The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly. – Proverbs 18:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 11, 2013): Proverbs 18

Louie Giglio tells a story about being the low man in the hierarchy at First Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia. At the top of the Church structure you would find Charles Stanley, and at the bottom – at least in that place in time – was Louie Giglio. As the bottom rung guy, one of his jobs was to deal with people who came to one of the many doors of the church. Most of them were poor and in need of money. They would come politely and make “the ask.” Often the visit started with the words “I don’t want to bother you” and ended with a request for a sum of money. And I have been there. I have seen my own share of polite people coming to my door to see if I had any left over money – and often they are surprised to find out that we are in almost as much need for money as they are.

Money is one of the tender topics of our society. None of us believe that we have enough of it, and there are way too many ways to spend what little of it we have. It was not that long ago that most people would have considered themselves financially independent if they could get their net worth up over the million dollars mark. Today millionaires abound but none of them feel financially safe. For most people, the number that is needed to be financially secure is somewhere around the five million dollars level.

So, we all consider ourselves to be poor – at least privately. The public persona that we take on ourselves is usually that of the rich person. Again, in our culture we consider money somehow to indicate how intelligent we are (which it doesn’t), and how creative we are (which it doesn’t), and how hard we work (which it doesn’t) and even how moral we believe ourselves to be (which it definitely does not.) And because if we have money, and we are therefore intelligent, creative and moral, we then feel that we have a right to speak into the ills of the world. And because of this simple fact, many pretend to have more money than they really do.

This proverb does not describe an ideal state, rather it summarizes what actually is. The poor come and politely make “the ask.” Often the conversation still starts with the words “I don’t want to bother you” and ends up asking for a spare twenty. But because of our belief in money, what “the ask” does is reinforce the idea that I am the one who is intelligent, creative hard working, and moral – because I have the money. Often this means that we feel that we can orchestrate how the person asking for money organizes life. Often there is good reason for that mental attitude, but the danger is that we begin to fail to recognize that we who have money (even though it is not near the amount we believe we would need to be considered rich) are just as broken as the poor that come asking for a hand out. We may pretend to be people of consequence (often meaning money) but deep down we are all just broken people in need of mercy from the world around us – and mercy from our God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 19

Personal Note: A big Happy Birthday to my little sister. Have a great day, Cheri!