St. John Chrysostom on Wealth & Poverty
St. John Chrysostom does not say that the rich are condemned and the poor are saved, though he implies that the poor have a better chance. His criticism of the rich is that they fail to give alms – to help their neighbor -- while at the same time harming themselves through a self-indulgent life. The poor man who endures patiently uses suffering to build up spiritual strength.

The Christian attitude toward wealth and property should be as toward something which carries great risk. By obtaining and maintaining wealth, we risk the possibility of losing something much greater. With good Christian stewardship, individual (and corporate) wealth can benefit the community, reducing poverty, creating opportunity, and allowing people to turn to thoughts beyond mere subsistence.

Wealth itself is not a concern to St. John Chrysostom. Nor is poverty. He does not hope to make the poor wealthy. His concern is with the spiritual. In his Second Sermon On Lazarus And The Rich Man , he tells the people not to see the “rich lucky, nor the poor unfortunate.” For him, the rich man is he who needs few possessions. These, he says, are the richest of all. Poverty to Chrysostom is a misfortune, though he does not dwell on removing it, but rather with the storing up of treasure in heaven.