By Christopher Sunday
Lecturer, Writer, and Social Commentator
The statement reportedly made by Pastor David Ibiyeomie that “Jesus hates poverty; He never visited the house of poor people” is deeply troubling, misleading, and contrary to the teachings and life of Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture. It presents a dangerous distortion of biblical truth and must be corrected.
Jesus Christ was not a man of material wealth. From His birth in a manger to a carpenter’s modest upbringing and His ministry without a permanent home, the Son of God lived a life of humility. When He was born, His parents offered the sacrifice prescribed for the poor—a pair of turtledoves (Luke 2:24). He declared that “foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20). Jesus did not walk in riches; He walked in righteousness.
Jesus associated freely and lovingly with the poor. He healed beggars, dined with those rejected by society, and elevated the marginalized. He touched the untouchable and embraced the forgotten. He visited the home of Simon the leper, was close to the family of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (a household not characterized by wealth), and He uplifted the poor widow who gave two coins, declaring she had given more than the rich. To suggest He avoided poor people is to rewrite Scripture with a worldly mindset.
His mission was clear when He read from the scroll in the synagogue: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). His gospel was not one of materialism but of salvation, healing, justice, and hope.
The so-called “prosperity gospel” many modern preachers promote misrepresents Christ. When Jesus said in 2 Corinthians 8:9 that “though He was rich, for your sakes He became poor, so that through His poverty you might become rich,” He was referring to His divine glory being laid aside for our salvation—not that He traded heavenly wealth for earthly cash. The riches of the believer are spiritual: love, joy, peace, grace, eternal life—not bank accounts.
Jesus never condemned poverty as a curse; He condemned greed and warned the rich. He said it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24), and He reminded His followers not to store up treasures on earth. If Jesus hated the poor, why did He say in Matthew 25 that serving the least of these is the same as serving Him?
To claim that Jesus avoided the homes of the poor is a harmful lie that must be corrected. It undermines the faith of millions who find in Christ a refuge not in riches, but in redemption. Poverty, in its biblical sense, is not a condemnation, but often a place where grace abounds the most.
Any teaching that implies material wealth is the proof of God’s love is not of Christ. The poor were at the center of His ministry, and they remain close to the heart of the Gospel.
