“There is nothing inherently admirable about people with money. Why, then, do so many gospel churches favour the rich?” That was the challenge given by Steve Kneale at a recent conference, challenging leaders to a “religion that is pure and undefiled” (James 2:27).
Many ministries target the rich and successful for “strategic” reasons, but does that mean we have shown favouritism in our giving to mission? It is much harder to fund gospel work among the poor; there is no payback and lots of help is needed.
Steve Kneale described how, arriving at a church dressed in trackie bottoms, hoodie and baseball cap, he often gets a hostile reaction, until he tells them he is their speaker! Given similar treatment, entire social groups stay outside church because they think no one looks like them. Churches that have no poor among them need to ask why that is. Does it reflect the culture of their church gatherings, which are pitched too strongly towards middle-class culture?
