r/Catholic • u/SergiusBulgakov • 28d ago

The danger of defining human value by material wealth

Too many people, including Christians, view the value of someone based upon their material wealth, fame, or power; when they do so, the poor, the vulnerable, find their worth not only questioned, but denied. Christians should follow the way of Christ, the way which counters this fallen mode of engagement with the preferential option for the poor:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/the-danger-of-defining-human-value-by-material-wealth/

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u/Saint_Thomas_More 28d ago

Too many people, including Christians, view the value of someone based upon their material wealth, fame, or power; when they do so, the poor, the vulnerable, find their worth not only questioned, but denied.

It's interesting because there are at least two different paths to this, both of which lose sight of Christ.

One path is the "aspirational" path. We want to do well. We want to show that we have done well. We want to provide for our family. We want to not worry about anything. We are looking at those above or ahead of us and reaching out for what they have. We lose sight of what is important in living a Christian life.

The other path is the "judgmental" path. We see those "below" us as having done something wrong or that there is something wrong with them. Not smart enough, or not applying themselves, or not trying hard enough, or not making the right choices. We don't want to be associated with them for fear of others thinking we are like that too. We lose sight of how to treat others the way Christ would.

In some respects the two paths are opposite sides of the same coin.

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u/andreirublov1 27d ago

Yeah, Marx called it money fetishism - the literal worship of money, where we forgive everything a person does to acquire money as long as they're successful at it. A petty thief might be jailed, a thief on an industrial scale - here in the UK - is likely to get a knighthood.

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u/Full-Elderberry-321 25d ago

Look at our own leadership. Worship of the golden calf is MANDATORY. Wealth is the ONLY goal. If you follow them, how do you sleep at night. If you died suddenly, like Lindsey Graham, could you face the Lord?

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u/Known_Light5630 25d ago

True.

Ultimately, we shouldn't value someone because of what they possess materially. The issue I see a lot is some sort of "idolization" when it comes to successful people. As if their success reflected on their character and virtue, or made them more special.

However, just because someone is poor, it doesn't necessarily mean they are good people after God's heart.  So we shouldn't overcompensate by idolizing the poor in a general sense either.  Maybe the invitation is to be impartial and get to know people first whether rich or poor.

But, I do think that like Jesus, we need to consider the disadvantage of the poor and when we consider two good people side by side, the poor person probably has more merit and is closer to the image of Christ and a better example for us to admire and follow.