"Sin of Poverty"

One day several years ago I was recovering from an intense workout at rehab after total knee replacement by sitting in the car in the Demopolis, Alabama Wal Mart parking lot.  I told my chauffeur that I would wait while she went in for a few things.  Now all you know that if you go to town, Wal Mart calls you to it like a bug zapper attracts insects.

The parking lot had more cars than normal.  My friend reminded me that it was the fifteenth of month, government checks.  She ought to know, she delivered them for a quarter century with the United States Post Office.

All that I saw intrigued me.  I am a people watcher and I observed people getting out their vehicle and sashaying into the land of bargains.  Folks were in raggedy old trucks, red mud covered Tahoes, nasty rice burners (Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans), BMW’s, and Mercedes.  There were big people, extra-large folks, short people, and tiny folks all coming and going.

I watched a customer gather buggies and return them to the proper place. Other folks, removing junk from their buggies, left them in empty parking spaces, where arriving customers would have to move them to park.  Some folks just have a knack for sorriness

I had the windows and moon roof open enjoying the smell of spring, only to have it ruined with the nasty smell of a cigarette.  I watched as the lady puffed and blew that blue nicotine toxic cloud my way.  She, along with all the other smokers deposited their nasty cigarette butts on the pavement at the Wal Mart entrance.  People can be so inconsiderate.

We experienced the same inconsideration at the monthly distribution of food for low-income folks at the Bethel Baptist Building Annex each month.  Pam, the Associational secretary and I had to make and post signs reminding the folks that it is a no smoking area.  One day I told a man it was no smoking.  He said he did not know it was no smoking.  I asked if he smoked at his church.  He said no.  I asked could he smoke on school property.  He said no.  I reminded him that he was on church owned property and parked his car on school property.  NO SMOKING.

What amazes me is the fact that people receiving this low-income food have money to waste on junk.  My experience living below the poverty level, according to the IRS, for four years while attending the University of Montevallo, my wife, the kids, and I lived on bare essentials.  There were no vacations, no ball games tickets, no new clothes, just what we needed. 

I am reminded of a devotional about the “sin of poverty.”  It is the dialogue between Jesus and the rich young ruler.  Jesus told him to sell all he had and to give the money to the poor.  He lacked faith.  Most of us are aware of the sin of riches, but what about poverty?

Poverty also can block faith.  People use being poor as an excuse.  Most of us find it difficult to give food to a person with a cigarette dangling from their mouth, the smell of liquor on their breath, marijuana in their pocket, a designer purse on the shoulder, and sporting a new Mercedes.

I decided to do a word study on poor.  The Bible is full of references to the poor.  Jesus said that the poor would always be around and to help them, Deuteronomy 15:7-8.  The tricky part is how to help.

What I learned was that being poor is about attitude.  Heck, some the richest people in Marengo County are poor when compared to Donald Trump.  I know growing up we did not think of our family being poor, is just those folks in Jemison were rich because they had a lot of new stuff.

If we are not careful, we can foster an attitude in the poor of expecting handouts.  I remember in economics class at the University of Montevallo the Chinese proverb:  Give a man fish you feed him today, teach a man how to fish and feed him tomorrow.

I also remember the University had a partnership with Guatemala.  During one of the exchanges, a delegation from Guatemala wanted to see the poor of Montevallo.  They took them to a rundown area.  The Guatemalans said, “No, show us you are poor.”  They were carried to a place where there were a few shanties.  Once again, “No, show us you’re poor.”  Finally, they showed them a rundown old shack.  They were amazed and said, “Everyone here is so rich.”

What about the sin of poverty?  I have concluded that people are poor by birth, by choice, and by uncontrollable forces.  Think about it.  One cannot control what family they were born, what conditions they face, and what calamities that will come. 

My late friend Jim Baker said that he went from being wealthy to pauper overnight in the soybean business when President Jimmy Carter imposed the grain embargo on Russia in the late 1970’s.

The sin of poverty must be a choice (Proverbs 10:4, 21:17).  The rich young ruler had to decide to stay rich, or trust God.  The flipside is the poor, to stay poor or trust God (Psalms 69:33; Proverbs 13:7, 19:1; Matthew 5:3; and James 2:5).

Two things stand out in God’s Word about the poor.  God has always been on the side of the poor, not just any poor, but those who were poor with material things, but rich in faith.  The church’s duty is defend the poor and preach the Good News/Gospel to them.

 

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble (Psalm 41:1 KJV).

 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor (Luke 4:18a KJV).

 

Lest I forget Calvary, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (II Corinthians 8:9 KJV).

Attitude Adjustments and Cultural Change

 

Spending time with my cousins was almost like living in a utopia because I thought that life would always be about family closeness.  There were sixteen boys and six girls in our Chapman extended family.  We were more like brothers and sisters than we were cousins.  We went to church together, played together, and ate together.  One of my favorite pictures is one where I am about five years old and we are together to eat at Grandmoe Chapman’s table.  We thought those days would never end.   

Years later I realized that I was the only grandchild of Joe and Ethel Chapman that built and lived on family land.  Methodically, we ventured into the world.  College, vocations, and marriage separated us.  Precious are the moments we spent together, but there were quandaries.

It never failed that when I spent time with certain cousins that momma and daddy would have to give me an attitude adjustment.  The adjustment started with a verbal warning in the form of a question.  “Am I going to have to whup, slang for whip, the ‘cousin’s full name’ out of you?”  It never failed.  It was guaranteed that I would get a whuppin’ after spending time with certain cousins.  I didn’t realize the negative influence my certain cousins had.  There were some, older ones, that always had good advice, but the younger would get you in trouble.

After an adjustment or two or three or four, heck a bunch of them, I decided I needed to be selective with my cousins’ advice.  The adjustments helped me with life and the art of listening to folks.

People ask me about my decision-making.  I must process information, usually sleeping before making a decision.  I try to research all the information. Good information leads to good decisions.  I must not allow peer pressure to form or sway my decisions.

Peer pressure has been around for a long time and it changes with age.  I believe that the older I get, the more peer pressure pushes my way.  It is hard to go against the flow.  Going against the flow, means standing alone.

As a teenager, when I played football there were those that tried to get me to drink beer.  I chose not to drink.  I remember in state playoff one of our best backs fumbled a kickoff.  He told us that he saw two footballs and he caught the wrong one.  He later was murdered for gambling debts.  Other teammates and classmates are now alcoholics.  Some have failed marriages, lost jobs, and have nothing to show except a life of regrets.

I remember working at Hiwassee Land Company in high school.  The older boys, in their early twenties, pressured me to date, to take girls parking, and to whisper “sweet nothings” in their ears.  I never will forget their reactions when they quizzed me the following week.  They asked me what I whispered into their ears.  I said “sweet nothing.”

In class, there was the pressure to cheat for those that were either lazy or dumb.  They assured me that it would not hurt anything.  Looking back, I hurt them more than I helped them.

In the work place, there was the pressure to buck authority or not to work.  I received ridicule when I would work hard, while fellow employees goofed off.  They said they made just as much as I did.  I reminded them that I could face the paymaster and they needed to walk up backwards to receive their payday.

I have listened to the wrong advice through the years and the consequences are not good. Even as a pastor, there is tremendous peer pressure from within and without the church when the church is struggling.  I am reminded of my call into the ministry almost forty years ago.  During the 1980’s, people questioned the church’s relevancy.  Entertainment, gimmicks, and programs replaced preaching the Word of God. I think were are reaping those seeds today.  Back then, God made it very plain that His Word was not being preached and that I was to preach the truth.

His call is more emphatic today.  There is a shift in conventional wisdom.  It seems that the younger generation has all the answers and wants the old white-haired preachers and leadership to get out of the way.  They are even belligerent and hostile in conversation with older church members and preachers.

Good decision-making means listening to the right people.  Too many believers are listening to the enemy.  The enemy has the ear of the world and it is becoming clearer with each passing day.  Right is wrong and wrong is right if you listen to some folks.

 

President Woodrow Wilson said, “The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.”  Good leaders encourage followers to tell them what they need to know, not what they want to hear.

 

And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men, and answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.  So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of God, that the Lord might perform his word (2 Chronicles 10: 13-15 KJV).

 

According to John Maxwell, Rehoboam refused to listen to history, his followers, the wise counsel of his staff, and to God.

Rehoboam heard, but did not listen and failed to connect and learn.  Rehoboam failed to listen to the right people.  I wonder if when he was a kid if his mom, Naamah, or dad, Solomon, every whupped the ‘Jewish cousin’ out of him?