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Definitions: Resilience, Economics, Poor, Rich, Absolutes

By Justin Long ⋅ October 19, 2009 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Words are things that we use: sometimes carefully, sometimes carelessly. I have been scanning a lot of articles lately and thinking about resilient communities. I came to think about definitions, and feel some definitions are worth saying over again.

Rich or poor are difficult terms: they can be relevant or absolutes.

When we say someone is richer or poorer we are comparing them to someone else. To say I am poorer than someone else is really not a judgment although it can imply it. I am probably always going to be poorer because I am not Bill Gates, the richest man in the world. (In that sense, one could say Warren Buffet, to, is poorer. But he is also richer than me.)

When we say someone is rich or poor we are placing them in a category. There is a growing divide between the rich and the poor: the rich tend to have a lot more than the poor, and the poor tend to have a lot less. There is an arbitrary “middle line” between these two.

The Bible has a lot to say about the rich. Little of it seems to be good. Jesus said it was hard for a rich man to enter heaven. We rich rely much on the much we have, and little on the love of God. Jesus seemed to prefer the poor, and I guess it wasn’t because he had anything against money but because he did have a lot against not trusting God. When you haven’t much, you tend to trust God a lot.

The Gospel is not about helping people get across the “dividing line” between being poor and being rich, no matter what a prosperity preacher might say. To become “richer” is not the goal of the Gospel. As servants of the King we may have many blessings, and these blessings may or may not take the form of wealth. Whatever possessions we have been given have been entrusted to us as a King entrusts talents to a steward. We might as well get the idea of ownership out of our heads.

There is another line that the Gospel does concern itself with, however. The Bible never mentions absolutely poor, but it focuses a lot of time on these. This line is simple:

• Those who are poorer have less than those who are richer.
• Those who are poor have less than those who are rich.
• Those who are absolutely poor do not have enough.

Do you see the difference?

The absolutely poor do not have enough. Enough? Enough to avoid disease. Enough to eat. Enough to drink. Enough that is clean and sanitary. Enough to wear. Enough to oppose those who would abuse and victimize them. Enough to defend themselves against false accusations.

Communities that are resilient are made up of people who have enough physically, mentally, and spiritually that when bad things happen, they can endure them and grow stronger.

Resilient communities can heal others who are not yet resilient. Resilient communities can help those who are under attack, whether it be by disease, evil, or whatever. Resilient communities can stand up to an oppressor and defend the lives of the defenseless.

Resilience is not about independence, but interdependence. It is not about rights, but about righteousness and justice. It is not about stored up wealth but blessings given away.

Now, we can argue about whether evangelism (the proclamation of the Good News) should be about “social works” which increase the resilience of a community. Regardless, I do believe that increasing resilience is a function of discipleship and the general living out of the church. It must be done and it might as well be done by those who bring the Gospel who must model it for the disciples that they make.

I hope, pray, write and work toward a movement whereby 50,000 pioneer teams will develop, each swarmishly penetrating one geographic cluster of 100,000 people and transforming it into a resilient community of Christ-followers: bringing solutions to the material, mental and spiritual poverties experienced daily around the world.

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