Riches and Poverty in Africa

RICHES AND POVERTY IN AFRICA

PART FIVE

The Bible has a lot to say about riches, nothing very good. Nave’s Topical Bible has three pages of Scriptures on “riches.” Jesus speaks repeatedly against the dangers of material riches. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven whether neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Jesus warns, “You cannot serve God and money” (Mt. 6:19-21, 24). It is the “cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches” that choke the Word and lead to self destruction (Mk 4:19).

Do you know how much money it takes to make one happy? Just one more dollar (or shilling)! “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Lk 12:15). I’ve seen many happy people who are materially poor. America is full of rich people who suffer from an inner void and seek to fill it with drugs, sex, and worldly thrills.

We need a biblically balanced view of riches and poverty. Proverbs 30:8, 9 reads, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of God.”

We need moderation in our aspirations and contentment with what God provides. Paul admonishes, “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim 6:6-10).

Could poverty in Africa in reality be a blessing for it humbles people and turns hearts toward God? Could the riches of the Western World prove to be a curse in disguise for it hardens westerners to the Gospel because they feel no need of God?

But wretched poverty! That is something else! I have witnessed abject poverty on numerous occasions that has torn my heart out. I remember a friend in Eldoret who took me to his home in Kisii where I stayed overnight. One of his age mates came and they began to commiserate. Their future was bleak. Each of their fathers had only one acre of land to feed a family of ten. For one month of the year they went hungry, and worse; they could not finish school for lack of fees. What was their future? An acre of land divided among three or four brothers? I will never forget the anguish I felt for him.

Charlatan preachers line their pockets with money by taking advantage of the poor and the rich with the preaching of the Prosperity Gospel. More on the Prosperity Gospel in Part Six.

Continued in Part Six