05.02.22
by Dr. John H. Morgan
There are multiple causes of poverty, but the root causes are the spirit, psychology, and culture of poverty. Conversely, there is a spirit, psychology, and culture of prosperity. To improve our lives and to improve our world we need to understand the first and to teach the latter.
The spirit of poverty is the spirit of helpless and hopeless victimization. It is the belief that there are outside forces that are too great to change which are controlling one’s condition of poverty. They may be forces like the will of spirits or gods, the traditions of one’s family or culture, racism, damage done by personal enemies, corruption, bad government, enemy governments, oppression by the rich and powerful, corruption, lack of access to resources and opportunities, and a lack of personal capability.
The spirit of prosperity, on the other hand, is the spirit of empowerment. It is the belief that:
- We were created by God in his image. (Genesis 1:27)
- We were created to be fruitful and to take dominion of the earth. (Genesis 1:28)
- We were created with the spirit of enterprise like Noah who invented the plow and revolutionized agriculture then built the ark to save the human race, the spirit of Abraham who took his livestock business and journeyed to the unknown land where God called him and he became a very wealthy man, and like Joseph who rose from slavery and prison to become the CFO of Egypt who saved that region and his family from a famine. (Genesis 5:29/9:20, 12:16, and chapters 37-50)
- That blessed is the one who delights in the law of the Lord and whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1).
- That the Lord is our shepherd and we shall not want. (Psalm 23)
- That Christ came that we should have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
- That all things work together for good for those who love God. (Romans 8:28)
- That if God is for us, who can be against us. (Romans 8:31)
- That we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:37).
- That God is at work in us to will and to do his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)
- That I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
- That we were created in Christ Jesus to do good works which he prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
- And that greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. (I John 4:4)
These are “spirits” because they are beliefs that are held in the deepest spirits of people by faith. They are their spiritual worldviews and articles of faith, even if they are based in secular ideas. Secular people are often as religiously devoted to their views as anyone.
The psychology of poverty is passivity. It is the thinking that one should apply minimal effort and have maximum leisure to live as one’s people traditionally have. It is the view that the purpose of life is to avoid work as much as possible and to be granted a living by something like the world itself, or nature, or luck, or the gods, or the government, or other people. Often this thinking is driven by a sense of righting an injustice that has been done to them by God, fate, or people.
The psychology of prosperity is the thinking that one should strive to create what is better:
- To be a fruitful person. (Genesis 1:28)
- To make the world a better place. (Genesis 1:28)
- To work the “garden” where God has placed you. (Genesis 2:15)
- To live in weekly cycles of six days of work and one day of rest. (Exodus 20:9)
- To take several annual holidays for rest and worship. (Leviticus 23)
- To avoid laziness and to be a diligent person who prospers (Proverbs 6:6-11)
- To make our livings and to support our families. (I Timothy 5:8)
- To fulfill our gifts and callings from God. (Romans 11:29)
- To create that for which Christ created us. (Ephesians 2:10)
- To redeem the time because the days are evil. (Ephesian 5:16)
- To do our work with all our hearts, as unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:23-24)
- To grow Christ’s Kingdom. (Matthew 6:10)
The psychology of poverty or prosperity is the mental picture of what one should do to live the life one should live.
The culture of poverty is the dominance of the spirit and psychology of poverty among a people and the acceptance of bondage by a domestic or foreign government that withholds the requisite freedoms and conditions for individuals to create prosperity, while often promising to provide for people’s livings.
The culture of prosperity is the dominance of the spirit and psychology of prosperity among a people and the determination to establish and preserve government that will protect the requisite freedoms and conditions for individuals to create prosperity.
These spirits, psychologies, and cultures have existed in different times and places. Christianity and the Bible have been the most empowering forces in history that have created the spirit, psychology, and culture of prosperity. Dictators hate them because empowered people overthrow dictators. Christianity and the Bible created the foundational worldview that gave rise to the economic, scientific, and political advances that have created the most free, just, and prosperous human conditions that have ever existed on earth. It created the historic European revolution of the human condition that occurred from 1600-1900. It created the American miracle of freedom and prosperity. And its principles have driven the rise of nations and the best solutions to poverty worldwide for the last 100 years.
To solve poverty we must teach the spirit, psychology, and culture of prosperity that is grounded in the Bible with the applications of how to create new prosperity. It is the only way sustainable prosperity is achieved.