Blessed are the Poor

This week the Heritage Foundation released statistics from 2005 about the poor in America.  What is Poverty  According to this report:

The typical “poor” household in America has a car

• 78% of “poor” households in America have air conditioning

• 64% of “poor” households in America have cable or satellite TV .. most have two TVs, along with a DVD player and VCR

• Most “poor” households in America with children have a gaming system such as an Xbox or PlayStation

• 38% of “poor” households in America have a personal computer

• Most “poor” households in America have a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and a microwave. They also have other household appliances such as a clothes washer, clothes dryer, ceiling fans, a cordless phone, and a coffee maker.

• The typical “poor” American has more living space than the average European.

• The typical “poor” American family is able to obtain medical care when needed.

Don't get me wrong, I do know that there are people living in America who are genuinely living in poverty.  As a church, our desire is to reach out to them, minister to them and help them by not only meeting their needs but equipping them to meet their own.

But the question is why do those who are labeled as living in poverty have so much?  Part of the answer lies in our mixed up value system.  In America, we are valued by how much we have.  To have TVs, Satellite Systems, cars, etc has become a right in America.  These things have become  necessities and precious resources are used to purchase these, rather than the true necessities of life.

But it is not just the poor that think this way, we all do.  Most of us are not satisfied with what we have, we want more. We have to have the latest gadget.  It is not good enough to have a cell phone, we have to have the latest cell phone.    As Christians, we need to learn contentment with what we have.  We need to learn that the quality of our life is not measured by how much we have but by how good God is. 

In the future, archaeologists will dig up our remains and instead of finding idols in the shape of birds and animals, they will find idols in the shape of I-Pods and X-Boxes.  What we go after the most is what we worship.  Think about it.