The title of this blog post is a hypothetical question. What exactly is a loser? In a hyper capitalist culture the answer could be any number of people that we label as being”poor” because we can’t figure out what is wrong with them.

Would you know you were poor, or consider yourself a loser if society or the media didn’t constantly tell you how poor you were?

Jesus warns against losing your soul by gaining the whole world; or as much as possible. If we look for wealth outside of ourselves we will wear ourselves out and become spiritually poor even if we have plenty.

While the prosperity gospel is one extreme, the poverty gospel that God wants us to be poor is a different extreme.

True wealth and prosperity comes from the inside out and flows from a right relationship with the Divine. Some people are so fulfilled by this that they subconsciously take a vow of poverty (live on less) and end up looking poor. Maybe this is why there is a bible verse says true believers are peculiar people.

Somehow I doubt God cares about our material status. We are free to choose. But if we pursue wealth we are held to a higher standard and should use it to contribute to the kingdom of God. Likewise we have to do the same with our time if we choose to work less.

We have freewill(whether people believe in it or not). This is a gift from God. The only real sin is idolatry, or putting any thing before our heavenly relationship.

I remember hearing a pastor on the radio saying the Sabbath day of rest was made for man and not man made for the Sabbath. In other words, people in biblical times worked seven days a week while men of God would work only six and trust in divine providence to take care of them.

We can do the same thing today if we choose to work part time or work at a minimum wage job. We don’t get paid what we are worth as humans are priceless. We get paid how much our labor is worth.

Minimum wage is a living wage if you are resourceful and live cheap enough. Raising the minimum wage usually results in people who make the minimum being priced out of most apartments anyway. Also in the states that never raised the minimum wage, hardly any job still pays that low.

Just because someone doesn’t have material ambitions doesn’t mean they aren’t ambitious about something. Maybe their ambitions aren’t valued by society. Or they pursue their passion as a hobby or a ministry.

Either way a loser is defined as an outcast in society. Jesus associated with the outcasts. I doubt he told them they need to get it together and go make that money.

Today’s bible verse is Proverbs 10:22 and says the blessing of the Lord makes rich. Prosperity preachers like Kenneth Copeland love this verse. But poverty and wealth are both mindsets with true wealth being within. Knowing the Creator of the universe puts us on the level of the nobility.

Didn’t know you were royalty, did you?