my friend and bossman, Darin, shared some stuff on Saturday’s Simple Way Conversations day on the theme of stewarding your treasures [your money and things] well in the world we live in…
one really interesting thing he said which made me think was when he asked about the definition of poverty and said that often poverty has been defined as THE LACK OF STUFF? that’s true, right? i’m sure most of us would agree…
but then he turned it on it’s head – he looked at each of us in the room and said to us, what happened if after this meeting [bit of a parry-phrase happening here, don’t quota me by this] you got a couple of phone calls, telling you you had lost your job and there had been a fire at home which had burnt down the whole place including all your stuff and the bank called telling you that someone had gotten into your account and cleared out all your money and there is nothing you can do about it… and so within fifteen minutes of this meeting you had lost all your stuff..?
how long would it be before you had your next meal?
how long would it be before you found a place for you and your family to sleep for the night, or the next few weeks or months of nights?
how long before you found yourself a new job, whether back as a powerful executive in a company or serving coffee at the local Starbucks?
and the answer to each of those questions, and possibly some others, was not long at all…
so possibly the definition of POVERTY is not so much the LACK OF STUFF as it is the LACK OF FRIENDSHIP OR TOGETHERNESS
because that is how you would get your next meal, a place to stay, and your next job – through the people and network resources and connectivity you have…
certainly something to think about, especially when we try to solve POVERTY by simply GIVING PEOPLE STUFF… could it be there is another way?
to read some more about some difference between guilt and conviction, click here…
[…] to read more about a new definition of poverty beyond ‘not having stuff’ click here̷… Share this:TwitterFacebookEmailLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. […]
I think this raises some good points to think about but I disagree with the point that poverty is a result of being disconnected.
As wealthy people we have lots of stuff, we have skills and abilities which allow us to earn money and maintain our stuff and we typically connected with friends who are also wealthy, who also have lots of stuff and connections to other well off people. Out friends would be more likely to be able to help us out if we find ourselves in a tricky situation.
On the other hand people living in poverty don’t have much stuff, the often don’t have the skills required to earn money and escape their poverty and i would assume typically have friends in the same situation as them who would be less able to help out.
I think people living in poverty can easily be as connected with friends and in a community but the problem is that their community does not have the ability to assist to the same level as ours would. What help they do receive will only be able to lift them to a similar level of poverty they were in before this hypothetical disaster struck and not lift them out of it.
hey Melch
you make some good points – i am thinking back to the point Darin was making and it was debunking that Poverty = no stuff because if we had our stuff taken away our connectedness would help us out – therefore the definition has to be deeper – when you look at it from the other side like you have then yes there are flaws and i don’t think i ever said that poverty is as a result of no connectedness but for us to see from our wealthy side that it is not the lack of stuff that equals poverty but the fact that even without stuff they are not connected to the same kind of connections and opportunities as we are – what shane claiborne writes in ‘the irresistible revolution’ is that poverty doesn’t exist because the rich don’t care about the poor, but because they don’t know the poor – once you know people you won’t leave them out on the street without food and so even alongside what you have said the truth is the same that rich an poor people need to be connected in friendships and relationships so that those who have can help those who have not [which goes both ways as the poor often have a lot to teach the rich about not relying on their possessions or how to do community or have good joyful times of celebration etc etc]
Hey Brett. I agree with what you are saying. The rich and poor really do need to get to know each other.
[…] for a redefined or maybe realigned definition of poverty, take a look at this Share this:TwitterFacebookEmailLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. […]
Your discussion goes straight to the heart of resilience, which is lacking in resource poor communities. The lack of resilience means there are fewer ways to get back on your feet. I borrowed your description in a discussion of poverty.
Most definitely, if giving people money & things solved poverty, the “War on Poverty” would have been won, the medals awarded and the statues erected a long time ago. Yet we now hear that there is more and worse poverty in the US than ever before. (And of course, poverty in the US doesn’t even begin to compare to third world poverty.) So there is a poverty of the soul that infects people in different ways, for some, it strips them of the ability to provide for themselves and their families, for others, it makes them become obsessed with material wealth, so all they can do is amass stuff. One is as deadly as the other. Only God’s healing power can cure either.