The End Of Suffering

by Christopher Heuertz

Now, in order for the non-poor to begin moving toward those who are poor in acts of love, self-sacrifice, and above all, simple friendships, we must first explore the nature of poverty itself. Unfortunately, when dealing with the term “poverty,” we are limited by language. The word “poverty” has many different meanings and is expressed in many different ways. These meanings and their subsequent expressions often seem to contradict one another, so it is important to understand the correlating concepts as well. At the risk of sounding reductionistic, I suggest three distinct expressions of poverty:¹

The lie of false identities that distorts the spiritual condition of humanity;
The imposition of oppression in the kingdom of humanity (or the empires of this world); and
A value voluntarily accepted and celebrated in the kingdom of God

FALSE IDENTITIES

The first expression of poverty is related to the identities of those whom we call poor. By even using this term — “the poor” — we, the non-poor, propagate a boundary that distances people who are poor from our common humanity. We relegate those who are poor to the status of “them.”

Practically speaking, in our Word Made Flesh communities, we have attempted to reclaim the distance created when, in the past, we referred to our friends as “the poor.” Though much of the world’s inhabitants are in fact very poor, many of them are theologically our brothers and sisters, and all of them are our neighbors. Therefore, our community collectively embraces a vocation that seeks to identify with the poverty of “our friends” (not “the poor”) as an attempt to humanize all of humanity. In order to do this, we must get at the core of who we really are as humans, and that begins with understanding the terms dignity and identity.

Dignity speaks of our worth, while identity speaks of who we are. This distinction may appear slight, but it’s extremely important for comprehending the destructive power of poverty.

Humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27, 9:6). Being created in God’s image implies an intrinsic dignity that can be tainted by the bad decisions we make, but cannot be challenged by its very nature. The worth of a person is directly related to the fact that she or he is created in God’s image. This fact is the foundation on which all other discussions pertaining to issues of dignity and identity must be built. This reality should also press the church to define and defend the image of God in those who are the oppressed poor, because an assault on the worth of a person is an assault on God.

In the upside-down kingdom of God, what we are worth (dignity) points to who we are (identity). In other words, our dignity validates our identity. Genesis tells us that we have dignity because we are made in God’s image. Looking to the cross of Christ, Scripture also tells us that we humans are worth the blood of the Son of God. We are worth the very life of the One who gives life. Understanding our worth should cause us to be more able to realize who we are, and in turn, who others are.

With that in mind, poverty is the lie of false identities that distracts us from embracing how God sees us. Submission to and belief in these lies contribute to oppression by creating a platform for marred identity. In other words, when a person believes these false identities, that person has been opened to a reinterpretation of her or his reality. And the person whose history is marred by false identities can expect a skewed future infected with the progressive distortion of these lies. Thus, lies produce false identities, which open the door to oppression and poverty, which in turn reinforce more lies. Moreover, these circumstances often drive people to make bad choices (e.g., substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, addictive behavior) with consequences that further distort the identity of the person. The cycle is cruel and seemingly impossible to break.

I’m not simply referring to those we traditionally consider poor, in an economic sense. I spend a considerable portion of the year traveling, speaking at conferences, retreats, churches, and universities. Often, when talking about issues related to poverty and the church’s necessary response, some listeners fear that I am only concerned with those who are economically poor. I’ll be asked a question like, “What about my uncle who’s not a Christian? Isn’t he poor, in a sense?” Of course he is. Apart from the grace of God, all of us experience a very real and spiritual form of human poverty. The distortion of our human dignity and identity is the shared poverty of humanity. Only as we respond to God’s grace in our own lives is the lie of false identities broken by the reality of our dignity as creatures made in God’s image.

IMPOSITION OF OPPRESSION

The second expression of poverty can be understood as the imposition of oppression. I define “oppression” in two ways:

The complex spiritual and material network of compounded factors resulting in an imposed state of powerlessness, thereby causing persons and/or communities to lack sustainable access and availability to resources and opportunity;² and
The condition that is caused and perpetuated by injustice and disparity, disqualifying the victims of poverty from full participation in the culture, society, structure, system, or political process.

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