Poor On Purpose

There is a moral aspect to the way each of us chooses to respond to the world in which we live. This is true even when we are considering problems that at first appear to be purely technical. Take the depletion of the Earth's resources and the decline and collapse of the global economy, for instance. Among the writers and bloggers whose work I enjoy reading is a man named Dmitry Orlov, author of ClubOrlov, a blog which chronicles the ongoing collapse of the United States. His latest post, Financial Totalitarianism, should arouse the interest of students of the Good Book.

In that post, he writes, “A particularly annoying question I am often asked and have come to hate is: 'How do I invest my money for it to survive financial, political and commercial collapse?' The short answer is: 'Nohow...'” Orlov goes on to criticize the foundations of greed and avarice on which modern American society is based, then he makes the following statements:

You cannot create your own money system, and you cannot change the way the money system works; either you are in the money system, or you are out. Most of us lack the ability to sever all ties with the financial realm, but, as with so many things, having the right attitude is very helpful. To that end, let me drop a Bible-bomb on you. (I do this as someone quite free of any religious sentiment; I just find the Bible to be an interesting and useful work of world literature, filled with highly quotable, pithy remarks.) Here's a particularly nice quote from the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Never has a truer phrase been written. Many of the more recent self-styled or so-called “Christians” have attempted to distort it to mean that it doesn't imply depriving yourself of any worldly goods, and that “poor in spirit” is a special, strictly spiritual sort of poverty. That is, of course, nonsense. You do not have to dig deep for the real meaning: “Poor” just means “poor,” and “in spirit” means “on purpose, not as a result of, say, injustice, misfortune, or being lazy, stupid or a gambler.” Oh, and “blessed” means “not damned.” Accordingly, Christian monks take the vow of non-acquisitiveness, which is a virtue, with the corresponding vices of stinginess (“what is mine is mine”) and greed (“what is yours is mine”). It is rather difficult to embrace such basic tenets while remaining within a culture that has elevated avariciousness and rapaciousness to the status of virtues. But here is a key insight: being poor on purpose is much easier than being poor as a result of suddenly having less than you are accustomed to having.

Now Orlov is not a Christian (he has not been “born again”), and he is not writing this in the context of Christianity or “spirituality.” But notice how accurate he is in his interpretation of the plain meaning of Scripture. Regarding the relationship between true Christians and their possessions, he seems to be far more direct than Arthur Simon, author of How Much Is Enough? Hungering for God in an Affluent Culture (Baker Books and Arthur Simon, 2003). How Much is Enough? begins to lead its reader down the road to Biblically based, simpler, less materialistic living, yet at its outset it hedges its bets, as in the following words: “God points the way, but provides no paved road through the wilderness. Each follower of Jesus faces this challenge...Decisions about the use of money and use of our lives more often involve shades of gray than sharp contrasts between black and white...” To be fair, I haven't finished reading the book. And yes, I acknowledge that for every finger I point, there are three pointing back at me. But from the start, I think Mr. Simon will probably let his readers off a little easier than he should. (It is nice to see such a study coming from the Lutherans, though ;) )

Now let's take another look at one of Mr. Orlov's statements: Many of the more recent self-styled or so-called “Christians” have attempted to distort it [Blessed are the poor in spirit...] to mean that it doesn't imply depriving yourself of any worldly goods, and that “poor in spirit” is a special, strictly spiritual sort of poverty. That is, of course, nonsense...It is rather difficult to embrace such basic tenets while remaining within a culture that has elevated avariciousness and rapaciousness to the status of virtues. To this, I can only say “Amen.” It's hard for those of us who are thoroughly marinated in materialist American culture to grasp and start to obey the plain words of the Lord Jesus Christ. It really takes a break with this culture in order to start thinking and acting clearly. That includes making a break from the toxic culture of mainstream American evangelicalism. If a man who admittedly has no religious sentiment can see plain Scripture truths that befuddle the great mass of American evangelicals and their leaders, it seems to indicate two things. First, it may be that Mr. Orlov is himself not far from the Kingdom of God (Mark 12:34). He may well be standing in a place full of wild possibilities. Second, it seems that many American evangelicals have missed the Pilgrim's Progress trail head and have instead hopped a ride on the Celestial Railroad. They may literally be facing a Hell of a surprise once they get to their destination.