Pastor Jeremy Stephens

I’ve been thinking a lot today about the difference between poverty and wealth.

We walked around the Russian Market today (which, as far as I can tell, has absolutely nothing to do with Russia) and I managed to find gifts for the last few people on my list. I kept finding gifts I wanted to purchase for people, but I ran into the all-too-real gift giving barrier. If I bought a gift for a particular person it would increase the number of other people who would then deserve a gift as well. While I really wanted to get these things, the reality is I only have a few dollars left and I won’t leave the country until Monday (it’s late Friday evening right now, in case you’re keeping score). The reality is, I’m too poor to buy the gifts I’d like to buy. Money will be very tight for Kim and I over the next few months as we transition jobs and acclimate to living in a new area.

We dropped five members of our group off at the airport early this afternoon. The official trip ended today but some of us elected to extend our trip so we could see Angkor Wat, which I believe is one of the wonders of the world. After leaving them at the airport we began our seven hour drive through the country of cambodia to the city of Siem Reap, which is adjacent to the Wat city. While driving I read David Platt’s new book “Radical.”. It’s a strong look at how we’ve tied the gospel up in the American dream. Of his many points, he critiques how we tend to pay people to do full time mission work so that we don’t have to go. He believes that it is our duty as believers to be going to the ends of the earth to share the gospel.

If I was reading this book in my office at home I think I would be less sympathetic to it, but driving past the stick homes here in the Cambodian countryside, I couldn’t help but be challenged by it.

Speaking of stick homes, the drive here was a challenge all in it’s own. The majority of the world lives on less than $2 a day, and the majority of Cambodians live on less than that. I saw the evidence of that today. The huts were tiny and the families occupying them were large. We drove past thousands of apperati consisting of a single flourescant bulb and clear plastic sheets. They use this to trap spiders and crickets so they can fry and eat them as their main source of protien.

Halfway into our trip we came upon an accident where another bus ran into and killed two or three bulls. In America we would be furious about the damage to our car. I realized tonight that some poor farmer just lost their livelihood in an instant.

So this thought of wealth and poverty struck me again. I can’t buy gifts for the myriad of friends I have at home, yet most people here live on less than I’ll pay for French fries at lunch.

Platt discusses the story of the rich young ruler in his book. There are two common things that people say at this point. Either we universalize Jesus’ words, saying that he always commands his followers to give up everything they have, or the other extreme saying that Jesus never commands us to abandon all of our possessions in their pursuit of Him. One writer he quotes says this about the latter, “That Jesus did not command all his followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort only to the kind of people to whom he actually would issue that command.”

So what is the appropriate stance for us in light of this reality? I’ve come up with a few things (and maybe you have some more). First, travel somewhere so you can look abject poverty in the eye. I don’t think we can really grasp the problem until we can see it personally. Second, consider what it would look like to live sacrificially. Not just giving out of your abundance, but feeling that joyous sting that comes from giving away just a little more than we are comfortable with. Finally, give some consideration to how you define poverty and wealth.

The truth is, I am still very poor. With the meager salary I made when I was in ministry part-time, I made more than 80% of the world. However, to stay there would be to plunge my family into a cycle of debt that would be unhealthy. Wealth and poverty are tied up in far more than bank accounts.

The children I drove by today had the most beautiful smiles. My prayer is that they will grow up and be able to eat healthily, have access to some sort of medical care, and retain the joy of growing up in rich community and close family. With the latter, they are probably more wealthy than many of us in the United States.