Pretend to Be Poor – Proverbs 13:7,8

TheBalance.com has a ‘revealing’ article on the invisible rich.  “If you ever wondered whether you could spot the invisible rich, the answer is that it would be very challenging. That’s because the invisible rich are just that—invisible. ”  The article goes on to detail the things the invisible rich do to remain invisible.

One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;

another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,

but a poor man hears no threat. (Proverbs 13:7–8, ESV)

We have seen something like this first proverb in 12:9, Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread. There are those who flaunt their status as rich people, putting themselves on a higher step than everyone else, and some of those folks aren’t really rich.  For them the appearance of wealth is important to maintain for the status it brings them.  Likewise, there are truly rich people who act just like the guy next door or the woman at the supermarket, with no flair or showiness because they do not derive their sense of self-worth from money.

Wealth, as it turns out, brings certain risks with it.  No one kidnaps a poor person for a ransom.  But the wealth a rich person has is always a tempting target for the wicked.  The rich person better have a good home security system and maybe even body guards and armored vehicles.  Hopefully they can sleep well at night like the poor man can, without fearing possible personal threats.

Of course, poverty has its drawbacks as well.  There is another kind of insecurity that comes with poverty and we will see other wise sayings that address this.  But if you are poor there is no real value in pretending to be rich.  Your value should come from knowing God.  And if you are rich there is no value in showing it off and inviting threats.  Live humbly.  Save what you would have paid for the “look” and help those who are impoverished.