The ancient Mediterranean world used the terms “rich” and “poor” much differently than we do today. Then, people who could guarantee their material future from their present wealth were “rich”; the “poor” could not, and lived from day to day.
Only about 5 % of people were“rich,” and there was no middle class to speak of, only some people who were a little less poor than others. By today’s standards, in most liberal democracies that are more or less “welfare states,” our poor are relatively well-off compared to the poor of the Third World.
On May 23, Men’s Breakfast looks carefully at Luke 18:18-30—Jesus’ Option for the Poor—and Ours. We meet at 6:30 on Wednesday mornings.