Proverbs 17:5

"He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished."(New International Version)

"Whoever mocks poor people insults their Creator; gloating over misfortune is a punishable crime. (The Message)"

Mock Defined from Webster's
1: to treat with contempt or ridicule : deride
2: to disappoint the hopes of
3: defy , challenge
4 a: to imitate (as a mannerism) closely : mimic b: to mimic in sport or derision
intransitive verb:jeer,scoff

Contempt defined from Webster's
1 a: the act of despising : the state of mind of one who despises : disdain b: lack of respect or reverence for something
2: the state of being despised
3: willful disobedience to or open disrespect of a court, judge, or legislative body

I don't know why, but when I look at this verse and these definitions, I think about being in Junior High and High School. I was a teenager during the 80's, which was an incredibly fashion conscious decade. In my little world, everyone wore polo shirts, but not just any polo shirts-they had to be Izod or Polo brand. Nothing else would do. I remember my mom finding me a silky white polyester Izod shirt from a thrift store. Sure, it had the emblem, but it was polyester. It was an old guy's golf shirt. It was what a poor poser would wear. Which is what I was. I wore it to school, but I could tell I wasn't fooling anyone.

When I finally got my 100% cotton, royal blue Izod shirt, with an alligator, it was like I had finally arrived. The cool kids even pointed it out, and I received just a taste of affirmation. But it didn't last, and I was relegated to that group somewhere between utter loser and barely socially acceptable.

I have been treated with contempt and mocked before. The majority of us have. What I never really questioned was why they had the right to treat me and my other non-Izod wearing friends with contempt.

How did these social mores develop in a group of High School kids that we would judge each other on what brand of clothes we wore? I mean, I was covered, I didn't smell and I wasn't wearing stripes and polka dots in colors that didn't match, but still, in my school, your status was judged on what you wore.

The short answer is that it was learned behavior. Learned from the media, learned from parents, and then learned from peers. Values were passed on that taught my classmates how to judge a person's worth and value in society. When people did not live up to those values, it was deemed OK to treat them with contempt, mock them, deride them, put them down.

Now, we know there is nothing new under the sun. These verses show us that showing contempt for people based on how wealthy they are has always been around. Even now, we hear people joke about people living in trailer parks or in the projects, or make fun of people that work at McDonald's. We joke about people driving broken down cars. I remember working at a warehouse where it was common to make fun of the guys in the prison work release program, because they drove scooters because they weren't allowed to have a car. Jokes about illegal aliens were really common in that warehouse too.

I won't use them, but we all have those rude names we use to describe those of our race or cultural group when we want to describe the poor screw-ups that never figure anything out and are always without money but always buy hope from a lottery ticket, and comfort in a bottle.

Back to the verses, treating the poor with contempt, mocking and despising them is nothing new, and its still current. While I'm not crazy about stating God desires a classless society, this verse does show that God does not see things the same way we do. He sees contempt for anyone he created as contempt for him. While God does not automatically see wealth as an indicator of intelligence, wisdom or character, he does however talk about problems that are exclusive to rich people and poor people alone-more on that later.

"Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all." Proverbs 22:2 (New International Version)

Prov 14:31

"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."(NIV)

"You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless; when you're kind to the poor, you honor God." (The Message)

What do we do with this scripture? It leaves very little grey area for mis-interpreting or looking for any shades of meaning. Yes, the first thing someone will ask is, "Yes, but are the people truly poor? Why are they poor? Was it something they did? Are they taking responsibility for their lives?"

While there is a place and time for some of these questions, this verse is not it. It's a statement without caveats. Oppressing the poor shows contempt for God-period. Being kind to the poor honors God-period. We don't see the exceptions of only the poor who are poor from no fault of their own, or only those who are truly needy, or those who spend too much on cigarettes or beer. There are other places in the bible that talk about slothfulness, drunkenness and other faults of the poor.

This is one of those places in the bible where we see God's macro view. It is reminiscent of another verse in the bible.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

The similarity between these two verses is this-whoever. Jesus died for the sins of all people-no matter how much they sinned-he died so they had a chance to have eternal life.

When we look at Proverbs 14:31 in comparison-that same feeling is there. God hates the oppression of the poor-even if their poverty is their fault, even if they have a lifestyle that contributes to their poverty-it doesn't matter. Oppressing the poor and needy still is contemptuous to God.

The hard question is, what do we do with this in applying it to life and business?

First off, lets remind ourselves what it means to oppress:

Oppress: to burden with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints; subject to a burdensome or harsh exercise of authority or power: a people oppressed by totalitarianism.

What strikes me about this definition is "Cruel or unjust impositions". Do we make it harder or easier for the poor to escape poverty? Is the level of profit that is taken in businesses that market to low income customers reasonable, or does it prey on the fact that it knows that desperate people will pay exorbitant fees because they have no other options?

At the heart of the matter is an age old question -"How do we treat those who have no power or influence over us?" For some reason, God sees that as the measure of our true feelings toward him.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

He doesn't care how much we give, or how often we go to church. Real religion, real devotion to him takes a much more concrete form.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27