Rich Jesus, Poor Jesus

Though really rich, Jesus emptied himself and gave up all he had. He may have appeared poor in men's eyes but he never had money issues and knew in his heart that he possessed all things. 

Rich but poor. Clearly, that's the life Jesus chose to live on earth. It must be an important thing, otherwise HE wouldn't have done it. Everything Jesus did and showed in the Gospel has meaning and relevance to us. And Him being our sole Model, it should tell us something about how we should live life. Because He is the Life. Being followers, we must also be rich yet poor--and though poor, we're rich. Here it is.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. [2 Corinthians 8].

Photo by Keenan Beasley on Unsplash. 

God's will is our riches. He wants us to be rich. The passage context is on giving to the needy and how it actually leads to material prosperity (especially in 2 Corinthians 9.11) so we can give more. Get this Kingdom principle--God makes us rich, not so we can become millionaires with great wealth and possessions and keep them and showoff, but so we can lose them by giving more. Being rich ought to be balanced with this principle below, which is Jesus' challenge to all disciples.

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. [Luke 12] 

Thus, we are rich but poor. Though Jesus is rich, he opted to "look" poor to make us rich, so we in turn may imitate him and become rich yet poor. But we are rich 😏. So get rid of that poverty mentality if you're a true believer of Jesus, along with the idea that it's bad to be rich or make big money. But you must remain poor in spirit especially when you have become materially rich. Paul did warn Timothy about the desire to get rich:

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

But this doesn't mean God wants us to be squatters or among the indigent or beggars. Jesus never begged. The context is on contentment. "It's enough to have food and clothing. Godliness with contentment is great gain," Paul said. If you take the whole picture (the entire bible idea about riches, connecting other relevant passages) you'd see that God wants us to be rich, not to get greedy about it and lose contentment (neither get rich for selfish ends), but to give everything up for the work of ministry. First and foremost, giving to the needy. This is the reason for getting rich.

All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along. [Galatians 2.10]

Reality is, ministry involves big money. This is why in the Acts church, believers were selling their goods (products) and properties and laying the money at the apostles feet. Imagine selling properties! Our concept of "properties" today is 200 to 500 sqm. But back then, properties were in acres or hectares. Nobody talked about square meters. They sold big properties--entire vast lands--and donated the sales to the apostles who distributed them to "anyone who had need." Church money didn't go to any building project. They didn't keep it for themselves to build mansions and buy cars or rent posh condo units. The church was rich but not one individual became a millionaire because of it. See? Because they gave up everything.

Rich but poor. But they were rich. Yet they were poor. But actually, they were rich.

Another purpose for getting rich is evangelism. And it's not about costly programs or setting up concerts where we rent the venue, decorate the stage, use expensive instruments and sound systems, pay the preachers or guest speakers, pay for tarpaulin streamers or banners or hire vehicles. It's for blessing people, even financially. Below, Paul didn't say that being rich was bad but a tool for evangelism.

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. [1 Timothy 6]

And Jesus himself said:

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves (meaning, to evangelize), so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.[Luke 16.9]

The church should stop soliciting or sending out letters for begging. Or asking for donations from non-Christians. It should be in business as the Acts church was, selling their "goods and properties." It should also stop using tithes for projects or missions or evangelism expenses or paying for offices they rent. Or even paying for the electric and water bill of their church building. Or buying properties for the denomination. All these should be sold and the money given to the poor. "Sell your possessions and give to the poor."

Tithes, according to the bible, is used mainly to support the priests (ministers) in the temple. Period. And giving to orphans, widows and foreigners (in our day, perhaps the homeless).

Even Malachi says tithes and offerings should be given back to God "so there may be meat in my house." You see the purpose? Meat or food in his house. Who ate the food? Was it God? Nope. His servants, the priests, did. Nothing was used to build or repair the temple. They had a separate fund for that, called temple tax.