Week Three: Thursday, October 15: Chapter 4: People Who Are Rich (p. 16-21)
The Bible is filled with passages about God’s concern for the poor. Henri, however, takes us in what appears to be the opposite direction. He confronts us with the challenge of opening our hearts to those who are rich!
While this chapter includes many jewels of wisdom, one of the most striking is on page 21 when, speaking of a “rich person”, Henri asks: “Can we discover the poor in this person? That is so important because it is precisely in this person’s poverty that we discover his or her blessing.”
What a profound (and perplexing) statement! What do you think Henri is trying to say? What does your own experience tell you about “finding the poverty in the person who is rich”?
I will start off the conversation by referring to a short 6-minute YouTube video that reflects my own experience as a consultant dealing with the challenge Henri presents to us. Click here to watch my video, “Making Space for Wealthy (and Well-Known) People at Your Table”. I look forward to your comments and reflections on this very challenging topic!
If joining the discussion for the first time, welcome! Please also go to the “Getting Started—About You” section (below) and provide a brief bit of information about yourself—where you are from, what you feel called to do, etc.
- Henry
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October 18th, 2009 @ 4:53 am
Jim–Thank you for your very thoughtful–and thought provoking–comments and reflections.
Your last observation–regarding the need for a “more prayerful presence before and during times when I am in a fund raising dialogue–speaks to the fact that, often, when in conversations with people of wealth there can be a tendency to “operate on different wave-lengths” and “hear things” in ways that are not the “real or complete message”. This, I believe, is the challenge we face in many situations–when husbands try to listen to their wives; when “listening across cultural boundaries”, etc.
I mention this because the “poverty” within people of wealth often (and this is a generalization) is filtered through the numerous signs of wealth, in some cases, blurr everyone’s vision. How many people in our culture operate on the assumption that “if only I buy this house”, “if only I had that nice car”, or “if only I were better looking” they would be “happy”–which, in our culture, is often defined as the pinnacle of “having wealth”? The “poverty” I believe Henri is speaking of most directly is the poverty that we all share…………..ie a “place of lonliness”–whatever the cause–that leads us to feel isolated from ourselves, from others, and from God.
Interesting stuff!…………I agree. This is a hard chapter for many of us.
October 17th, 2009 @ 11:59 am
This is a very difficult chapter for me. While I deeply resonate with Elizabeth’s good news about receiving the gifts of grace and hospitality from economically poor folks, I am at the same time sad and often angry about the way in which our common financial wealth is so unequally distributed. Some of this angst also arises from my own situation as someone who has been the beneficiary of this inequality.
And so I find that while I am attracted to Henri’s pastoral concern for the hearts and spirits of wealthy people, I find that this concern is balanced by a prophetic concern like that expressed by Jeremiah: 23Thus says the LORD: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; 24but let those who boast, boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the LORD. (NRSV)
I am also reminded of the first five verses of Matthew 7 (The Message) 1“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. 2That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. 3It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. 4Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? 5It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
I often find myself trapped in playing a “holier-than-thou part.”
I think what this is calling me to is a more prayerful presence before and during times when I am in a fund raising dialogue.
October 16th, 2009 @ 9:08 am
Sharon–What interesting questions. I am particularly intriqued by the last two!
Any thoughts out there?
October 16th, 2009 @ 7:30 am
Our family is kind of middling middle class, simple house, when we travel it’s to visit family, house and kid’s college debt, never know when the job will go, etc., etc. Living in the crowd of so many people in similar situations, it’s not easy to feel wealthy and yet I know we are. However, we had one guy (and I bet there are many more like him) in our Bible study who had a large house, 5 bedrooms, and is well enough off to take vacations to really see interesting places all over, very comfortable retirement, etc., and he sweated over whether, if he really lived a Christian lifestyle, he would give up some of his bedrooms to be used by some homeless folks. We’re both a little different in the amount of money that can flow through our hands but I really understood his struggle because I have the same struggle. I could see the poverty within him and wonder now if he could see the poverty within me. When us rich people express anxieties about our wealth it’s one thing but I wonder what it would really look like when we rich people live so balanced in doing the Will of God and sharing and helping the neighbor that our material lifestyle would look compatible to our spirituality. Would we be socialists or communists or monks and nuns? Or would it just be that our capitalism would look a lot different? Just wondering.
October 15th, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
Thank you Elizabeth. It is, indeed, a new concept for many of us–the idea of “seeking out” the poverty within those who have wealth (including ourselves). My guess is that many people (if not most) among those participating in this discussion have had the experience of being profoundly touched by someone who is “materially poor”–and through that experience see the “richness” that is within that person. Seeking the “poverty” among those who are wealthy is, however, a “different way” of seeing the “same thing”. It seems to me that we all–in some way or another–”have wealth”……..and, in turn, we are all also “poor”. I remember years ago a man in El Salvador telling me that “poverty” in his country was easier to “cope with” than the poverty he observed in the US. In his words, “In my country we are materially poor yet spiritually “rich” where as in your country the poverty is so often “of the spirit” while surrounded by material wealth”. Very interestinng perspective from a man who appeared to have “so little”.
Again. Thank you, Elizabeth, for starting off the discussion in such a thought-provoking way. Henry
October 15th, 2009 @ 2:28 pm
I have learned to see the wealth in those who are poor by the world’s standards and have received many gifts of grace and hospitality from people affected by HIV/AIDS, people living in oppressive economic situations and outright poverty. I continue to be humbled by their acts of kindness, true joy and generosity. A new thought for me is recognizing the places of poverty in those who have wealth. Although I am not wealthy, I know I am among the rich in the world population. Perhaps I find it difficult to admit places in my own life where I appear wealthy or like I have it all together but in reality have misplaced my trust in my education, my ability to succeed, my relative good health, etc. I am especially touched by the common ground we all (rich or poor; poor or rich) find in God’s love. I am preparing a sermon for October 25 and am inspired by this booklet. Thank you. Elizabeth Raid