The Poverty Mindset vs Prosperity Mindset Debate

The word "prosperity" makes a lot of Christians cringe. Add in a word as charged as "prosperity", and the phrase "poverty mindset vs prosperity mindset" becomes almost untenable for some Christians.

But what if we were looking at it wrong? What if our definitions for those words were preconceived and highly charged, hindering us from understanding their usefulness.

In reality, those terms come down to two things: faith and hope.

And before accusations of "this is worldly" or "new-age", let's break apart what it means to set a poverty mindset vs prosperity mindset.

The Poverty Mindset

I dealt with it for a long time. For years, I sat believing that my lot in life was solely controlled by God. The people around me would be blessed, get awesome opportunities, and live abundant lives. Meanwhile, I pined away for a beautiful opportunity to come waltzing through the door, whisk me away, and set me up for a lifetime based on the magical notion that it was my time to be discovered by fate. To me, God had to slam me over the head with a blessing because I wasn't allowed to work towards anything that looked like a blessing. I had to sacrifice till He saw fit to throw me a bone.

Yet, the more I wallowed in that line of thinking, the more depressed and frustrated I got. I watched others get amazing opportunities and became bitter. I looked at the prosperity mindset and figured it was only about money so I avoided it. I believed that my lot in life was all I should expect and that any action I took towards a goal or dream was against God's wishes. I took on the poverty mindset vs prosperity mindset debate and chose to believe that poverty was somehow more righteous.

After all, Christ basically said it was impossible for a rich man to enter Heaven. So that must mean that anything that looks like prosperity is evil, right?

The Prosperity Mindset

Over time, I got sick of waiting around. I hit my late 20s, never having been discovered for my "talents" and "skills" (whatever those might be). In fact, a simple situation may have been the catalyst for me to finally do away with that ignorant approach.

One day, while scooping ice cream for a confectionary shop I managed (and feeling depressed that I was going nowhere in life), a woman approached me. She was well-dressed, seemed to have a business aura to her, and took an interest in me. She handed me a card and said, "I feel like you would be great for this opportunity."

As I inspected the card, she played coy when I asked, "What's the business?"

"It's an awesome business opportunity. Call this number and have a meeting. If you're a fit, then we could really use you."

She left, and I sat a little dumbfounded. Deep down, I felt as you probably do right now. Seems a bit fishy, a bit scammy, am I right?

Long story short, it was what you would expect: a Multi-Level Marketing "opportunity."

But I figured, "I'll check it out anyway. If these people are actually making money and it's a solid business, then why not set aside my doubts and see what all the fuss is about?"

A few meetings in...I ran. I had no interest in empty-eyed business cults.

I was back at square one.

However, the event started a simple, subtle shift in my perspective regarding the poverty mindset vs prosperity mindset.

I realized that this whole "waiting to get discovered" idea was a crock of crap. While some people may have it happened, I could not expect some successful business person to see the potential in me and whisk me away. In fact, the potential in me would end up going sour and decaying unless I actually did something with it.

So I explored what a prosperity mindset actually meant.

Poverty Mindset vs Prosperity Mindset

So often, we look at the world with a poverty mindset. We believe there are limited resources, we're going to have a difficult to impossible time securing what we need or could use, and the world is against us. This mindset traps us. It holds us down because we accept our position in life as static.

Henry Ford is attributed with saying, "Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." And for so long, I believed that I couldn't. And due to that thinking...I was right.

The poverty mindset says that you have no control over your situation and that your lot in life is how it's going to be. There's nothing you can do about it. It plays well into a victimhood mindset as well. After all, if the world is acting against you, then you're just the victim of life, correct?

But I was miserable. And I was tired of watching other people achieve amazing things. I wanted to be able to say that I made the most of my potential like those people did.

At that moment, I knew I had to change how I saw my role in the world around me.

Poverty Mindset vs Prosperity Mindset: Time for the Prosperity Mindset

So I went back to the basics. I stopped trusting what I thought I knew and what I thought I believed about how life works. Instead of blaming God for not giving me what I thought I needed, I started to wonder how much I was actually doing with the talents He gave me (parable of the talents anyone?).

When I took an account of my life, I realized that my passive, lackadaisical approach to life was robbing me of enthusiasm, hope, and even faith. I saw God as a limiting factor and had resigned myself to believe that for me: He would only inch me across the line.

But think about it: if that's my level of faith, then isn't that what I'm believing to receive from Him?

In Mark 11:23, Christ says, "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him."

That faith matters. Having faith not just of what is possible, but without doubt actually matters in how we interact with life. We tend to fool ourselves into thinking that we have the proper mindset and that our faith is big enough, but the Lord just isn't acting in our favor.

The problem is, many times we subtly work with no faith yet call it little faith, or a skeptical nature.

It's just plain close-minded.

A Powerful Faith in the Poverty Mindset vs Prosperity Mindset Debate

A powerful faith holds no doubt. A powerful faith rests more in the realm of expectation than hope. Do we operate in life with expectant faith?

Does our seed of faith pack such a punch that it holds the potential of a massive tree in it?

If I believe that I'm not going to receive much from the Lord because He is a hard man who reaps where He does not sow, then I'm not going to end up doing much for Him, am I?

But if I have faith in God's goodness and the way He can exponentially grow things, then I should honor Him enough to step out with faith and do my best to be a good steward of His talents and grow them.

Poverty Mindset vs Prosperity Mindset: The Parable of the Talents

In the parable of the talents, the first two servants go out and double their talents. The master returns and is thrilled with what they've done.

Do we have a poverty mindset with what He's given us? Do we bury it and expect Him to grow it and reap where He doesn't sow? The worst part is, the third servant, the lazy, wicked servant didn't even buy some seed to put in the ground. He thought so little of what the Lord gave Him and the Lord Himself that He planted the TALENT in the ground. A piece of currency can go into the bank to grow interest. A seed grows a crop in the ground. Currency in the ground does nothing.

When we decide that we're done with the poverty mindset vs prosperity mindset battle, we suddenly recognize that there is unlimited potential in the world for us to apply our talents. All of a sudden, we see the world as a glass half full, not a glass half empty and dwindling.

The economy sucks. The dollar's value sucks. Rent levels and food prices suck. Job prospects suck.

Great. Then what are you going to do? Sit and throw ash on your head?

Prosperity Mindset and Opportunity

A man who has faith in the hand of the Lord and is eager to grow his talents won't see a bunch of closed doors. He'll see opportunities in disguise.

• Economy sucks? People still need basic necessities. What staples can you sell?

• Dollar's value sucks? What investments can you make to outpace the dollar's decline? What can you put those worthless dollars into that is tangible?

• Rent levels suck and food prices suck? That means that people are making money on these items. Can't you?

• Job prospects suck? Get creative and do work for people without being hired by a business.

And if for any of those you say, "Yeah, but…" then you've already proven a poverty mindset. You've shown that you're not finding opportunities, and worse yet: you're allowing worldly factors to limit God's provision for you.

In every area of our life, we must do away with "winning the lotto" dreaming (including, "God'll give it to me for no reason!) and instead begin to put faith and stock in the Lord and what He's given us.

I spent a long time calculating all the reasons I couldn't do something and shouldn't step out. What I found was a life of miserable "stability." That supposed stability barely provided. And it was risky. What would happen if I lost my low-paying job? Knowing that I couldn't last a lifetime living that way, I changed tactics and began doing my best to see opportunities and figure out how to use them.

I quickly learned that a prosperous faith meant I needed to look at each situation and find the opportunity. I recognized that risk was where the reward was and I determined that the things that made me uncomfortable were the things that would help me grow the most.

Winning the Battle

To me, winning the poverty mindset vs prosperity mindset battle doesn't come down to financial success. It comes down to whether I see a world of opportunity or a world of obstacles.

Do I have faith that the Lord will walk with me when I step out and truly steward His talents? Or do I see Him as a hard master who reaps where He doesn't sow?

God built you as a creative being with agency and the ability to be led by the Holy Spirit. This means that you have abilities and outlooks that do not need to be diminished and limited...they need to be expanded.

Our faith is a belief in more. Our faith is a belief in what the world says isn't possible. Our faith is creativity to produce reality. We do ourselves and God a disservice when we believe that the Lord created us to be limited by our perceptions of reality and the world around us. He's been trying to tell us that He's greater than all that and that He is a God of abundance.

Again, I'm not talking just about finances. Finances only play a part in the grand scheme of living an abundant life. We can live a poverty mindset and have millions of dollars. We can see God as a hard master who is going to take what isn't His and not give to us in blessing. And the scariest part is, when we have that mindset, we immediately shut down our effectiveness for the kingdom.

If we don't have faith that God can change the course of a person's life or of a community, then we won't bother to work for it, will we? If we believe He doesn't have the ability to get the gospel to others or to use us in powerful ways, then we'll sit on the sidelines and remove ourselves from the efforts. If we don't believe He'll provide for our needs, we'll hold onto the money we have in our hands as opposed to giving it to those in need.

A prosperity mindset is a faith-filled, opportunity mindset. It's one in which we see the world and know that we can overcome problems and obstacles. We can put things together and create. We can take on difficult situations and make something out of them. We know God has our back and has said, "Go! Explore! Create! Take dominion!"

Christ and the Poverty Mindset vs Prosperity Mindset Debate

Remember. Christ made a ministry out of taking what the world perceived as reality and radically changing it.

Water? It became wine.

Blindness? It became vision.

Deafness? It became hearing.

Death? It became life.

He had perfect faith and knew what the Father could do. But He also knew He had to be willing to say yes, abide in the Father, and have faith that the Father could do all things.

Christ had the ultimate prosperity mindset and saw reality completely different from how many of us do. He worked with perfect faith and recognized the power of the Lord could overcome what the natural man sees. He saw prosperity everywhere He went because His Father is over all things.

God wants us to lead lives full of faith. That fullness of faith leads to abundance in satisfaction, peace, joy, and exploration. He wants us to prosper when it comes to faith. He wants us to prosper when it comes to our potential.

I'll leave you with this. If He's given you the plow and the bag of seeds and tells you to go plant, then who are you to tell Him, "That's not going to work, Lord, because I don't think the ground is very good"?

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