There are more than a few Christians today who claim that it is
not God’s will for any believer to experience material poverty. They say that if a Christian is closely
following Jesus as Lord and is taking hold by faith of what God is offering to
them, that person should never be financially poor.
In comparison to what the Bible actually teaches, this is a
remarkable claim. Either those who make
it have not been reading Scripture very much.
Or they haven’t been absorbing what they have been reading.
In what follows, I hope to show clearly from the Bible that it is
common for devout Christians to experience material poverty through no fault of
their own. I will start by discussing biblical
passages which demonstrate this. And then
I will look at some other passages which might at first sight seem to point in
the opposite direction.
In the discussion I will focus on New Testament passages. The New Testament should always be our
starting point for any biblical investigation on how Christians should expect
to live, because it was written under New Covenant conditions. By contrast, it is often more difficult to
know exactly how the Old Testament, written under Old Covenant conditions,
applies to Christians under the New Covenant.
In any case, there are plenty of New Testament passages that deal with
this topic. So we will have no problem
reaching a confident conclusion by focusing on the New Testament.
PASSAGES WHICH SHOW THAT IT
IS NOT ALWAYS GOD’S WILL FOR CHRISTIANS TO AVOID POVERTY
Let’s start, then, with biblical passages which show that
Christians doing the will of God can often be materially poor. The following are relevant texts:
Luke 6
Luke 6:20-26 is an important passage. Here Luke tells us about some teaching of
Jesus:
‘20 And looking at His
disciples, He said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, because the kingdom of God belongs to you. 21
Blessed are you who hunger now . . . Blessed
are you who weep now . . . 22 Blessed are you when people hate you
. . . 23 . . .
24 But woe to you who
are rich, because you have received your comfort already. 25
Woe to you who are well-fed now . . . Woe
to you who laugh now . . . 26 Woe to you when people speak well of
you . . .”’
This passage is formally said to be addressed to Jesus’ disciples
(v. 20). However, Luke 6:17-19 seems to
envisage a wider group listening to what He says. And immediately after He finishes His instruction
in 6:20-49, Luke 7:1 says:
‘When He had finished saying all this to the people who were
listening . . .’
In view of 6:17-19 and 7:1, it seems that we should understand
Jesus to be speaking the words of verses 20-26 (and also verses 27-49) to a
much wider group than just His disciples.
In this passage, verses 20-23 describe a set of four groups of
people who are favoured by God. And
verses 24-26 describe another set of four groups of people who are displeasing
to God. In theme the first group in the
first set corresponds to the first group in the second set, the second group in
the first set corresponds to the second group in the second set, and so on.
Regarding the first group in the first set, then, Jesus teaches:
‘20 . . . Blessed are
you who are poor, because the kingdom of God belongs to you.’
And this corresponds to the first group in the second set:
‘24 But woe to you who
are rich, because you have received your comfort already.’
In these texts the only kind of poverty and wealth that Jesus can
be referring to is material poverty and wealth.
‘Rich’ in v. 24 cannot mean anything other than rich materially and
financially. So because these texts
correspond to each other in theme, ‘poor’ in v. 20 must be about material
poverty.
It is true that in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches
about the blessedness of the ‘poor in spirit’ (Matthew 5:3), and that is not a
reference to material poverty. However, what
Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount must not be read into Luke’s Sermon on
the Plain (see Luke 6:17) in Luke 6:20-49. They are
distinct pieces of teaching.
In Luke 6:20, 24, then, Jesus must be teaching that the kingdom of God belongs to those who
are materially poor, and that those who are materially rich have received their
comfort already. This must mean, among
other things, that materially poor people are favoured by God, while materially
wealthy people are displeasing to Him.
Of course, this mustn’t be taken literally to mean that every poor
person is pleasing to God and every rich person is displeasing to Him. In the Semitic culture of Jesus’ day it was
common to make a statement that allowed for many unexpressed exceptions to it. And we should certainly understand there to be
many exceptions to what Jesus says in this passage. Nevertheless, His words here make it clear
that we should commonly expect to find devout Christian people experiencing
material poverty.
Luke 9
In Luke 9:57-58 we read about a dialogue between Jesus and a
would-be follower:
‘57 As they were going
along the road, someone said to Him: “I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 And Jesus said to
him: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has
nowhere to lay His head.”’
In His reply Jesus is clearly implying that if the man really does
follow Him wherever He goes, this may well involve material poverty.
It is true that this episode refers to the time of Jesus’ earthly
ministry. Nevertheless, there is no good
reason for thinking that what He teaches here doesn’t apply to the whole
Christian era too. If that were not the
case, it is difficult to think of a reason why God decided to make these words
part of the Bible.
This is another passage, then, which points against the idea that it
is always God’s will for a Christian to avoid financial poverty.
2 Corinthians 6
In 2 Corinthians 6:10 the apostle Paul refers
to himself in this way:
‘. . . as poor but making many rich . . .’
Here Paul uses a play on words to contrast his material poverty
with the spiritual wealth that he is able to channel to those he evangelises.
It is true that as an apostle Paul is not a run-of-the-mill
example of what to expect in every area of the Christian life. Nevertheless, devout followers of Jesus can
expect much of what Paul experienced. And
there is no good reason for thinking that this doesn’t, at least for many
Christians, include his experience of poverty.
2 Corinthians 8
In 2 Corinthians 8:1-2 Paul writes:
‘1 Now, brothers, we
want you to know about the grace of God that has been given to the churches of Macedonia, 2 that in a great ordeal of suffering . . . their deep poverty
overflowed in the wealth of their generosity.’
In this passage Paul strongly commends the Macedonian churches for
their financial generosity despite the fact that they were very poor. There is not the slightest hint in the
context that their poverty is down to any failing on their part.
Philippians 4
In Philippians 4:12 Paul states:
‘I know how to get by with humble means, and I also know how to
have plenty. In each and every
circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, of
having a surplus and being in need.’
Paul clearly refers here to times of material poverty that he has
experienced. And, again, it makes sense
to think that non-apostles can also often expect the same.
James 1
In James 1:9-10 James writes:
‘9 . . . the brother in
humble circumstances is to glory in his high position. 10
And the rich man is to glory in his humbling . . .’
Because ‘humble circumstances’ here is contrasted with ‘rich’,
these humble circumstances must involve being humble financially, i.e., poor.
Furthermore, the ‘high position’ James refers to can only be a
high spiritual position. He is saying
that Christians who are materially poor should rejoice in the benefits they
have in Christ.
It is not possible to reconcile these words with the idea that devout
Christians should always expect to avoid poverty.
James 2
In James 2:5 James asks his readers:
‘Listen, my beloved brothers, did God not choose those who are
poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom . . .
?’
It would be taking these words too literally to understand them to
mean that only financially poor people can be heirs of the kingdom. Nevertheless, this verse teaches that we
should expect material poverty and richness in faith often to go together.
Importantly too, there is no suggestion in the verse that the people
in view are poor only to begin with but become financially prosperous once they
have become Christians. The material
poverty and spiritual wealth occur simultaneously. These believers may be looked down on as poor,
but in actual fact they are wealthy in what is important.
Revelation 2
In the letter to the church at Smyrna in Revelation 2:9 the
risen Jesus tells the Christians there:
‘I know your suffering and poverty, but you are rich . . .’
This means that Jesus knows about and sympathises with their material poverty but reminds them that spiritually they are rich.
There is no suggestion that these Christians are in any way at
fault for their poverty. Importantly too,
in the entire letter to this church (Revelation 2:8-11) the Lord gives no direct
or even implied criticism of it, which strongly implies that the church was
very pleasing to Him.
Once again, then, we see that devout Christians should not always
expect to avoid material poverty.
Summing up
The combined weight of the above passages should make it crystal
clear that Christians doing the will of God can often be materially poor.
There are also many more biblical passages which point, more or
less strongly, in the same direction. These
include 1 Samuel 2:8; Psalm 109:31; 140:12; Proverbs 19:1; 28:11; Ecclesiastes
9:15-16; Isaiah 29:19; Matthew 8:19-20; 19:23-26; Mark 10:23-27; Luke 18:24-27;
Acts 2:44-45; 4:34-35; 11:29-30; Romans 15:25-28; 1 Corinthians 16:1-3; 2
Corinthians 8:12-15; 9:12; Galatians 2:10.
PASSAGES THAT MIGHT
SEEM TO CONTRADICT THIS CONCLUSION
Although there is such a weight of biblical evidence that devout
Christians should not always expect to avoid material poverty, it is true that
there are a few passages which might at first sight seem to contradict this. Let’s turn now to look at the most important
of these.
Mark 10
In Mark 10:29-30 (and similarly in Matthew 19:28-29 and Luke 18:29-30) Jesus promises:
‘29 . . . Truly I tell
you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father
or children or land for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 who will not receive a hundred times as much in the present time
– houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and land, with
persecutions . . .’
There are some who point to the reference in this passage to being
given houses and land, and claim that Jesus is promising material wealth to
those who give up things for His sake.
It is true that Jesus is promising blessing before death to those
who give up things for His sake. However,
we need to beware of taking these words too literally. Clearly, the promise of receiving many
mothers or children cannot be taken literally.
It seems best to take the whole passage as colourful language that
is essentially saying that those who have given up things for the Jesus’ sake
will be amply rewarded in some way here on earth. But the text doesn’t make it clear exactly
how the reward will come. It certainly
doesn’t promise that Christians doing the will of God should expect never to experience
poverty.
2 Corinthians 8
In 2 Corinthians 8:9 Paul writes:
‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He
was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that through His poverty you might
become rich.’
There are some who claim that in this verse Paul is saying that
God wants Christians to become materially rich.
In actual fact, however, Paul is making a play on words here. What he means is that it was through Christ’s
material poverty that Christians are
able to become spiritually rich.
This is actually the second time in this letter that he has made a
play on words involving material poverty and spiritual riches. The first was at 2 Corinthians 6:10, which I
cited above.
1 Timothy 6
In 1 Timothy 6:17 Paul writes:
‘Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be
conceited or to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who
richly provides us with all things to enjoy.’
Some Christians say that this verse shows that God wants every
Christian to avoid material poverty. If
God richly provides us with all things to enjoy, it is argued, then it must be
His will for none of us to be poor.
This argument is much too simplistic. It is true that God delights to give His
children good things to enjoy, and it is common for Him to provide Christians
with material blessings. However,
crucially, this is only part of the whole picture. Above all, He wants us to commit our lives to
following Christ. And this will often
cost us. Christians have to endure
hardship in various ways, but for many it will involve experiencing material
poverty.
3 John
Another verse we need to consider is 3 John 2, where ‘the elder’ (v.
1) addresses Gaius, his reader. This
verse is often translated something along the lines of:
‘Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good
health, just as your soul prospers.’
It is sometimes argued that the Bible would not present the elder
praying in this way for Gaius, if it had not been God’s will for Gaius
literally to prosper in every way including financially. And it is argued further that, since the
Bible is written for our instruction, it must be God’s will for every Christian
to prosper financially.
This argument is misguided.
First, there is a point of translation to consider:
In the above translation the Greek word underlying ‘pray’ is the
verb euchomai. In this verse, however, this
word probably doesn’t actually mean ‘pray’.
It is true that it often had this meaning in the Greek of the first
century. However, in letters it was also
frequently used simply to express the writer’s wish for the well-being of the
addressee, and it is more natural to understand it in this sense in 3 John 2.
A better translation of the verse is therefore:
‘Beloved, I hope that you are prospering in every way and are in
good health, just as your soul prospers.’
It seems likely, then, that the elder is simply saying that he
hopes Gaius is prospering in every way. And
if he is just expressing a hope for this rather than praying for it, we can
easily imagine that he might have been unsure whether it was God’s will for
Gaius literally to prosper in every way.
Second, we must take care not to read too much out of this short
sentence:
All the elder actually seems to be saying is that all other things
being equal, as far as is possible, to the extent that it is in line with God’s
will, he hopes that Gaius is prospering in every way. There seems to be no good reason to think he
means anything more than this.
Furthermore, even if, improbably, euchomai in this verse does mean
pray, and the elder is telling Gaius that he is praying that he prospers in every way, we still mustn’t read too
much out of the words. We can easily
understand him simply to be praying that Gaius prospers in every way as far as
that is possible in the will of God.
Regardless of how we translate euchomai, there is therefore no
need to think that the elder would have thought that something was wrong if
Gaius was not prospering literally in every way. He is just expressing his love for Gaius by
saying that he hopes (or prays) that as far as possible Gaius is doing well.
I think this verse does suggest that it is not unusual for
Christians to experience material prosperity.
But we shouldn’t take it to mean that every Christian who is doing God’s
will can expect to avoid material poverty.
2 Corinthians 9
In 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 Paul tells the church in Corinth:
‘6 . . . he who sows
sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows generously will also reap
generously. . . . 8
And God is able to make all grace abound towards you, so that in all things at
all times, you will have all you need to abound in every good deed, 9 as it is written:
“He scattered, he gave to the poor, his uprightness remains
forever.”
10 Now He who supplies
seed to the sower and bread to eat will supply and multiply your seed for
sowing and will increase the harvest of your uprightness. 11
You will be enriched in everything for all generosity . . .’
Those who say that Christians should expect to avoid poverty see
this as a key passage supporting their view.
I have left this passage to last, because it is more difficult to
deal with than the above passages. I do
admit that what Paul says in these verses is in real tension with the passages
I listed in the first half of this article.
He does seem to be saying that if a Christian is generous in financial
giving, then God will give back financially to them.
However, there are a few points that need to be made:
First, the emphasis throughout this passage is on giving. The idea seems to be that if the Corinthians
are generous, God will be generous to them, so that they can be generous again,
and so on. It is not implied that they
will live in luxury.
Second, the Bible often allows for unexpressed exceptions to a
principle. And Paul is not clear here
that God will absolutely always give financially to those who are financially
generous. That said, I do concede that
Paul’s words suggest that God would at least usually do this.
Third, and most importantly, we must be careful not to base too
much on individual passages of Scripture.
When we read the Bible, it is repeated themes that we should be
especially on the lookout for. And when
we consider any topic, we need to take account of all the relevant passages. So,
in view of the great weight of biblical evidence that it is not always God’s
will for Christians to avoid poverty, it is simply not reasonable to conclude
on the basis of 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 alone that this is His will. That would be
to deny the existence of a major biblical theme.
Summing up
Overall, then, there is little scriptural evidence that we should
expect every devout Christian to avoid poverty.
CONCLUSION
When all the biblical passages we have looked at are taken into
account, we can confidently say that it is not God’s will for every Christian
to avoid material poverty. Those who say
that this is His will are quite
simply contradicting the Bible.
Nevertheless, Scripture certainly doesn’t teach that every Christian
should experience poverty or that Christians can never be financially wealthy
in the will of God. And most of us who
have been believers for any length of time and have been open to receiving from
Him by faith will have some experience of receiving material things from His
hand, even luxury things at times.
I want to make it clear too that it is not my intention to
discourage Christians who find themselves in poverty from looking to God to
lift them out of it. I am sure that it
will often be His will to do this.
My aim in this article has simply been to try to expose the false
teaching which says that Christians who are pleasing to God and are claiming by
faith what He wants to give them should always avoid poverty. This idea clearly contradicts the Bible.
See also:
