Poverty and Riches

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”  

(Luke 6:20, 24)

Even an old deflated football is better than none

Daily, we are confronted with people who are poor. This is a confrontation which is not always comfortable as it seems to point to us as being people who are rich and it also challenges us as to what our obligation/response should be to the needs of the poor. How much do/should we share? Is what we share enough? Can we ignore those who are in need because they are just too many to deal with?

Sharing maize with our poor neighbours

Abukari wrote a thesis for his MA in Theology on the topic, ‘In what ways can the Lukan Jesus’ response to the poor address the poor in Dagbon, Ghana?’ As part of his research he interviewed a number of poor people in the area. We would like to share with you some of the statements those interviewed made about poverty. We hope that these statements will help you to understand a little about what it means to be poor, even though most of us will never fully understand what it means to be poor. As one man described it: ‘Poverty is like heat; you cannot see it; you can only feel it; so to know poverty you have to go through it.’ 

Others explained:  

• ‘A person who is poor is dependent on others, always suffering, all that he does, does not prosper, he is always sick and lamenting. Households with a bad quality of life are always in crisis, and there is no happiness. The response of such a household to the crisis is that they have to consult spirits or gods to see why they are in such a state and to chase the evil spirits away.’ 

• 'A poor person has a lot of “ifs” in his life because to the poor person nothing is certain unless it is in his hands. A poor person cannot plan because the person lives at the mercy of circumstances and is very vulnerable.’ 

• ‘Poverty means exclusion – poverty is very powerful. Even if the rich man tells lies, it is sometimes taken as truth. Money commands respect, dignity and honour because of what money can do. Money negates character, it covers up bad things.’

On the way to the farm

• ‘A person who is poor has to go to his farm every day because everything he needs has to come from the produce of the farm. If he wants to buy something tomorrow, he has to go to the farm today to get some yams and sell them, so that he will get some cash to buy what he needs. But a person who has a good life can stay at home and solve his problems there. The poor person has to labour in the hot sun for all his needs. The person with more wealth does not have to leave his house. I am poor but I am still better off than some others because I have an old bicycle and some few clothes to wear but there are people who even cannot afford those. If I am able to one day change my old bicycle for a new bicycle people will know that I now have a better life. But a person who is poor does not even think of changing his bicycle or buying new clothes because he knows his abilities and capacities, he will not dare to dream that dream.’

Happy with some second hand clothing

• ‘A poor person has no friends, or as a Dagbani proverb says, “The poor man has no lover.” Whatever the poor person wants, he cannot get it. There is no food, no choice when it comes to what to eat or drink and the children are malnourished.’ 

• ‘There are certain roles I would have liked to play but lack of money killed those ideas – it puts the light off. I cannot do what I want to do. Sometimes I feel like being chained because I see opportunities or the way I want to go, but when I take one or two steps I am brought back to my knees.’ 

The goats' project helps to relieve poverty

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus responds to the plight of the poor in different ways. He challenged values inherent to possessions and status. He did not endorse the existing order between the rich and the poor in his time but rather saw the suffering of the poor as a result of injustice in the social order and in need of transformation. What about our social order today? Jesus called people to participate in the new order of the Kingdom of God and so transform injustices in society. We want to challenge you to read this Gospel of Luke and see how Jesus addresses both the rich and the poor. Discover how Jesus reinstates the self-worth and dignity of the poor and gives them new insight into the values of the Kingdom of God. Read how the rich are called to identify with values of God’s Kingdom and to start the process of reversing the material and social situation of the poor in the ‘here and now’. God’s Kingdom in both the lives of the poor and rich should transform the present. Something to think about?!

A few clothes to wear but a lot of fun

People dry their harvest to secure food during the lean season