Do You Have To Live In Poverty? (ritual, gospel, Kingdom)

[Lightkeeper]

This idea came from another thread. Do you have to live in poverty to be spiritual or religious?

[jewscout]

Traditional Christianity glorifies the poor lifestyle and so many, especially in the catholic church, see taking a vow of poverty as a way of becoming closer to G-d. Whether that holds any real validity is anyone's guess. Judaism teaches that we aren't supposed to deny the good things in life, that it is a mitzvah to enjoy them (in moderation of course )

[Master Vigil]

No of course not. But to be completely dovoted to the spiritual pretty much infers that the person would be poor (materialistically speaking.) The spirit transcends the material and indeed takes us back to the balanced physical. One can be rich and still be spiritual, but they also cannot be completely dovoted to their spirituality or else they would have no time to be a successful business man, or whatever they do.

[Master Vigil]

St Francis once said ( and I believe it is in the gospels as well) to look at the birds of the sky, they do not reap, or sew. Yet god protects them and they know him well. Yet Solomon in all his splendor was not attired like one of these (talking to the bishops and cardinals of the time.) It is in simplicity that god is known. Not through a new corvette, or an armani suit. Now, one cannot be dirt poor where one cannot survive at all. There needs to be a balance. And I think monks do it quite well.

[Ellie_A]

I always took this idea as one to mean one should remain humble and not to be proud. Often times the fewer material things we have the less prideful we are.

[Linus]

I would say also say no. The Bible does often speaks of putting God first in your life and worry about spiritual things before all else. Although seeking riches before the Kingdom of God could lead to spiritual poverty, having money won't necessarily condemn you. I know many christians that are rich both spiritually and financially.

[kreeden]

Personally , I think that the question puts the cart before the horse , so to speak . I don't think that a person " has " to be poor to be spiritual , but the more spiritual one becomes , the less concerns for the material they have . Of course , the reverse can happen to , but doesn't have to . It is more a matter of were we put our priorities , IMHO .

[Doc]

Francis also said to one of his brothers who could not take on the role as a Franciscan, ''If everyone became a monk, the human race could not reproduce anymore. People need enough to support a family and themselves. I feel that when people are granted privelage and wealth, they are given that for different reasons. One could be that they are meant to give to the needy and those that are poor. I suppose if there were not enough rich folk, they couldn't give to the very needy.

[painted wolf]

for my people the key was ballance. Having too much makes you want more, your never satisfied and thus cant find peace in your life. Too little and you can loose touch with peace in your stuggle to survive. Greed vs. Hopelessness.
How much do you need, that is for you to find.

wa:do

[mahayana]

Interesting question. I've always assumed that people pursue riches because they are selfish and love material things. Yet, if it is more blessed to give than to receive, don't you need to have something to give? Jesus told the rich man to give everything to the poor, then come and follow him, remarked to his disciples that a rich man would have a tough time entering the kingdom.

The obverse is how you view poor people. Do you assume that the homeless one begging on the streetcorner is closer to God than the businessman walking past?