Crime and Poverty: Part 1

We're going to post a short series exploring the links, and perceived links, between crime and impoverished people and their communities. The first post, below, is written by Jobs for Life Coordinator Andrew Vincent. Comments, feedback, and questions can be directed to andrew@advancememphis.org. 

...give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that is needful for me,

lest I be full and deny you

and say, “Who is the LORD?”

or lest I be poor and steal

and profane the name of my God.

  Do not slander a servant to his master,

lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

There are those who curse their fathers

and do not bless their mothers.

There are those who are clean in their own eyes

but are not washed of their filth.

There are those—how lofty are their eyes,

how high their eyelids lift!

There are those whose teeth are swords,

whose fangs are knives,

to devour the poor from off the earth,

the needy from among mankind. (Proverbs 30:8-14)

This passage has a lot to teach us about the links between crime and poverty, and between hypocrisy and wealth. There’s too much to say in one blog post, so I've divided my original post in two separate posts. This one focuses on the prayer of vv.8-9 and the second focuses particularly on vv.12-13. 
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This passage has always puzzled me. Does the author not believe in personal responsibility? Read it again and catch what’s really being said: “give me neither poverty….lest I be poor and steal”; “nor riches…. lest I be full and deny you.” The assumption seems to be that wealth automatically leads to being puffed up and rejecting God, and poverty automatically leads to criminal activity. 

Well, surely the author isn't arguing that all poor people steal and all rich people are atheistic gluttons; however, we can’t dismiss this verse as simply an exaggeration while we overlook what seems obvious to the inspired writer. He prays the way he does for a reason. 

First, he realizes that if he was poor he would be faced with a very unique and difficult set of temptations. Second, he knows that his own heart is no different from that of anyone else, and that if he had to face the temptations of the poor (or the rich), he would probably succumb to them just like so many others do.  

Therefore, he begs God: Don’t let me be poor; I don’t want to be another statistic. Does this prayer seem strange to you too? The reason it has always puzzled me is because thievery, like most other criminal activities for financial gain, seems so evil and so foreign to me. I've prayed hundreds of prayers that God would protect me from lust, but stealing!? My mind goes to pictures of men in ski masks, carrying sawed-off shotguns, terrifying innocent victims for goods they worked hard to earn. When I picture this, I think, who could possibly commit such an evil crime? I honestly can’t imagine myself doing such a thing. 

However, while I can’t imagine myself committing crimes like armed burglary, I also can’t imagine what it’s like
to be hungry and too broke to buy a meal.

I have come to know many people in the inner-city who have both of these experiences as part of their past history. And sadly, I know of at least a few people who, after trying to leave the crime, have gone back to it because of concrete realities of their poverty.  

What’s the difference between me and them? Is it that I know Jesus and they don’t? Is it that I have better character? Am I more strong willed and more resistant to temptation? Are they more depraved?  Biblically speaking, I think the answer is a clear no.  But if I’m being completely honest, it’s really easy for me to slip into this mindset. Thankfully God’s Word reproves my mind and reveals just how much of an arrogant, self-righteous fool I am for thinking that I am somehow different than my neighbors. 

In the last four years of working at Advance, I have had the privilege and the horrific experience of counseling others through times of difficult temptation. I can’t tell you how many graduates have sat in my office crying because they don’t want do sell drugs, break in houses or sleep with a man they don’t love.  They absolutely hate their lifestyle, but they don’t know what else to do. During a lot of these kinds of conversations, the person sitting in my big brown chair is in crisis mode: the landlord just put all their possessions on the sidewalk, the electricity just got turned off, they don’t have any food in the fridge. Then what they say next is really burdensome: “When I got accepted into Advance I knew that this was my chance to change.  Since the first day of class I was determined to quit doing the things I was doing, but since I've been living right, I haven’t been making any money. I’m afraid because I can pick up the phone and have $200 by tonight, but I want to change. I don’t want to do these things anymore. What do you think I should do?”

It’s that moment, faced with the question, “What should I do?”, that snaps me out of my foolish pride and helps me understand
the sincerity of the prayer in Proverbs 30:8-9. 

Because when I realize that the motivation behind these horrendous criminal acts is bound up in the love of a mother or father and a sincere desire to provide for the needs of their children, I don’t know what I would do if I were in their shoes. I can’t imagine having to make a choice between robbing someone and seeing my children go without.

None of this is meant to excuse another’s sin, and I have no illusions that all crimes are committed in order to provide for children. The proverb still equates stealing with profaning the name of God. In the moments when someone is crying about whether or not to make illegal money, regardless of whether or not it’s for a sincere need such as having their kids have a place to sleep, there is still a right and a wrong decision. There is still personal responsibility to say no to temptation. However, if I think that I would always make the right decisions if I were in someone else's situation, I’m a fool.  

I’m thankful that I don’t have to make the same kinds of decisions many of our neighbors have to make. At the same time, it’s quite unsettling to realize that entire neighborhoods of people have to make these kinds of difficult choices every day. 

There’s a reason why so many of our city’s poor are sitting in jail while the rest of us can’t even imagine ourselves doing the things that got them there.  And the reason is NOT that we are somehow superior.  The only real difference between us and our neighbors is that we aren't the ones who suffer from the poverty; we aren't faced with the same temptations.  

Andrew Vincent

Jobs for Life Coordinator

andrew@advancememphis.org