Christian Mission and Poverty

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Christian Mission and Poverty

applying the just and removing the unjust judgment, He adds, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.” He so praises the use of property as to add, along with giving a share of it, to give drink to the thirsty, bread to the hungry, to take the houseless in, and clothe the naked . . . 14. Riches, then, which also benefit our neighbors, are not to be thrown away. For they are possessions, inasmuch as they are possessed, and goods, inasmuch as they are useful and provided by God for the use of men; and they lie to our hand, and are put under our power, as material and instruments which are for good use to those who know the instrument. If you use it skillfully, it is skillful; if you are deficient in skill, it is affected by your lack of skill, being itself free of blame. Wealth is such an instrument. Are you able to make a right use of it? It is subservient to righteousness. Does one make a wrong use of it? It is, on the other hand, a minister of wrong. For its nature is to be subservient, not to rule . . . 15. . . . We must therefore renounce those possessions that cause injury, not those that are capable of giving service, if one knows how to use them rightly. And what we manage with wisdom, and sobriety, and holiness, is profitable; and what is hurtful must be cast away . . . So then the Lord introduces the use of external things, calling us to put away not the things by which we live, but the bad ways we use them . . . 16. . . . And that (soul) which is rich in lusts is unclean, and struggles with many worldly affections. For he who holds possessions, and gold, and silver, and houses, as the gifts of God; and ministers from them to the God who