Fight Wealth Not Poverty

I agree with many points in your article. Having said that, you very dangerously misquote and misinterpret Matt 5:3, the centerpiece of your argument. Literally, Scriptures says "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This passage is in no way speaking about financial poverty, but spiritual poverty. Those who understand they are sinners and cannot enter into heaven on their own merit are "poor in spirit". It is they who possess "the kingdom of heaven" (by God's grace through faith in Christ and not of themselves, that no one can boast! Eph 2:8-9). Again, you make many good points here, but misrepresenting Scripture should never be a means to an end...

I have worked in the grants world over the years and what's interesting is that in years of economics classes, from traditional to social justice oriented ones, grants are never mentioned as a stream in the economy. You can't find a book or article on their role in the economy. Yet, they're running the tiny bottleneck through which the wealthy control the fate of nonprofits and the pressing human needs they serve. They are decision-makers over nonprofits (from diaper banks to shelters) stay afloat or can provide full services. Is your shelter open 6 days a week or 7? There are formal grants processe but much of the work relies on private relationships and the abilty to ifluence those at the table - tax benefits are provided to grant makers, and other simliar nonprofit supports available through philanthropy. It's a primary social engine for the wealthy. Still very little studied at an above-ground leevl because people who work at nonprofits are stlll ... in the trenches. It's grants that can provide, for example, a quick response to food bank needs during a pandemic (federal grants are typically much more delayed). Who is polished and can most easily access the funds provided by grants? You guessed it ... those who look like the philanthropists themselves. There's just now starting to be some change in the industry, but it's stunning how unacknowledged this issue is outside it.

Thank you for this thoughtful article. It was challenging to read and meditate on. I work in a similar context in Southeast Asia, and am constantly wrestling with these kinds of questions. I wonder if there is a middle ground somewhere we could agree on. I think of the prayer in Proverbs 30:8“Lord, give me neither riches nor poverty…” Excessive wealth and excessive poverty are both harmful and dehumanizing in different ways. We should remember are speaking of a moral ideal, which is something we cannot and should not try to compel others to observe (as communism has often tried to do with terrifying results) but something we can model ourselves and try to persuade others of. As for top-down service, I think it is the wrong distinction. We all have things we can share with others---from the “top”---that is for a position of greater experience or knowledge. We are equal in value, but not in knowledge or experience. As far as I can see, it isn’t wrong to occasionally offer help from the top down, so long as we remember that the poor also have much to teach us (sometimes they are on “top”). After all, Jesus taught that to whom much is given, much is demanded. John the Baptist said anyone who had two tunics should share with anyone who has none. It is natural and right that those with more should give to those with less in terms of resources. There are distinctions, based on ability and resources. We just need to everyone has something to contribute. Teachers for example, have many valuable things to give their students. This doesn’t mean they don’t also learn from the students, but nor does it mean they learn “equally” from each other. It can be an arrogant assumption on our part to think money is what the poor need most. But it can also be an arrogant assumption to dictate to the poor what they ought to want or value. The world is sick in many ways because of greed and selfishness, but it is also sick because of poverty. Domestic abuse, malnutrition, child abuse, child exploitation are all higher among the very poor. Let us be careful not to romanticize extreme poverty. It is brutal and dehumanizing. In my experience, the only people who criticize wealth are the wealthy. If we say capitalism has led to suffering, I assume we mean it has led to jobs that seem disagreeable to us. If children are mining elements for cell phones and women are sewing clothes, what would they be doing without those jobs? Would they be better off or worse off? Maybe we can’t know, but they should be allowed to choose. If they choose those jobs over their previous poverty, aren’t we playing God to say they would be better off without those jobs? We can agree we want better conditions and pay for those people perhaps, but to blame the source of the jobs as wrong in itself seems a bit short sighted. I am troubled by the consumerism in myself and others around me, but capitalism and free markets have done more to lift people out of poverty than any other system or earth. I agree with you about extreme wealth. What is the point of amassing so much? Billionaires make easy targets. But most of them do not have huge piles of money in secret rooms. That money is invested in the economy, in companies allowing them to hire more people, to create new jobs, creating new and greater wealth. Maybe this is the real issue: Do we believe that the planet can support a “middle class lifestyle” for all the people who live on it? I don’t know. But I am not sure we have a right to deprive or discourage the poor the opportunity to pursue such a life for themselves. I like your comments about the human condition. Mother Teresa called all such inner emptiness and loneliness poverty too, even among wealthy people. But I want to be careful I don’t minimize the suffering of the physically poor, by saying we are “all poor.” My loneliness as a part of an individualistic culture is very different from the starvation faced by a child in India. Having some wealth has a tremendous impact on quality of life. I don’t believe we need much, but we do need some. It can be easy to romanticize poverty, but there are very real evils that come with it, as I am sure you are aware from your own experience. Where I live there is a museum run by the government documenting how transformative the schools, hospitals, and western medicine were that were brought by missionaries many years ago. Capacities and resources have a place, and can have a very real positive effect for millions of people. We don’t need to deny that, but we do need to have humble hearts to know how to use them well. Jesus did not command us to fight wealth, but he did warn the rich strongly, and He called all of us to sell our possessions, give to the poor, and come follow Him. It is tempting to simplify things with an ideology like fight poverty or fight wealth, but His command seems both higher and harder. It requires a daily questioning and wrestling: How do I use the “talents” he has given me well for His Kingdom? What does he want me to do today? Am I keeping too much? Seeking too much? Giving too little? Thank you again for sharing this. It made me think, and this are just some of my thoughts to add to the discussion. Thank you for your years of service to the “least of these.”

I agree the author and the two commenters. There are several threads in my life since 2017 that have led me to similar conclusions. Commercial lending as a banker watching the system increasing wealth for those who have large enough incomes to afford single family houses to buy and rent out - while the gaps in affordable housing gap in our community just grow. Read Redeeming Capitalism by Ken Barnes and learned that the board of a giant family business asked themselves "When is enough, enough?" and revamped their supply chain to push more of the profits down to the cacao farmers - not just in pay but in schools, water, infrastructure in their villages. Have supported missionaries and microbusinesses to help them support their families while out in the bush discipling and evangelizing. Have been reading Plough for about 5 years. At age 70 went on my first mission trip in February 2024 to Niger, Africa to lend a hand and see the "fields" first hand. It was eye-opening to read this article saying that the poor and rich have the same distorted view of what we need and seeing it outside of our Heavenly Father. But it rings true. As a former banker, now consultant, I will most likely have access to some of the wealthy. This article arms me, but I'm not sure what to do next. How may I stay in touch with the 3 of you? (

I disagree. It’s a free market and to say the wealthy are the problem has historically proven very, very dangerous.

Loved this article !!

Claudio, what you’ve written deeply resonates with me as, years ago, I served as a missionary in an economically poor country. I’ve reached similar conclusions about the importance of recognizing my own inner poverty & my own greed, though my path to those conclusions differed from yours: Many of the local people in my midst were devout believers & they daily modeled for me rightly-ordered priorities & trusting in God’s provision. Being there, among them, God revealed to me my own sense of entitlement & my self-reliance. Thank you for reminding me of these truths in your bravely- & vulnerably-written piece.

I could not disagree more with this article. Poverty is not encouraged in the Bible. The Kingdom is now available to the poor, but being so is no virtue. What the poor need are more opportunities to be productive members of the economy thru job creation and small business creation. Decreasing political corruption and monopoly power is what Brazil needs. A strong middle class is a better goal, achieved through incentives to increase investment in the means of production. Taking from the rich will do nothing....

I have believed for a very long time that wealth is an addiction, like opiates and the like. The wealth do not need another tax cut, they need a 12 step program. Cordially, John Wilson, Jr.

I have long wanted to invite the "extreme wealthy" into a better conversation--one of justice, and generosity, and yes, joy. But I personally don't know any "extreme wealthy." Where can I find the door that can open to better conversations with those who seem fortressed against anything that might erode their many forms of security? At age 74, this is the one desire that grows stronger in me by the week.

A catholic worker friend, did not like the slogan "make poverty history". He said a much better slogan would be "Make wealth history!" I agree.