Michael Douglas, as ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street, said it best: Greed — for lack of a better word — is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. While this movie was made in 1987, it defines our times today. Greed is deemed the savior of the world. In reality, however, greed will not save anything or anybody, but ultimately drives it into the ground and kills it.
19 ”Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 ”The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 ”No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:19 – 24 ESV)
There is a difference between capitalism, the free market economy, and greed. One is generally healthy, while the other is decisively unhealthy. Now, I am a republican and a capitalist, but what we are observing in the world today is not a healthy capitalism, but an unhealthy system in which greed is the primary driver unbridled by any controlling ethical or moral considerations. It is controlled by pure profit. When people and companies and countries take capitalism to the extreme as is happening today and govern all of their business decisions, personal decisions, and interactions based on the bottom line, then something bad happens. People and businesses lose focus of what is really important and long-lasting, and focus on what is only meaningful at the moment, that which will earn them an extra dollar. Employees suffer, relationships suffer, companies suffer, and countries suffer because they become only tools in the hands of a few who only care about profit and making more and more money. Companies fire people, not because they are losing money, but because they are not making enough. Companies ruin relationships with customers because they demand that extra dollar in price at whatever expense of the relationship, and ruin the relationships with suppliers because they demand that extra dollar in savings. It may work for the immediate future, but it ultimately kills in the long run. But who cares about the long term…that is someone’s else’s problem after the few have made their millions, let go most of the workforce, and retired in luxury.
Should this surprise anyone? It should not really if one is familiar with the doctrine of total depravity and sin in human nature. Unbridled by any moral and ethical boundaries coming from the Creator God, humans will move toward their most base desires and nature. Greed, selfishness, and pride all come to mind. With all of these, it is all about me.
And unfortunately, the church in America has not just been ineffective in this cultural arena, it has in fact contributed to much of it. The health and wealth gospel (which is no gospel at all) has fueled this fire for several decades now, but it is not alone. The typical evangelical church in America has also jumped on the band wagon. Who preaches humility any more? How about sacrificial giving? How about storing up treasures in heaven instead of on earth where moths and rust destroy…? Many evangelical churches today don’t even preach Christ crucified, but instead preach Five Steps to Financial Freedom, How to Have a Successful Life, and Living the Better Life. Sermons like these cater to the greed mentality. After all, the gist of these sermons is that as a child of God, you are blessed beyond measure. So claim those blessings. The problem is, they are all worldly material blessings, and nowhere does the Bible state that a child of God will be blessed with all material blessings in Christ Jesus! On the other hand, we are blessed with all spiritual blessings, according to Ephesians 1:3. However, you will be hard pressed to find an early disciple or apostle that didn’t have to completely rely on God as his sole provider! And none of them, including our Lord Himself, lived in the lap of luxury, nor desired to!
Greed is essentially and fundamentally faith in oneself, and conversely a lack of faith in the sovereignty and provision of God. After all, if we had faith in the provision of God for our daily bread, then why would we want to be greedy? Why would we need to be greedy? Even as business owners, business leaders, church leaders, and individuals, if we trust God for our provision and submit to His providential care and love, then we would know that He cares for us and provides for us. We want more and more to fulfill our own desires, hoping desperately that next purchase, that new job with 20% more pay, our new wife, or that next savings deposit will provide the satisfaction and comfort to our souls. We think that a little more money will buy our soul some rest, but we had better think again. It never buys us rest, but feeds the desire to want more and more. We look at ourselves in the mirror and realize that we are not doing enough to ensure that we will be happy and secure in our future, whatever that is, and so we again kick ourselves in the butt so that we go out, set more goals, work longer hours, lay off a few more people to make our numbers look good, squirrel away more and more money in our 401(k) plan trusting in the New York Stock Exchange for our future instead of the Almighty God.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that God’s record has been a lot more stable and dependable than the New York Stock Exchange!
Greed and selfishness go hand in hand. Greed usually manifests itself in selfishness that is solely focused on the good of one thing. Greed by nature is self-centered. It cares for no one or nothing except in those instances where it uses people and things for its own good. Greed is not an entity by itself, but is always born out in and through people. Billionaires who give millions to charitable causes are not primarily doing it for the cause or to help people, but they give to these causes primarily for their own fame and stature. How do I know this? Because none of them do it behind closed doors. The give only in front a camera in front of millions of people. This is self-centeredness.
Greed manifests itself in idolatry. If one doesn’t trust God for his provision, then who does a person trust? Money, Wall Street, job, profits. It all comes down to self, what can I do to secure my future. And that ultimately is idolatry. One can justify it by ambition, practicality, wisdom, “the way it is,” or whatever phrase or slogan one can come up with. The bottom line is that it is idolatry. Jesus said plainly, “24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” As the influence of real Biblical Christianity declines in America and around the world, something else must take its place. The god of ‘self” is doing just that, and greed is its driver. With the rejection of Biblical Christianity by more and more people particularly in the West, and the confusion of Biblical Christianity with a false gospel particularly in America, we are seeing the elimination of former boundaries that balanced constitutional republican government (not the political party but the form of government), economic capitalism, and individual freedoms. All of these now are beginning to be governed by greed and selfishness, and the results are massive individual debt with the consequence of slavery to the job, corrupt politicians and executives that live by the bottom line, and economic and technological instability and stagnation because innovation costs money, and the bottom line is the ultimate judge.
So what’s the solution? While I don’t want to be simplistic, I believe that the first step is for preachers to preach the true gospel and the whole counsel of God. The root problem is in human nature, and it can only be solved with a new nature, and that from working of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the real gospel of Jesus Christ as documented in the Word of God. The preaching of God’s Word brings revival, and what we need is a good handful of pastors that are not afraid to preach the Word of God to the people, teach them the things of God, and live a Biblical life as far as one can, while at the same time mortifying (killing) the sins in one’s life through, again the Spirit working through the Word. The time for soft, touchy-feely religion is over, and it is time for real religion in the gospel of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, preached and taught in the power of the Spirit with fire and passion.
Along with the preaching of the gospel, Christians need to stop living like the world. There is statistically no difference in the way most Christians live than the way nonbelievers live. I am just as guilty as anyone else. When Christians covet their neighbor’s 60″ LCD TV, their friend’s new SUV, and can’t give to the church cheerfully because they are saving too much in their 401(k) plan or are in so much debt because of frivolous purchases they don’t really need, then perhaps these same people are not really Christians but only professors whose real god is their checkbook. Christians don’t need to voluntarily live in poverty, but we need to be able to help those in need, especially within our own local congregation, and live a life that reflects the values of our Lord God and not those of the world. Greed, covetousness, faithlessness, and idolatry are not values espoused by Christ; they are characteristics of the devil. It seems we have more children of the devil than children of God among those who profess to be Christians (John 8:44).
Thirdly, and this is going to be tough, I think Christians need to stand up in our churches, places of business, and in politics, and execute our values in our decisions. Even if one does not run their own business, you can still live the gospel in the way you do business in your own small way. I have learned this the hard way over the years, and in all my negotiations with vendors, partners, fellow employees, and others, I strive to uphold Christian values when it comes to money and greed. I have stood up to the bosses who epitomize the greed mentality, not by my own strength but the strength of God, and yes, by the grace of God, I am still employed. Money is the root of all kinds of evil, and we as Christians must step up and show that this evil does not have an enslaving grip on our lives. This will not be easy, as it will take fervent prayer, serious study of God’s Word, and the guts to make hard decisions. Christ never promised it would be easy, but he did promise never to leave us or forsake us, and that he would be with always, to the very end of the age.
