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The Danger Of Defining Human Value By Material Wealth

The Danger Of Defining Human Value By Material Wealth

Last updated on: July 21, 2026 at 12:42 pm by Henry Karlson

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The Danger Of Defining Human Value By Material Wealth 2026-07-21T12:42:16-05:00 Henry Karlson

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William Powell Frith: Poverty and Wealth / Wikimedia Commons

When Jesus proclaimed his woe to the rich, he was warning them how they will end up hurting themselves in their pursuit of their greed. They became slaves to that which they claim to control, the goods of the earth, be it money, or something else which they (and society) value as wealth (such as gold). They are willing to do “whatever it takes,” to gain the wealth of the world, which means, they are willing to sell out their soul to satisfy their love of money. Dorothee Soelle, understanding this, and with a sense of sympathy for those who followed their greed in becoming rich, saw how their actions not only undermined the dignity of others, and with it, human dignity in general, but their own personal dignity as well:

The rich destroy not only the human dignity of the poor but also their own. They have chained their dignity to possessions and to the violent expedients bound up with possessions. Not every form of poverty destroys human dignity; but every form of wealth that remains unrelated to the dependent and has to isolate itself behind apartheid walls is a self-destruction of the human dignity of the rich.[1]

There are some who can engage voluntary poverty, such as those in religious life; they do so, not because they deny the goods of the earth, but because they want to overcome inordinate attachments to those goods. They want to develop themselves and their personal character, denying anything, especially any attachments they have, which get in the way of that development. And, history shows, many are able to do so; however, the good they attain must not be used as an excuse to force poverty on others. For their poverty is a controlled kind, one which allows them to determine its extent, and it is within a space which the rich and powerful in society has created for them because they see those who engage such poverty usually do not interfere with them and their objectives. It must be something which is taken on voluntary, not forced upon them; using the good established by those who voluntarily take on such a life as an excuse to force others to experience such poverty only creates grave injustices, as the people being forced are not prepared for, and do not have the means, to flourish. Thus, when we see people who are impoverished, such as those with a family trying to make their way in the world, we can see various injustices are behind such impoverishment. Often, the more they are forced into a life of poverty, the more they find their human dignity is put into question, because society otherwise sees the value of people based upon how much wealth they possess. To overcome this, we must first remember how much money someone has does not determine their personal value. Their value, their dignity, is inherent to them. Then, we must do what we can to help those who are being mistreated or abused, making sure they do not give into despair; to do this, we must work to overcome the injustices which are causing them their grief as well as help them their “infinite” worth by showing them the love and respect they need.

True dignity comes from God, from the good which God gave to humanity. So long as we understand everyone possesses such dignity, we will not let the ideology of greed destroy human dignity, either in ourselves, or in others. There are some who are rich who are not greedy, who do not seek to gain wealth without restraint, who do not use their wealth to exploit others; that is, there are some who have been given wealth who realize it is not meant to be theirs alone, but rather, it is meant to be shared, that they have such wealth to serve as its stewards, making sure it is used to benefit everyone. But, even they find it is difficult to live out those expectations, even if they want to do so, which is why Jesus said it is difficult for the rich to be saved. There are those who are poor, who can be greedy, those who believe in the same ideologies of the rich, who seek, not to change things for the better, but to become one of the rich themselves. What we see, sadly, is that people have lost sight of human dignity, and once they have done so, they find it easy to put various material goods and profits over people. They have turned various material goods, various forms of wealth, into idols, idols which are viewed to be respected more than humanity, which is why they are willing to sacrifice the lives of others for the sake of their idol.

Those who live their lives, using their wealth for charity, promoting the dignity of all, do not fall under Jesus’ warning to the rich, because they have understood what Jesus wanted from them. Thus, if the rich do not want to feel the wrath of the poor, if they do not want to experience the consequences of being possessed by their goods, if they do not want to experience the woe which Jesus said they will experience as a result of being avaricious, they will be good stewards of the earth, helping everyone, doing what they can to affirm the dignity of all. They will make sure that the poor are not exploited, but nourished and treated with care:

When the affluent help the indigent in times of need, love is created in their hearts for the rich and impending doom is prevented. But when the rich never ask about the welfare of the poor, the poor are in difficulty and the rich enjoy their opulence, the poor feel in their hearts that although the land is a collective gift from God to them, they still have to spend their lives in such misery. They ask why these others, who are their kith and kin – should they be so comfortable? Thus, they begin to bear a grudge in their hearts against the rich, which slowly begins to grow until it becomes evil incarnate. [2]

Those who promote profit over people, those who undermine human dignity by saying it is tied to material worth, should not be surprised when society does not care for them or their own dignity. They have encouraged disrespect for all humanity, and so that disrespect will eventually be reflected back at them:

Through the pride of his riches the rich man rules over other men, whom he can harm, and treats them badly, just as if they were not fellow creatures, and in this way the good name of mankind (that man is the image and likeness of God [cf. Gen 1.26]) is blasphemed. [3]

The rich will find their wealth only goes so far. It is transitory in nature. They do not have ultimate control over the world. They do not have the final say as regards the dignity of others. God does. God lifted up humanity in the incarnation. God is willing to make those who are materially poor rich with grace, giving them treasures in the kingdom of God, but only if they follow through with God’s ways, the ways of love and grace. That is, the poor, the exploited, though they suffer, can be blessed by God, for God is with the poor:

Yet for the poor and indigent the very rejection by the rich is sufficient to draw upon them mercy from above; for just as the hardness of heart of the prosperous and their indifference towards their fellow-slaves shuts to them the gates of the Lord’s compassion, so unmercifullness and disregard of the unfortunate opens to the latter some access to divine acceptance. [4]

Those who show no mercy for those who are materially poor does not possess much, if any, spiritual wealth. Due to their spiritual poverty, they will find, they do not have treasure in the kingdom of heaven. Without such treasure, what will their eternal life be like? Jesus warned them. He said it is better to store up treasures in heaven than on earth. So long as they judge people and the value of people based upon material wealth, so long as they think those who have such wealth are the most deserving in society to experience its blessings, they find themselves on the path which leads to perdition, not because God is unwilling to save them, but because they have displaced God with material goods, and so end up unwilling to listen to or seek after God, who alone can satisfy and bless them for eternity.

[1] Dorothee Soelle, On Earth as in Heaven: A Liberation Spirituality of Sharing. Trans. Marc Batko (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1993), 14.

[2] Abdul Ghaffar Khan, My Life and Struggle. Trans. Imtiaz Ahmad Sahibzada (Roli Books: Greater Noida, India: 2021), 28.

[3] St. Hildegard of Bingen, “Letter 378” in The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen. Volume III. Trans. Joseph L Baird and Radd K Ehrman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 165.

[4] St. Photius, The Homilies of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. Trans. Cyril Mango (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1958; repr. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2017), 63 [Homily 2].

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General Christian

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