"Greed is good," Gordon Gekko in the movie, Wall Street, boldly declared. Of course, the Bible disagrees. Paul wrote that greed amounts to idolatry (Col 3:5; Eph 5:5). The Greek word is pleonexia (translated "covetousness" in some places) and simply means "desire to have more." Well, that seems harmless enough. Don't we all want more? But, of course, "Everybody is doing it" does not constitute an argument for morality, so apparently everyone in this case is doing it wrong.
So why is greed wrong? Why is desiring to have more a sin? No, the question is, how does that amount to idolatry? "Well," they will tell us, "this 'greed' isn't simply wanting more; it is an excessive love of wealth. You know, 'the love of money is the root of all evil.'" And, of course, we wouldn't want to deny that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evils (1 Tim 6:10), but is that what is being stated here? It doesn't look like it. I would suggest that this additional descriptor -- "excessive love of" -- is the product of a wealthy society trying to justify their desire for more.
So what else? Maybe it means that greed is as bad as idolatry or leads to idolatry. or is service to wealth. Maybe it means that greed is slavery to an economic system or maybe it's putting your trust in wealth. Maybe it's a combination of all that. But most of those require steps of interpretation that the text doesn't offer. If we pursue the easiest line of thinking, greed is a motivating desire for more because we believe we don't have enough. And that would indicate that 1) we aren't trusting God and 2) that "enough" is what we trust in. In this version of greed, we can find an explanation for the correlation of adultery with idolatry found elsewhere in Scripture (e.g., Jer 3:8-9). "It's that woman/man You gave me, Lord. She/he is not enough. I'll find something better." Which appears to be the very idea of greed. "God, you haven't given me enough; I'll go and get something more."
It boils down to that fundamental question: Is God enough? Are His grace and mercy, His love and compassion, His power and His wisdom, His character and His gifts enough? Or are we looking for more? Is the life He is providing sufficient, or is He lacking and we need to do something more? (I'm not suggesting a passivity -- "I'll just let God do whatever He's going to do." We certainly have to do things, but are we doing them for our own gain or are we doing them in service to God and others?) Is God enough? It is my deep concern that for most of us at some time or another the truthful answer would be "No" and that should horrify us about ourselves.
1 comment:
It's a delicate balance, this wanting more and wanting more merely for the sake of having more, versus our putting that want above God. I think "why" we want more is where we find the answer to the question of where our allegiances lie. I have no problem admitting that were I to come into vast wealth, I would certainly spend some of it frivolously, simply because I have so much...acool car, some jammin' threads, a trip or two. But to know that I will likely not be a burden on anyone, as well as having an incredible ability to lessen the burden of others is an important reason for my wanting more. I do what I can with what I have and always will, and do so for Him as much as for any reason. It would be nice to be able to do more.
As I approach retirement, not being burden on my kids or others is especially important to me. While I'm not without a plan, I wish I had developed a better one begun earlier in my life. It's a fear which is hard to shake, and that's even knowing my life is in God's hands. So yeah, I want more. But I know where my loyalties lie and I do not ever pray for material wealth. If He wants me to have it, He'll provide. That's good enough for me. In the meantime, I'll use the gifts He's already given me to achieve and acquire to whatever extent I am able.
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