Opulence naturally appeals to us. Poverty repels. Therefore, prosperity preaching is as popular as it is perilous.

People were not made to be poor. Lack lurks in this world due to sin. But more often we fail to see the deadliest form of poverty.

We are poorest when we are without God. Apart from Him, our lives are hollow, lacking in meaning and purpose. As the venerable church father Augustine mentioned, God has made us for Himself, and ‘our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.’

The restlessness of our hearts occasionally causes us to misplace our identity, locating it in creation rather than the Creator. This is the sin of idolatry.

We begin to seek significance and identity in opulence, power, and popularity. To be sure, the destructive seduction of idolatry is far-reaching, existing even inside the camp of Christ. Materialism masters even those who are well-meaning.

The Prosperity Gospel, as it is popularly known, is a subtler dislocation of identity and significance. It seeks to locate worth within creation. What makes it deadly, however, is the fact that it is preached in the name of God, employing Christian terms, quoting scripture.

The Meaning of πλουτέω (to be rich).

One of those passages that people emphasise when arguing for the prosperity message is this:

For we know the grace of our Lord, that is, Jesus (who is the) Christ, that, although He was rich (yet) He became poor because of you so that by His poverty you may become rich. (My Translation).

I can see why this text appears as a powerful apologetic for prosperity preaching. It is easy, in a world preoccupied with material possessions, to think first of money every time we hear words like ‘rich’ or ‘poor’.

Now, the Greek verb πλουτέω (plouteo) which is translated here as ‘become rich’ is used 12 times in the New Testament. It refers either to the state of being relatively high on a scale of opulence or to be plentifully supplied with something (BDAG).

This verb is used in Luke 1:53 in Mary’s Magnificat (song of salvation) when she speaks of how God saves the undeserving and despised of the world. Here, Luke uses the verb (which is a participle) substantively, that is, as a noun, to speak of how God debases those the world considers well-off and exalts the despised of the world.

In Luke 12:21, the verb speaks of the need for us to be ‘rich towards God.’ The context is the parable of the ‘rich fool’ who mistook his material abundance for riches before God. He had misunderstood what real wealth is, locating it in his possessions.

In Rom 10:12, the verb is used with God as its subject, to speak of how He is rich towards both Gentile and Jew who through faith call on Him for salvation from sin (cf. 10:9).

Paul employs this same verb in 1 Cor 4:8 to speak of the spiritual gifts the Corinthians received from God as a Church (cf 1 Cor 1:5). He again uses its causative counterpart πλουτίζω (ploutizo) which means ‘to enrich’ to speak of how despite his hardships he is enriching many.

Of course, it would be entirely wrong to think that Paul, through imprisonment, hunger, and beatings, is giving money to many. What he means rather is that through his suffering the Gospel which brings salvation from sin is preached to many.

Paul uses πλουτέω again in 1 Tim 6:18 to speak of the need for ‘those who are rich in this world’ to be ‘rich in good works.’

The only time this verb refers to material riches is in that same chapter, 1 Timothy 6:9. And here Paul vehemently warns against the desire to be materially prosperous, stating that ‘those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.’

We find the verb again in Rev 3:17 when God condemns the lukewarm church which mistakes material wealth to be a measure of God’s favour. Indeed, in verse 18 God insists that His view of true riches significantly differs from theirs.

The last time this verb is used in the Bible is in Rev 18:3, 15, 19 to speak of the multiplied wickedness of those who are seduced by Babylon’s opulence. The rulers of the nations ‘became rich’ through their fornication with Babylon.

The Meaning of πτωχεύω (to be poor)

The word πτωχεύω (Ptocheuo) means to be extremely poor, as poor as a beggar (BDAG). This verb is used once in the whole New Testament, only in this verse.

Although it is not possible to compare the uses of this verb elsewhere in the NT (since it appears once), the Bible gives us many details about Christ. And one thing we know is that He was not materially ‘extremely poor’ or a ‘beggar.’

The Bible tells us that Jesus even had a treasurer through whom He occasionally gave to the poor (John 13:29). For sure Jesus was not wealthy on the world’s scale, but He was no beggar.

In other words, Paul here does not have material poverty in mind when He says Jesus became extremely poor. We must not read that into the text.

The Context of 2 Corinthians 8:9

We have seen that the verb ‘to become rich’ when used positively only speaks of spiritual riches, and when used negatively it speaks of vice, greed, and idolatry. We have also seen that ‘to be poor’ is used once in the NT and does not refer to material poverty at all.

These are truths that are easily discernable in the context of 2 Corinthians 8. Paul writes to the Corinthians about the Macedonians who in their deep poverty ‘abounded in the riches of their liberality’ (v2).

The noun πλοῦτος (ploutos) translated ‘riches’ here is the same from which we get our verb πλουτέω (to be rich) which he uses seven verses later. Paul’s point is poignant and precise. Christ is the foundation of our generosity.

Paul argues that our first act of generosity is when we give ourselves to God (v5). You remember I mentioned that we are the poorest when we are without God.

But when we surrender our lives to God we receive from Him true riches. Not those that the rich fool or the lukewarm Laodicean Church had, but true ones such as generosity (v2).

We are rich in generosity because, in Christ, we also gave ourselves to one another (v5). Therefore, we become burdened by what burdens our brethren so that we are ‘freely willing’ to give (v3) for their betterment.

But also, through Christ’s ‘poverty’ we are rich in joy (v2). The verb περισσεύω (perisseuo) translated as ‘abound’ also means ‘rich’. Paul says that we are rich in joy despite our material poverty (as the Macedonians were).

Moreover, we are also rich in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and love (v7).

It is upon this foundation that Paul calls on the Corinthians to be ‘rich in this grace also’ that is, the grace of generosity which they lacked, which the Macedonians had even in their deep poverty.

Paul insists that generosity is independent of the size of our pocket. The wealthy Corinthians lacked it; the materially poor Macedonians had it.

The Meaning of 2 Corinthians 8:9

It is after laying such a footing that Paul insists that the Corinthians already know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, that even though He was rich, He impoverished Himself so that through His poverty we may become rich, in the way he just explained above.

Christ’s self-sacrifice and self-giving is the foundation of our generosity. That is what Paul is saying.

Paul already explained this self-sacrifice in the same book, just three chapters before, in 2 Cor 5:21

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

This, is the same language, book, author, and audience. The Corinthians understand precisely what Paul means when he says that Christ became poor so that they may be rich.

It had nothing to do with material wealth. Paul speaks of the atoning sacrifice of Christ that makes God’s gift of Himself accessible to us, causing us to abound in our self-giving, first to God, then to others.

For he that has given himself to God and to others does not withhold what is in his possession.

The riches that Christ died to purchase for us is God. May we never exchange Him for opulence and fame.

And because God’s idea of riches starkly differs from the world’s, His children must never be confused as to who the real currency of life is. Jesus, who is also the Christ.