While Solomon gives us a number of warnings against behavior that can lead to poverty, he does not imply that poverty is always a disgrace. Poverty is only disgraceful when it is the fruit of wrong conduct. There are any number of causes of poverty, some shameful, some honorable. \u201cWhen adorned with godly integrity, it is most honorable,\u201d Bridges wrote. \u201cBetter is the poor man, than he whom riches lift up in his own eyes, and he is given up to his perverseness and folly. Often man puts under his feet those whom God lays in His bosom. [Man] honors the perverse for their riches, and despises the poor for their poverty. \u2018But what hath the rich, if he hath not God? And what is a poor man, if he hath God?\u2019 Better to be in a wilderness with God, than in Canaan without\u00a0Him.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
How many in the church are seduced by Canaan? Too often the church does not treat the poor and the rich as equals among God\u2019s people. As a sad testimony to our worldliness, we often offer the seat of honor to the rich (or the talented), regardless of their character, and shun the simple\u2014the very ones Christ freely\u00a0embraced.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Honor the Poor Person While Solomon gives us a number of warnings against behavior that can lead to poverty, he<\/p>\n