Outline Christian Teaching on Wealth and Poverty

"If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same." (Luke 3:11)

These teachings are what tell Christians today what is required of them regarding wealth and poverty.

Jesus cared for the poor throughout his life in various ways such as the feeding of the five thousand as well as encouraging people who asked for his advice on how to live a good life to give their possessions to the poor.

As Jesus' life is one of the main guides as to knowing how God wants us to live, his actions and words are of great importance. At the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about charity and riches: "Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing so you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven." (Matthew 6:1-2) Jesus is saying that Christians are to give to the poor but not for the prime reason of being seen to do good because God will know that it is not from your heart and accordingly He will not reward you spiritually. At the same time Christians must be careful not to give to the poor so that God will reward them. They must sincerely want to be charitable to the poor for God to reward them. In other words Jesus teaches that our intentions are equally important as our actions.

Jesus also warns against the dangers of riches in His sermon:

"You cannot be the slave of both God and of money." (Matthew 6:24)

Jesus is warning that you should not allow yourself to spend your life trying to gather all of the money that you can, but will be better off trying to gain spirituality in your life. As that will prepare you better for heaven and will make you more joyful in the long run. It is also true that God should be your master and money should be your slave, instead of us being a slave to money. This statement by Jesus does not say that having money is wrong but that if it is used incorrectly for greed and only your self in mind then it can be evil. Instead it can be used to give to the less fortunate and bringing joy to others.

Many churches concern themselves with the care for the poor and needy.

The Baptist Church thinks that the development of relationships with third-world countries is an important step. The Church of England holds the view that Christian stewardship is an important factor in the world.

Christian teaching on wealth and poverty is based around the bible's suggestions to care for the poor as best we can and follow the commandment to "love God and love your neighbour." The Christian churches echo these teachings by giving the message that it is God's will for us to share our wealth and give to the poor.

Alasdair Thomson