A rich man’s wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin.

Proverbs 10:15 (ESV)

The Englishman Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was the preeminent literary figure of his day, famous especially for the groundbreaking Dictionary of the English Language (1755). One of his lesser known works is The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abyssinia (1759). The short novel begins with Rasselas in Happy Valley, a land that offers the young prince everything except, ironically, happiness. This leads him to leave in search of an answer to the question, “What is the perfectly happy life?” He meets the rich, powerful, and beautiful—but happiness eludes them. Perhaps it is because those with the least enjoy life the most. Rasselas concludes, however, that poverty is not the answer. After all, the poor are just as likely as the rich to covet wealth!1 It may be tempting to romanticize poverty, as if deprivation is next to godliness. It is not. Just as there are dangers to possessing much, the downfall of some—according to Scripture—is possessing little.

Poverty and wealth is a recurring theme in the book of Proverbs. Overall, the amount of one’s possessions is adiaphora, a thing indifferent. In some passages, the danger of wealth is emphasized: “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath” (11:4a). Exactly right, one cannot purchase eternal security. However, in 10:15, wealth is presented as a blessing and poverty as a curse. Elsewhere in 16:19, poverty is linked with righteousness: “It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.” When is wealth a blessing, poverty a curse?

For the wealthy (which includes most of the Western world) possessions bring security. And this is good! A house to keep the rain off one’s head is a benefit not to be despised. A modest savings account can be a source of comfort in rocky economic times. Of course neither the house nor the savings replace the Lord who, as King David sang, “is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. . .” (2 Sam. 22:2). Obviously, this proverb does not teach the believer to trust in goods instead of God, for once this happens, the “strong city” is nothing more than a house of sand. Instead, wealth is a “strong city” when believers use it to modestly care for themselves and, in Christian generosity, for others.

Poverty, on the other hand, is man’s ruin when it breeds pride, bitterness, anger, and despair. For example, the poor man may have a haughty spirit if he has convinced himself that he deserves more. He may harbor resentment against the rich for having so much. He may blame God if he cannot provide for himself and his family. Poverty may leave him irrepressibly sad, especially if he is convinced that the best of life is passing him by. No wonder Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3a). A poor or humble spirit is always a blessing—physical poverty is dangerous. This is what Clement of Alexandria argued centuries ago: “[O]ne, after ridding himself of the burden of wealth, may none the less have still the lust and desire for money innate and living. . .”2

The Church needs men and women willing to live humbly and modestly. It is not enough to say that God is sufficient—this truth has to be experienced by His people. Frankly, most of the West is not flirting with asceticism. Nonetheless, to remain biblical, any call to simple living ought to heed the proverbial warning that poverty can be perilous.

Rasselas searched near and far but never found happiness. That was Johnson’s point: true happiness is not stockpiled in mansions or shacks. The amount of wealth, finally, just is not the point. A poor man—whose first love is the treasure he does not have— is as lost as the rich man married to his purse.

Footnotes:
1
Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abyssinia, ed. Warren Fleischauer (Great Neck, NY: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. 1962), 99.

2
Clement of Alexandria, “Who Is the Rich Man that Shall be Saved?” in Fathers of the Second Century, eds., Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1908), 594.
article adapted from Kairos Journal

First Baptist Church of Perryville is located at 4800 W. Pulaski Hwy., Perryville, MD