Is the world worshipping the rich, shunning the poor?

One of the most inspiring lessons we receive from the Bible is found in the book of Mark 12:41-44. It says, “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’ It is inspiring because what we are seeing today is in total contrast with what happened in the temple some two thousand years ago. Today, the wealthy are treated with utter reverence when they enter a church. They are given prominent seats at the front pews, and you’ll not be surprised when a preacher stops the sermon to mention his arrival as he makes his grand entry, even when the church proceedings are going on. At one time, he can be called onto the pulpit to “greet the children of God” before resuming his seat. Which raises the question: Have we surrendered our divine and moral responsibility towards the poor and instead yielded to the whims of the rich because we feel that they are more blessed by God because of their earthly possessions? Christ’s attitude towards the poor should form a template of how we all should relate with each other: the rich and the poor alike. Through his actions and his preaching, he exhibited to the world that we all can only be holy by our sensible empathy and love for the suffering, the outcasts and the poor. The undeniable truth revealed by the gospels is that in his ministry, Christ was always touched by human needs. Like the poor widow, he called attention to the concerns and needs of the despised and the poor and responded to them with shows and acts of mercy. He would challenge those having means to help the needy as a duty, and not only provide them physical but also spiritual support. But such show of mercy is no longer being applied in modern world where the worship of the rich has become the order of the day. As a Christian, how often do you visit your poor neighbor to give them that compassion and companionship they need? How much do you give even though you are swimming in surplus? How much do you donate to charity that helps such vulnerable beings? It was an amazing sight recently when in one of the East African countries, a group of men and women went out with buckets and detergents to clean the streets because their bishop and a self-styled prophet would be passing there with his sleek retinue of car. They didn’t want the cars to get dirt. Jesus only known means of transport was his triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey in the concluding days of his ministry: “And most of the crowd spread their garments in the road; and others cut branches from the trees, and spread them in the road.” While the people of Jerusalem who welcomed Jesus prostrated themselves because of the wonderful things he had done during his short stay on earth, can we say the same for the road cleaners who, perhaps, were doing so because they were awestruck by the opulence of their church leader?