The Rich/Poor Problem
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 22:2
The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the Marker of them all.
Both the wealthy and poor man have to contend with their particular temptations. This is why later in Proverbs we find Agur praying, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”
While Agur was acknowledging how poverty and wealth might draw one into sins against God, this proverb deals with the sins the poor and wealthy commit against each other. The wealthy are tempted to look down on, despise, and abuse the poor. The poor are tempted to envy and hate the rich.
In doing so, both fail to see and understand their interdependence on each other. They both need each other in the course of life. More importantly, they fail to see that we are all made by God. Not only are we made in the sense that we are all created beings, but we are made in God’s sovereign purposes in whatever station in life we find ourselves at any given time.
Seeing ourselves and others as created beings, and in that sense brothers and sisters, in this world changes how we think and therefore treat each other. We begin to be able to battle against the enemies of our soul, the temptations that would make us bitter against one another.
You can rightly say of every person you meet today, whether rich or poor, “That person was made by the same God that made me.” Therefore, we can and should treat every person with dignity and respect no matter their station in life.
