Question for Christians: The Rich or the Poor?

I was doing a radio interview last week and we started riffing on current events and social/political trends. It’s not something I talk about in my book, since it is about the foundational aspects of my faith (nuts and bolts stuff), but it is something that is part of my life.

I am constantly challenged with balancing whether my faith is influencing my world-view or if my world-view is influencing my faith.

Now to my point.

Something that is part of culture, especially politics and government, is the whole class warfare and tactics of envy.

I hate it.

To me, it appeals to the lowest common denominator in order to manipulate. Still, my personal challenge is to figure out what place this issue has in my life as a follower of Jesus.
 
So in the interview this is the question(s) I posed to listeners to call in about and answer:

As Christians, who should we care more about: the rich or the poor? Who should get our attention and favor? And furthermore, who does God care more about?

So how do you answer that?

I say neither. But my initial leaning is to say the poor. It’s funny (or not so funny), I have a neighbor who lives on 7 acres of land (I know because I looked on the tax records in one of my fits of envy), a huge new house, a Mercedes, a Harley that he rides on the weekend, a pool, and much more…

And you know what?

I hate him for no reason other than he has more than me.

I’m under the impression that God loves all people equally and they deserve his love and spiritual healing just the same.

To give in to the tactics of envy and class warfare is destructive. Everyone deserves our respect and affections equally, regardless of what they have (or don’t have). Not to mention, it never stops. Why perpetuate the cycle? There will always be someone who has more than you and someone who has less than you. Just like there will always be someone who is better than you at something or worse than you at it. Or there will always be someone who is smarter or dumber than you.

Eventually you will be on the receiving end of the whole “eat the rich” mindset. The finger will rest on you, and what you have will come under fire, no matter how modest you view your lifestyle. So I say we all mind our own business and concentrate on being responsible for who we are, what we have, and what we do.

Finally, for those that claim to follow Jesus, prejudice is a very ugly trait. Don’t follow the cultural trend, no matter how fashionable it seems to be. It just doesn’t work. It is not productive. It is not healthy.

Be better. Be more. Treat and respect everyone equally. The poor….and the rich.

What say you?