02/07/2026
Finance: Overcoming Pastoral Poverty Part 1
Dear Young Pastor,
This is Part 1 of a three part series on overcoming pastoral poverty. Tomorrow, I will share my poverty exit plan with you and show you how I escaped poverty.
1 Samuel 2:8 NLT
He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor….
Young Pastor, I have been very poor before. Twenty-six years ago, I was a squatter on the Spintex Road, where God has now helped me to build and own a university. So when I speak about poverty, I am not speaking from a textbook. I am speaking from experience.
1. Poverty Can Destroy Your Dream
Proverbs 10:15 says, “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.”
Poverty is not just lack of money. Poverty can kill confidence, delay vision, frustrate calling and make a gifted person look useless. Many people did not fail because they had no dream. They failed because poverty kept fighting the dream until the dream became tired.
Young Pastor, poverty can make you beg where you should build. It can make you depend on people who do not believe in your assignment. That is why you must hate poverty, not poor people.
2. Poverty Can Silence Your Voice
Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”
If a young pastor depends completely on one rich church member, his sermon can become weak. He may know what God wants him to preach, but he may fear offending the person who pays his rent, supports his family or funds the ministry.
The rich may not change your Bible, but financial dependence can put pressure on your boldness. You may still preach, but you will preach carefully. You may still correct sin, but you will avoid certain people. That is dangerous.
3. Young Pastors Must Build Multiple Sources Of Income
Young Pastor, spirituality is not foolishness. Faith is not laziness. Ministry is not an excuse to be financially helpless.
You must create value outside the pulpit. Learn a skill. Write books. Teach. Train. Consult. Farm. Trade. Build a business. Use your gifts wisely. Do not depend entirely on church offerings, because when your stomach depends on the people, your voice may fear the people.
God did not call you to be a beggar. He called you to be a blessing.
4. Why The Rich Are Rich And The Poor Are Poor
This section is not to insult the poor. It is to expose the thinking that keeps people poor.
* The rich sell their abilities; the poor sell their availability.
Deuteronomy 8:18 says God gives us “the ability to produce wealth.” Wealth comes when you develop what you can do and turn it into value.
* To the rich, money is anything with value; to the poor, money is only cash.
In 2 Kings 4, the widow thought she had nothing, but the small oil in her house became her financial breakthrough. Many people are sitting on value but cannot see it.
* To the rich, prosperity is by design; to the poor, prosperity is by default.
Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit.” Money must be planned. You do not prosper by accident.
* To the rich, prosperity is an attitude; to the poor, prosperity is a condition.
Proverbs 24:33 warns against “a little sleep, a little slumber.” Poverty often begins with a careless attitude toward time, work and opportunity.
* To the rich, prosperity is how you work; to the poor, prosperity is where you work.
Adam worked in the Garden of Eden with God as his boss and still failed. Joseph worked as a slave and prisoner and still succeeded. Your workplace matters, but your work attitude matters more.
5. People Who Make Themselves Poor
Some poverty is caused by injustice, family background or lack of opportunity. But some people also make themselves poor by their habits.
* Lazy people.
Proverbs 6:10-11 says poverty comes through “a little sleep, a little slumber.”
* People who love pleasure too much.
Proverbs 21:17 says, “Whoever loves pleasure will become poor.”
* People who cannot control their appetite.
Proverbs 23:21 says drunkards and gluttons become poor.
* People who lack discipline.
Proverbs 13:18 says, “Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame.”
* People who pretend to be rich.
Proverbs 13:7 says, “One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing.”
Young Pastor, poverty is not humility. Borrowing is not breakthrough. Begging is not ministry. God gives power to create wealth, but you must develop the wisdom, discipline and courage to use that power well.
Tomorrow, I will share my poverty exit plan with you and show you how I escaped pastoral poverty.
