According to statistics, 80 percent of the world lives on less than ten dollars per day.1 If you view this as a definition of financial poverty, then much of the world lives in poverty. But why? What is the source of poverty?
Dr. Ben Carson, the newly appointed secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), recently offered his perspective. He reportedly attributed poverty to a “wrong mind-set.”2 This means that he believes poor people have a wrong worldview.
A worldview provides a perspective from which to view and understand reality. It can be compared to a set of tinted “eyeglasses.” When you look through a set of tinted eyeglasses, the color of the tint defines how you see reality. So it is with your worldview; your worldview defines how you see reality. And everyone has a worldview.
All worldviews are presuppositions, that is, worldviews cannot be proven; they are based on faith. The assumptions behind each worldview are the statements of faith of that worldview. Arguably, for any worldview, the most fundamental assumption is the assumption about God.
Emily Badger critiqued Dr. Carson’s view of poverty in a recent New York Times article.3 She cited research by scientists who contended that Dr. Carson was correct in connecting poverty with worldview but incorrect in understanding the cause and effect relationship. The scientists contended that a wrong worldview was not a cause of poverty, as Dr. Carson intimated, but an effect.
The scientists cited in the article appear to be naturalists, which means that their worldview assumes that all phenomenon must be explained by natural causes. Naturalism, a priori, assumes there is no god and therefore no supernatural reality.
The presupposition of naturalism is diametrically opposed to a Christian worldview, which assumes the existence of a supernatural, sovereign Creator who made the universe and all its rules. From a Christian worldview, whatever truth anyone possesses must ultimately come from God and the naturalistic a priori exclusion of God limits the ability of naturalists to see and know truth because they are blind to the Source of truth. Furthermore, this suggests that conclusions drawn based on naturalistic presuppositions will be flawed.
Because naturalistic scientists don’t look beyond natural cause and effect, their interpretation of the data is impaired. Furthermore, since naturalists are commonly atheists, their worldview assumes that the universe has no first cause and consequently no meaning, purpose, or reason for existence. Therefore, atheists cannot assign ultimate causality or meaning to anything. They can only attempt to understand mediate causality. This means they can study the cause and effect of poverty as naturalists and may glean some limited understanding, but they have no ultimate explanation for why poverty exists.
From a Christian worldview, the Bible is the greatest source of truth about the sovereign, intentional, strategic Creator and his creation. The Bible, therefore, is the place to look to understand the origin of and the solution for poverty.
According to Scripture, poverty is the by-product of man’s rebellion against the Creator. Theologians call this the fall of man.4 Relative to sin, poverty is an effect. The naturalists’ conclusion that poverty is an effect not a cause is correct. But they are incorrect to attribute the source of poverty to natural causes; the ultimate cause of poverty is the spiritual reality of sin.
Scripture provides the correct understanding of the cause of poverty, and Scripture also provides the correct solution. Poverty is the by-product of disobedience to God; prosperity, the opposite of poverty, is the by-product of obedience to God. Consider, for example, the following text written to the Jewish people as part of the old covenant. The old covenant was an experiment designed, in part, to reveal to mankind the depth and consequences of human depravity.5 In the Old Testament, poverty and prosperity are presented as the respective fruits of obedience and disobedience. Obedience leads to prosperity and disobedience leads to poverty. For example, consider this text on obedience and prosperity:
"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.” (Deuteronomy 28:1–6 ESV)
Later in this same chapter, disobedience is directly linked to poverty.
"But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.” (Deuteronomy 28:15–19 ESV)
At this point in the discussion, you might ask, What about the prosperity of wicked people? We all know of such situations. Consider Psalms 73, which describes the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous. Upon a cursory reading, the text may appear to be a contradiction to the truth presented in Deuteronomy 28, but it is not. A deeper look at Psalms 73 reveals that the prosperity of the wicked will not endure; they are on the road to judgment, which will be poverty.
Dr. Carson’s view of the source of poverty is correct—poverty is rooted in a wrong worldview, which ultimately means a wrong view of God. The Christian worldview explains mankind’s depravity and that depraved human beings by nature are prone to poverty.
The Bible also provides the solution for poverty. The solution is to obey God by embracing a Christian view of God and aligning with his will and ways.
When the true root of poverty is recognized, effective public policy can be developed that will provide an enduring efficacious solution. Public resources accordingly will be invested to call people to repentance in Christ and to train them to live as obedient servants of Christ. This will result in prosperity.
Naturalists will never be able to see the correct solution because they don’t know the Source of the solution—Christ. Instead, naturalists will continue to use their flawed worldview to shape public policy with programs that will never address the root issue, but, at best, only put a Band-Aid on the problem. These programs will never be efficacious. Nevertheless, the naturalists who develop these programs will continue to wrongly critique Dr. Carson’s view of poverty as they waste large sums of money on ineffective public programs.
If you want a correct understanding of the source and solution to poverty, then you must begin with a Christian worldview. Only then can you see poverty correctly, understand poverty at its root, draw the right conclusions about poverty, and make the right choices about how to fight poverty. May the Lord grant us grace to embrace a Christian worldview and, therefore, lead others out of poverty into prosperity in Christ!
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1. http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats.
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/30/upshot/ben-carsons-thinking-and-how-poverty-affects-your-state-of-mind.html.
3. Ibid.
4. Genesis 3.
5. Galatians 3:21.
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