
Pastor: Well, yes and no. They didn’t really hate money in itself, but they relinquished it because of the temptations that come with having money. One of their key insights is that having more money than what we need to take care of our basic necessities almost always leads to an inappropriate use of wealth.1 We begin to trust in the security of our money instead of trusting in God. Our money becomes an occasion for sin. The Fathers avoided being attached to money by having only what they needed to survive.
Ralph: That sounds so radical.
Pastor: You know, people do a lot of crazy things to acquire wealth. Lots of people stop at nothing. But the Fathers did “crazy” things to get rid of wealth because they knew it would draw them away from their focus on God.2
Ralph: I suppose. But if my money is God’s blessing on me then doesn’t that actually help focus my attention on God since I recognize it is from him?
Pastor: That’s a good point Ralph, and it’s significant that you aren’t attributing your success to yourself. But let me ask you another question: can you be completely focused on God if you aren’t also focused on people in need?
Ralph: Well…no, I suppose that would seem hypocritical.
Pastor: So what would be better, to see our wealth as God’s blessing on us that we are to keep all to ourselves, or as a blessing that is intended for the benefit of others? This is why people like the Desert Fathers didn’t condemn making money, but were very careful to utilize any wealth for others.3 And again, this is why they said to only keep what you needed to survive, otherwise you would see your money as God’s gift for you, instead of God’s gift to you for others.
Sandy: So really, our money isn’t truly “ours”.
Pastor: Exactly! Have either of you ever heard of St. Francis of Assisi?
Sandy: Sure, there’s a church down the street named after him. But I don’t really know anything about him.
Ralph: Wasn’t he a monk or something?
Pastor: A friar. He lived in the 12th century and was born into a relatively wealthy family. But even before he became a Christian he had somewhat of a generous heart. St. Francis pursued a life of conformity with Christ and part of that conformity was getting rid of all of his possessions. In giving away all of his possessions and money Francis came to live with the poor and the sick. He progressed to love Christ so much that he loved others as well, so much so that he would kiss their wounds and God would heal through him…4
Ralph: Wait a minute pastor, why would Francis give everything away? How could he help the poor if he didn’t have any money? Wouldn’t it have been smarter for him to just give money to the poor and actually help them out of their poverty?
Pastor: I don’t mean to patronize Ralph, but that is another great question. But, Francis realized something that we often miss. Money is not the greatest gift we can give to another. In fact, sometimes our giving of money becomes an occasion for pride and we feel good about our self because we’ve given money to the poor.5 Francis said something like “anyone who thinks that money is more valuable than the love of God is a fool.”6 This is why Francis was willing to give all he had and live with the poor. He knew that he could give more to them by loving them as God loves them, than he ever could with his pocketbook. Francis really has something to teach us middle class suburban Christians. We like to think we can fix all the problems of the world by giving money. But money is not what solves poverty. Francis realized that in order to actually address the needs of the poor he had to associate with them intimately. For Francis, this meant living with them.7 Often when we only give money we simply reinforce the distinction between the affluent and the poor. It’s the giving of our self that is even more effective than money.
Sandy: I can see myself using that as an excuse, though, for not sharing my money with others. Since it’s more important to share myself, do I have to share money as well?
Pastor: You could use that as an excuse but you probably wouldn’t be able to convince yourself for long. You’d know you were merely hiding your attachment to your possessions. I think this kind of brings us back to your first question, that is, how do we know if we are the rich man Jesus talks to? St. Augustine, who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries, suggested an ingenious test. He said that the way to know whether or not you truly “despise” wealth is whether or not you can give it all away.8 Let that sink in for a minute…
Ralph: Yikes, that sounds pretty heavy pastor. I don’t think I’d pass that test.
Pastor: That’s why we press on Ralph. Maybe you can start small, eliminating possessions you hold dear one at a time. You’re not alone here, Ralph, this is something we do together. Our failure to do it perfectly does not mean we stop trying. We continue to look for imaginative ways to perform this demand. After all, the reason we are able to give of our possessions is because we acknowledge that God gave Godself for us.9 We give of our stuff and our whole life because through the power of the Holy Spirit we are striving to live into the new life that Christ brings. This is what we believe about salvation.
Sandy: So are you saying that ultimately Jesus asks us to give of our possessions because that is what it means to be saved? I guess I never thought about it that way.
Pastor: Exactly. Jesus inaugurates a new way of ordering our lives, and specifically the way we handle money. That is why the Desert Fathers and Francis gave up everything they had and shared all they could.10 The utilization of wealth is not a private manner. We don’t really own anything. Instead, we are to hold all things in common with our brothers and sisters. We find freedom in renouncing that which we possess.
Ralph: This is definitely tough stuff, but I really want to live that way.
Pastor: And we could definitely probe this question deeper. There are no easy answers, and I won’t pretend to give any. Jesus may not ask us to give up everything. After all, he dealt differently with the rich man than he did with someone like Zacchaeus. But then again, he may. Whatever the case may be we do have to realize that we can’t just use our money the way any American would but our use of money is conditioned by our belief in Christ. Thankfully, this is something we can struggle with together.
Sandy: Thanks a lot pastor. I’ve got a lot to think about.
Ralph: Yeah, me too. Hey pastor, if I end up selling everything can I come live with you?
Pastor: Sure… But did you know that Sandy and her husband have a hot tub?
1 In The Desert Fathers there is a persistent motif regarding possessing only what is needed to survive. The Fathers tell the story of a man who stored money for when he became old and infirm. He developed gangrene and spent all of his money on doctors in an effort to be healed. Nonetheless the gangrene remained and it threatened to spread throughout his body. Thus, he required the amputation of his foot. The night before this was to occur he prayed to God and realized his error, and received forgiveness. He was healed. The point of the story is that the man inordinately placed his trust in the money he was saving instead of trusting God to care for him in his old age (The Desert Father, 58).
2 This is exactly Gregory of Nyssa’s observation concerning the communal life of Macrina and the virgins. Nyssa says, “Their wealth consisted in their poverty […] their one concern was the Divine” (Gregory of Nyssa, 171, The Life of St. Macrina). Macrina’s life was oriented in all ways towards God, and wealth was a preoccupation. In this work Nyssa frequently draws out the ways in which Macrina’s life was currently participating in the eternal life to come. Macrina’s poverty is indicative of her current angelic existence, which for Nyssa is an analog of the resurrected existence. Disassociation from wealth is a life lived in the resurrection.
3 There are two related themes in this regard found in the Desert Fathers. First, there is the motif of absolute poverty being a means purification (cf. 13 The Desert Fathers, 56). Second, there are many examples of monks working hard for only what they need to survive and any extra being quickly given away (cf. 11, 15 The Desert Fathers, 56).
Certainly the abhorrence of wealth by the Fathers in some passages is due to the propensity for sin therein, but there is also the clear sense that anything short of absolute poverty is withholding aid to the impoverished. For example, Serapion rebukes a brother for the books he possesses because he has “taken what belongs to widows and orphans” (12 The Desert Fathers, 56). To assume the Fathers are only concerned that money might make them sin, is to not read the Fathers thoroughly. The accumulation of wealth is sinful precisely because it neglects to care for the needy. The concern for others is especially lucid in the discussions on hospitality. The monks break their fast to provide for others (cf. 2 The Desert Fathers 134; 4, 135; 7, 136; 10, 136). Even greater than fasting is the welcoming of the stranger.
4In Bonaventure’s The Life of St. Francis he traces the way in which Francis becomes completely conformed to the crucified Christ. Bonaventure has ordered the account thematically so that we observe as Francis’ life develops from giving alms to lepers to living with them, from Francis pursuing knighthood to seeing the stigmata as his true sword, from Francis wearing “secular attire” to being stripped naked at his death. All of this has been narrated in such a way as to make conspicuous the external and internal conformity to Christ that Francis undergoes.
5 In The Confessions Augustine discusses how pride can easily subvert even our self-chastisement. That is, we chastise our self for a particular failing and then take pride in the fact we’ve chastised (Augustine, 239). This parallels the pride that subverts genuine giving. The tendency to take pride in one’s generosity is a concern of the Desert Fathers. The Fathers recount a story about Philagrius, who found a bag of coins and refused a reward from it when he returned it to its owner. The owner thus attempted to calls attention to Philagrius’ good deed, and Philagrius escaped unnoticed (15 The Desert Fathers, 56). Similarly, the chief sin which harasses Augustine in The Confessions is pride, and thus Augustine will say that those who forced him to study as a boy “thought only of sating man’s insatiable appetite for a poverty tricked out as wealth and a fame that is but infamy” (Augustine, 15). Augustine sees that the desire for fame and wealth is but a poverty and infamy of the worst kind.
6 The exact quote is, “to offer the love of God in exchange for an alms was a noble prodigality and that those who valued it less than money were most foolish” (Bonaventure, The Life of St. Francis, 262).
7 This is a strong theme in Bonaventure’s The Life of St. Francis. Bonaventure highlights the early beneficence of Francis as that of giving to the poor (Bonaventure, 186), whereas as he progresses towards perfect conformity with Christ he moves towards living with the poor (Bonaventure, 195). The implication is that Francis’ infantile philanthropy is done as a secular person, and a corollary of his progressive conformity is the move to complete association with the downtrodden. While we are not suggesting that Bonaventure necessarily employs this as a paradigm for all Christians, he certainly saw it as one for himself and his fellow friars. Nonetheless, its significance ought not be relegated only to that of the order of friars, but must at least be addressed by all Christians.
8 Augustine says in The Confessions that “anyone who lacks the insight to be certain whether he can despise wealth while still possessing it can test himself by getting rid of it” (Augustine, 237).
9 This is ultimately the motivation predicated to Francis by Bonaventure. He sees Francis’ renunciation of his life as not only conformity to Christ who gave his life, but in some sense a response of gratitude. Francis desired to give his life for the sake of the one who gave his life for Francis (cf. Bonaventure, 266).
10 The Fathers narrate the story of John the Persian who let people borrow freely and return freely. He neither expected them to tell him what they were borrowing or what they were returning. If the borrowed item was never returned John said nothing (7 The Desert Fathers, 54). The willingness to share all things with others extends beyond the immediate Christian fellowship. We learn from the Desert Fathers that an Egyptian hermit extended hospitality to a Manichaean priest, a member of the “erroneous sect” of the Manichees (11 The Desert Fathers, 137). The expression of the hermit is a strong statement of the totality of the new modality of existence that is the kingdom of Christ.