John Chrysostom on the temptations to both rich and poor
St. John Chrysostom talks about the temptations to both rich and poor. He points out that while the sins of the rich tend to be obvious, the sins of the poor are just as egregious, and are not as evident. Chrysostom was the archbishop of Constantinople in the late 300s AD, and is a very influential Church Father, often quoted by Reformers like John Calvin who appreciated his pastoral teaching. This is from a collection of his homilies called On Living Simply: The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom.
Students of Old Western Culture will learn about Chrysostom in Romans: Nicene Christianity.
The sins of the rich, such as greed and selfishness, are obvious for all to see. The sins of the poor are less conspicuous, yet equally corrosive of the soul. Some poor people are tempted to envy the rich; indeed this is a form of vicarious greed, because the poor person wanting great wealth is in spirit no different from the rich person amassing great wealth. Many poor people are gripped by fear: their hearts are caught in a chain of anxiety, worrying whether they will have food on their plates tomorrow or clothes on their backs. Some poor people are constantly formulating in their minds devious plans to cheat the rich to obtain their Wealth; this is no different in spirit from the rich making plans to exploit the poor by paying low wages. The art of being poor is to trust in God for everything, to demand nothing-and to be grateful for all that is given.