Robert Kiyosaki, financial guru and author of the best-selling Rich Dad, Poor Dad, unleashed a small firestorm of controversy in his recent column, Go Forth and Multiply – Why the Rich Get Richer. In the column he asserts, with conscious political incorrectness that the poor are wicked and lazy. He bases this on an exposition of the passage in Matthew 25:14-30 in which a master leaves varying levels of talents or resources to three servants before he leaves on a trip. Upon returning, two of the servants had produced a return on the investment, and the third excuses his total lack of initiative on his fear of the master and his supposedly harsh character. This last servant is declared “wicked and slothful” by the master.

Kiyosaki’s basic conclusions are that the poor are wicked and lazy and that government programs do nothing but support this behavior. He is balanced enough in his criticism to shoot at the rich who keep working government programs for their own largess. And he aims at politicians, some whom he sees in photo ops at prayer breakfasts and churches, who both support such programs and profit from them. I’m interpreting this to mean that Kiyosaki thinks that they are also wicked and slothful.

The initial reaction around our office was to begin to cite the many scriptures that talked about the need to help the poor. But as I thought about it, we were falling into one of two mistakes.

Let’s go back to the passage that Kiyosaki quoted, and let’s begin this time with sound interpretation. Kiyosaki makes the mistake of “reading into” (isogesis) the passage something he wants to say rather than “reading out of” (exegesis) the passage what it says.

Looking closely, the passage says “wicked and slothful SERVANT” not “POOR”. For servants of God, you and me, to be given resources (the amount is irrelevant) and to do nothing with these is wickedness. When we do not use what we have received to advance God’s purposes, and we view the Master as harsh, then we are at odds with God. And then to be slothful, lazy, not making any effort is the height of self centeredness. The point is that this is a condemnation of an unfaithful servant, not a poor person. Considering that the servants were employed by this master, I doubt that they were poor.

Now let’s talk about the poor. The Scriptures describe two kinds of poor. The first, I’ll call the “poor, indeed.” The key characteristic of these poor is their powerlessness. They may have befallen a calamity, or become enslaved, or are the children of impoverished families, and, therefore, lack access to capital or significant resources. These are the people that the Scriptures implore us to care for. Widows and orphans fall into this category. And in the Hebrew Sabbatical Year, property that had been lost in previous generations was restored to the family so that no family would be impoverished in perpetuity. The goal of God in giving the families land was so that they could care for themselves and be able to do good to others. We are constantly urged in the Scriptures to address the conditions of injustice and oppression or conditions of calamity that cause people to become poor and stay poor.

But there is a second kind of poor person that the Bible calls, very straightforwardly, the fool. This person is lazy, chases harebrained get rich quick schemes, is greedy, is prone to cheat and steal, doesn’t prepare for the days ahead, etc. The descriptions are numerous in the book of Proverbs. Their poverty is rashly self inflicted. The Bible says that we shouldn’t waste our breath trying to correct a fool who won’t listen anyway.

The problem as I see it is that people tend to characterize all the poor as one category or the other. Kiyosaki sees the poor as wicked and lazy. And for some people, his assessment would be absolutely correct. Therefore, he mocks them, but in so doing, he also turns his heart away from many who indeed need help.

When the government and nonprofits, on the other hand, see the poor as helpless people who need to be taken care of, they often provide safety nets, welfare, and handouts. While such help is worthy, an often unintended consequence is to preserve the underlying conditions that keep people in the yoke of poverty, and in fact, encourage people to live without taking personal responsibility. These issues may be structural, cultural, or even the mindset of the individuals. Unfortunately, the "foolish poor" learn to take advantage of the system. And even more unfortunately, the "poor indeed" can become trapped and addicted to the system. All the while, government and charitable leaders can spew sound bites about the challenges of poverty and how they are creating programs for this and that in order to eradicate poverty. They don’t teach or provide what Kiyosaki, and the Scriptures teach about helping people own and develop assets that raise them out of the bondage of poverty.

What should we do?

1. Be discerning about the two types of poor people, and treat each appropriately. When it is in your power to do so, be generous with your help. Discern, and address the root problem. Where do you see injustice and oppression?
2. Help people to be responsible and to live with dignity. Don’t create dependency which is bondage. Passages such as Isaiah 58 emphasize justice and freedom.
3. Provide the resources and knowledge to help them become productive people who live out the fact that they are made in the image of God.
4. As business leaders, can we help our employees to move beyond helpless dependence to an ownership mentality? Provide education in personal financial management. Many years ago, a colleague started a business in another country. He hired the poor, but the most significant thing he did was to provide training to the husband and wife on budgeting, saving, financial management, even to the point of showing them how to buy their own home. He dealt with drug and alcohol abuse. He showed them the way out.
5. Don’t let the issue be reduced to an abstraction, “poverty”, in your mind. It is personal. The poor are people. The Scriptures constantly use the word, "poor" not "poverty." Now, how can we help in discerning and effective ways?

Uh, and thanks, Robert, for stirring up our thinking!