Probing Proverbs 14:20-21 The poor are despised even by
their neighbors, while the rich have many “friends.” It is a sin to belittle
one’s neighbor; blessed are those who help the poor.
This passage points out a very disturbing weakness that we
humans have. We have the tendency to be very controlled by the “outward
appearance” of things. So we usually think the rich are “blessed”, “favored” and
“preferred”…even
by God. This is obvious in how the world treats individuals…and
I wished it stopped there. However, it does not! Even the Church has adopted
this wrong view of what richness means.
I have met famous individuals, and I know how easy it is to
admire them, try and please them and be able to “drop” their name as a friend. I can remember
after I became a believer I thought how much the Beatles could have done for
God…until
I woke up to the reality that it would actually be the complete opposite…How
much God could have done for the Beatles. I remember being with my wife in one
of the poorest areas I ministered in. On the corner stood a young woman, both
my wife and I flinched because of her beauty. As we drove away I said to my
wife, “Just
think, if she was in New York City, she would most likely be very rich and
famous as a model. And most likely on her way to an eternity separated from her
Creator. How much greater are her chances of keeping her heart open for God,
due to the lack of material wealth in her life?” Jesus did not point out that it is so
hard for the rich to come to know God because they are more evil, they are not!
It is because the material comforts make them far more dependant on those
things and their wealth can numb them to the difficulties of this life.
Sadly, I have witnessed how some in the Body of Christ refuse
to take a stand for Truth because it might offend someone rich or famous. Once
I had one of the top stars in the music industry in the Philippines approach me
and talk with me concerning a situation. He was startled by my answer and said
he was surprised that I actually said what deep down inside he knew was the
truth, but was not really open to hear it and no other believer he had talked
to was willing to jeopardize their relationship with him. God blessed, and we
spent the next year on Monday mornings having coffee and studying Scriptures
together. He was the one that opened the door for me to lead a Bible Study at
one of the main TV stations in the country. He went to be with the Lord at a
very young age due to leukemia.
We must remain alert to how the “outward” look of the cup does not necessarily
represent what’s in the cup! A dear brother in Christ that I love and admire
was so enamored by a particular “Preacher’s” material success and large following,
that he ignored some very dangerous doctrines this man teaches. God looks at
the inside, not the outside. God measures “success” according to His standards, not the worlds!
Jesus spoke His most stern words toward this mindset:
Matthew 23:25–28… “Hypocrites!
For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside
you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First
wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become
clean, too…Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the
outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of
impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts
are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
The so what? – Is what people see…close to what you are? What’s
the difference between someone struggling with a failure versus a hypocrite?
