A few years ago I posted an insight about the poor and the rich. It really wasn’t a well written or particularly well developed insight; just a few notes I had pulled together and felt were worth sharing. It resonated with a lot of people back then, and since even more tend to read my blog now (thanks!) it seemed worthwhile to post it again. So here, in an unedited form, are a few notes I made several years ago:
Richard Foster wrote that the rich live at the gates of hell. I’m not sure which book it was in, but I think it was the one on simplicity. Foster meant that the level of temptation is extremely high for the rich. There is a massive opportunity to strike a blow to the enemy, but there is also a massive risk of succumbing to all the surrounding temptations. I remember reading Foster’s insight about 20-years ago and being struck by it. I’m not super wealthy, but I have enough wealth to understand that my options are many. The temptation of those options can be overwhelming.
The image of living at the gates of hell implies a battleground setting. The battle at this gate is between temptation and obedience. Sometimes temptation wins out, and the rich walk through the gates of hell to live sinfully and excessively. The many options of the rich becomes overwhelming and there is a loss of focus on truth, justice and love. Other times obedience wins out, and the forces of hell retreat into their stronghold. The weapon of the rich, in this image, is obedience.
In the 20-years since reading this, I’ve developed a deeper understanding of the truly poor (those who live on a dollar a day, or who have no idea where their next meal is coming from). I’m not an expert in poverty, but as I’ve spent time with the poor and begun to see the deeper problems that exist, my perspective on Foster’s insight has changed.
I do believe that the rich live at the gates of hell. But there are at least two gates. One is for the rich, as Foster points out, but one is for the poor. They too have unique challenges and frustrations.
The poor do not fight over temptation and obedience as much as the rich do (that battle exists, of course, but it isn’t the primary focus). The poor have a battle between hope and despair. They wage a constant battle to avoid cynicism, anger, frustration, fatigue, and the horror of hopelessness. This is a much bigger battleground than the rich fight at the other gate. And their primary weapon for this battle is hope.
What I have come to learn is that the two armies battling against the gates of hell — one with obedience, one with hope — desperately need each other. The rich can strengthen the poor by providing reasons and opportunities to believe that they can escape poverty. That provides hope, which is their primary weapon in their battle. The poor can strengthen the rich by providing examples of obedience, displaying their determination to trust and obey. I have come to understand that there is no stronger bastion of obedience than among the poor who are faithful.
The faithful among the poor and the faithful among the rich can learn a great deal from each other.