Proverbs 22:2. The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all.
If this were Ecclesiastes, we would expect it to say that the rich and the poor both go to the same place, death and the grave. It may be an even more powerful truth that the rich and poor both come from the same place, God, the maker of us all.
God made everyone in his image. This fundamental truth gives everyone the same worth. The lesson of the proverb is this – never judge or value someone based on how rich or poor they are. In God’s eyes earthly wealth does not matter. God shows no partiality and neither should we.
The book of James in the New Testament teaches us this same lesson.
James 2:1-5. 1My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly [church], and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
In Christ, every Christian has the same worth to God as Jesus himself. Jesus, who though he was rich, he became poor. Jesus, who gave up all the riches of Heaven for us, embraced our poverty, and died owning nothing. In the person of Jesus, we have the ultimate rich and the ultimate poor meeting together in one person. A person whose source is God the Father.
But Jesus Christ isn’t the only place the rich and poor meet together. The church, as we see in James 2 above, is to be the meeting place of rich and poor. The body of Christ, like Christ himself, must embrace both the wealthy and the impoverished into the assembly. In the same way the rich and the poor must embrace Christ, finding in their union with him to be humility for the rich and exaltation for the poor.
James 1:9-11. 9Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
Let us glory in Christ, in his poverty and his wealth, for both are ours in him. Let us boast only in the cross, never in earthly gains. Let us count every gain as loss, and every loss as gain for the glory of Christ. And let us embrace one another, weather rich or poor, into the body of Christ, the richest and poorest man who ever lived.
You: What does partiality look like in your life? What about in your church?
You in Christ: How does the gospel humble the rich, and exalt the poor?
Christ in you: How might you treat the poor with more respect moving forward?
Pray: Father, help me to see the value and dignity of every person, for you are the maker of them all. Help me to be a church member that embraces everyone, showing no partiality, for you are the humbler and exalter of all in Christ. Amen.
To Live is Christ 