Poverty, Part 4
For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish… Mark 14:7
Last week I focused on the relative nature of poverty. For the most part, being poor or living in poverty are not well-defined states of existence but are assumed in relation to or compared with someone or something else. We may more accurately describe someone as poor-er than someone else,which is not meant to trivialize the serious suffering that poverty can bring. Regardless, poverty is the lack of something. The most familiar form of poverty is the lack of enough money to meet a real or perceived need. Not everyone who lives in poverty, however, lacks money. There are other types of poverty, many of which result in suffering: poverty of spirit, moral poverty, emotional poverty, poor physical or mental health, lack of self-control, and lack of companionship to name a few. While many believe money will solve their particular type of poverty, beyond a certain minimal level of income, additional money is more likely to exacerbate the problem than to solve it because lack of money is not the cause of their poverty.
One of many things Jesus said that is often taken out of context is “…you always have the poor with you.” His words are sometimes used as justification for doing little or nothing for the poor – Jesus says the poor will always be with us, as if nothing we do can change that reality. Most people who take the ministry of Jesus seriously, however, would not assume him to imply anything of the sort. He may simply have given a nod to the relative nature of poverty, meaning there will always be people poor-er than us who lack something we can offer. Indeed, he focused his ministry on caring for and teaching those who lacked something of importance. It was never, however, a lack of money he addressed. Rather, his attention focused on the underlying condition of their poverty. True, he sometimes ordered hungry people to be fed and naked people to be clothed. Those types of mercy responses were important to him, as they should be for us. Mercy responses, however, do not address the foundational cause of the on-going need for mercy. Jesus recognized that suffering often originates from something deeper than the outward symptoms: lack of sight (especially insight), limited knowledge or understanding, questions about self-worth, poor physical and/or mental health, and a myriad of other afflictions that prevented full participation in the routine life-activities of the community. As such, they were ostracized, multiplying the already-devastating impact of their poverty. He saw, as others could not, that people need to be taught, encouraged, accepted, healed, and allowed back into the flow of life with others. The suffering Jesus addressed had little to do with money, but everything to do with poverty.
Recognizing the relative nature of poverty helps us understand that everyone lacks something, meaning every individual is poorer than certain others in one way or another. And if what they lack causes suffering, there is poverty, regardless of whether their lack is real or imagined. Jesus did not limit his ministry to any specific socio-economic or ethnic class of people. He extended his healing attention to Gentiles (non-Jews), the rich, the well-educated, and even to the Romans because he recognized that when poverty causes suffering, it requires attention regardless of a person’s background. All that was required from the sufferer was self-recognition of their need and a belief that Jesus could help. In his eyes, the poverty of a poor widow or a leper was no more or less impactful than that of a Roman centurion or a tax collector.
Author and Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, Amy-Jill Levine, commenting on the larger context of Jesus’ words in Mark 14:3-9 about the poor being always with us, including its Old Testament allusion to Deuteronomy 15:11, writes, “The point is not that we should ignore the poor, or that we should despair because we can do nothing about solving the problem of poverty. The point is that we always have the opportunity to provide for others.”[1]
Suffering, whether ours or that of others, is a goad to change. It tells us that the status quo is not good enough, and we need to adjust accordingly. Remember, Jesus’ first command was to repent, meaning to change. And the change must be ours because we cannot change others. Whenever and however we come face-to-face with suffering we should ask, “What can I change to improve this situation?” Sometimes the situation calls for us to give, other times to receive, but the presence of poverty always invites us to change. We cannot transform our inner or outer world without it.
This is the 12th in a series about The New-Old Social Pandemic. The opinions expressed here are mine. To engage with me or to explore contemplative spiritual direction, contact me at ghildenbrand@sunflower.com.
[1] Amy-Jill Levine, Entering the Passion of Jesus, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2018, p. 101.
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