Christian poverty and the things of this world

WHILE it’s true that Christ told the rich young man, and us, to “sell everything and give to the poor…and come, follow me,” (Mk 10,21), we need to understand that the Christian spirit of poverty and detachment does not prevent us from having the things of this world, like money.

But, yes, we need to be careful that our having the things of this world does not undermine our love for God. If ever, the things of this world should be pursued and used for the sole purpose of loving God and everybody else. We are not angels. We are not pure spirits. We need things to live and survive, and to give glory to God and to help everybody else.

Many times, we are given the impression that money and the Christian spirit of poverty are incompatible. To a certain extent, there is some truth to that view.

Even St. Paul went to the extent of saying that, “the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Tim 6,10) We do not have to look far to verify the undeniable truth of these words.

But we need to remind ourselves also that money in itself is not an inherent evil. It is when we fall into an improper attachment to it that it becomes an evil or, better said, a tool for evil. But in itself, if handled properly, it can in fact be a tool for doing a lot of good and of glorifying God.

We just have to make sure that our attitude toward money is inspired by our love for God and for others, and the way we deal with it faithfully reflects the will of God which definitely is for our own salvation and the salvation of everyone.

Only then can we apply the use of money in accordance to Christ’s words: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt 6,21) Only then can we say that money will show how much we love God, rather than how depraved we have fallen.

But, yes, we always need to check ourselves to see if we are truly detached from the things of this world so as to give our whole selves to God and to others. In this, we cannot afford to be casual. The worldly things are now so attractive, so tempting and so riveting that if we are not careful, there’s no way but be swept away by its rampaging worldly laws and impulses.

In fact, at one time, Christ compares the great difficulty involved in resisting the allure of worldly things in a very graphic way: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Mk 10,25)

Christian poverty has the primary purpose of emptying our mind and heart of anything that can compete or, worse, replace the love for God and for others which is proper to all of us.

It’s not about running away from worldly things, much less, of hating the goods of the earth and our temporal affairs, but of knowing how to handle them, so as not to compromise the fundamental law of love that should rule us. And that is for us to be God’s image and likeness and as God’s children, as shown to us by Christ.