How does my worldview shape my view of poverty?

As I seek to begin my fingers hesitate before striking the keys. These questions are so large and theoretical, but the way in which our answers to such lofty questions play out in human interaction is substantial. As I search for answers to this question, I struggle with where to begin. When faced with this struggle it is easiest for me to simply reference the text, and thus I begin there.

I appreciate Myers discussion on the ways in which modernity has shaped our Western mindsets. Growing up in the Bible belt south, I often found myself dissatisfied with the pervasive religious worldview and the way that managed to manifest itself in some less than ideal ways. I was often told this proclaimed Christian worldview was the only way to understand religion, and thus the only way to understand God. Due to my dissatisfaction with this the version of Christianity, I came close to walking away from all of it during my senior year of college. It was around then that I stumbled upon the writings of Brian McLaren and his discussions of the ways in which the modern worldview has shaped and impacted our religious and specifically Christian worldviews. Brian McLaren writes about some of the very things Myers discusses, and helps me to see the forest through the trees when I think about the historical and cosmic scope of Christianity. Our understanding of Christianity, and thus a “Christian” reaction to poverty is steeped in the constructs of modern thought.

When I consider how my worldview shapes my view of anything, I must realize that I am a product of churches and cultures that are still deeply entrenched in modern thought, with its beauties and hang-ups. As Myers discusses, one derivative of modernity is a tendency towards compartmentalization. We view the spiritual world and the real world as operating in two separate dimensions. Thus, when seeking to find an appropriate “Christian” response to poverty, I venture into the appropriately partitioned box labeled Christian, subset poverty. Perhaps this is a bit hyperbolic, but I do find it difficult to think about my view of poverty without speaking in languages of compartmentalization.

For example, when considering my response to poverty I primarily evoke a text found in Matthew 25 describing the words of a man name Jesus whose teachings I desire to follow. I find it difficult to view the cosmic scope of this text without relegating it to simply a physical response to physical needs. This reading of the text does not see the larger dimensions of poverty, and thus my response in inevitably flawed as it is based in a limited reading. Similarly, as I seek to relate to folks who live in poverty, I find it increasingly difficult because of the way in which my mind has been trained to separate their lives and stories into a section of my mind that is disconnected from my own life and story. Despite my increasing awareness and desire for empathy towards the plight of those in poverty, my natural response is to appeal towards the compartmentalized mindset that has shaped and formed my thought.

The larger reality of which I seek to be a part is that of the Kingdom of God, in which the artificial distinctions modernity has taught us to define are shattered and the all-encompassing love of God pervades over all. In the Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated and subsequently commanded his disciplines to continue bringing forward, the love and grace of God transcends our notions of separation. As I move towards understanding and relating to those who are oppressed by poverty, in whatever dimension that poverty may manifest itself, my desire is to break the false barriers that have been constructed in my mind. With this movement, my view of poverty and subsequent reaction to those suffering from its far-reaching oppression tends to become more holistic and transformational in its nature.