Posted on 07/21/2017 7:38:48 AM PDT by Salvation
One of the more underreported sins is greed. It is easy to conclude that greed is something manifested by “that other person,” who has more than I do. Yes, that rich guy over there, the one who earns a dollar more per hour than I do; he’s greedy, but I’m not.
But honestly, does any one of us ever come to a point in our life when we say, “I earn more than enough money. I’ll just give the rest away”? Not on your life!
Almost never would such a thought even occur to the average person. Instead, most of us respond to a pay increase, for example, by expanding our lifestyle and continuing to complain that we don’t have enough. At some point, we ought to admit that we do cross over into greed.
What is greed? It is the insatiable desire for more. It is a deep drive in us that, no matter how much we have, makes us think that it’s not enough. We still want more, and if we get more we want more still. This is the experience of greed.
Familiar though this sounds, too few of us are willing to consider that greed is really a problem for us. Greed is always something that other guy has.
Of course it doesn’t help that we live in a culture of consumption, which constantly tells us that we don’t have enough. Commercials tell us that the car we’re driving isn’t as good as this other car we could be driving. And so even though we have a perfectly good car, one with four wheels, a working engine, and probably even air conditioning, it still it isn’t good enough. So it is with almost every other product or amenity that is sold to us on a daily basis. The clever marketing experts of Madison Avenue are great at making us feel deprived. As a result, it almost never occurs to most of us that we may have crossed the line into greed. Despite having even six- and seven-figure incomes, many still feel that they don’t have enough.
This is all the more reason that we should spend some time reflecting on the nature of greed. Greed is a deep drive of sin, one of the deadly sins, and it brings with it a kind of blindness that causes us to mistake mere wants for true needs. As we entertain this illusion, there’s very little to prompt us to consider that we actually have more than enough. There’s very little to cause me to say, “Gee, I’ve gotten greedy” or to work toward curbing this insatiable desire for more.
No, it’s the other guy who’s greedy; I’m not. It’s a problem that those nasty rich and powerful people have. Never mind that I’m pretty darned rich myself, living in a home with running water, air conditioning, and maybe even luxuries like granite countertops and widescreen TVs.
When was the last time you heard a sermon on greed? If you did, it was probably the priest talking about some abstract group of people (not those present, of course) who probably also hold the “wrong” political opinions, etc. Yes, greed is always someone else’s problem.
When do I honestly look at myself and wonder if I am greedy? When do I ever conclude that I have more than enough and need to be more generous with what has become excessive in my life? When do I ever apply the old precept that if I have two coats, one of them belongs to the poor? I do understand that it’s good to have something laid up for a rainy day, but do I ever ask myself if I’m really trusting in God or just in my rainy day fund? When do I ever wonder if I’ve crossed the line into greed?
I realize that some of you who read this post will find it disturbing. So do I. These are uncomfortable questions.
Let me assure you that I do not write this post from a political perspective. I do not want the government mandating how much I can or should earn, and how much I can or should give away. I am referring to a very personal moral assessment that we all should make.
I also do not write as an economist. I realize that market-based economies are complex and that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with meeting people’s needs with products and services. I am also aware that markets supply jobs. But still, I must insist that we all ask ourselves some personal questions about limits. We cannot simply conclude that greed is the other guy’s problem.
Greed is one of the seven deadly sins; we ought to take it more seriously than many of us do. Somewhere there’s room for most of us to reflect on one of the most underreported sins: greed.
Those are very good points.
Funny...for years, I have discovered I can sniff out a liberal if not in the first few words they write, in the first sentence. Occasionally I get it wrong (particularly when it is satire, or if the writer is making an intentional decision to mislead with the lead) but the ability to do it has served me well.
You learn to read between the lines, and to see it quickly.
Why ask?
He is/was a clergyman (Don’t know if Mnsgr Pope is dead). They have a different view. They look at all the hungry people and look at your car and think “How many mouths could you have fed with the money for that car? How many orphans could you have clothed?”
It is a different outlook. St John Chrysanthemum was quite famous for going to the Empress and blasting her for spending money on frills while the people starved. Made her so mad she exiled him. He was also famous for eating so poorly it made him quite ill. Guests to his place were shocked at the poor accommodations he gave them. Such people are a very good mirror on our own spending.
There needs to be a balance. At some point, enough IS enough. I struggle with that myself. If we were honest, we all do. The race for more will kill your spiritual life.
The flip side is often people in the “non profit” industry (and that includes churches) are VERY greedy. They use the funds they raised for massive buildings, housing, salaries, and all sorts of things. Very few pennies on the dollar actually make to those in need.
I have friends who worked for a time with a major charity. One raised money for it as his primary job. He had a very nice house (better than I can afford as an engineer), nice company car, and prided himself that five cents of every dollar went to the mission of the charity. Five cents.
Now I am VERY selective on who we give to. So much so I donate more directly (help out a family locally that needs it, pay for a repair that is needed, etc). That often makes some of those sweet people calling me greedy go insane. THEY want the power and money, and are very greedy when I use that money directly rather than giving them their cut. They accuse me of stealing THEIR money and lifeblood. In truth, they are leeches of the worst variety.
I couldn't agree more...being in a race for more WILL kill you spiritually. What is that old saying, money isn't evil, it is the LOVE of money that is evil.
That said, I am in full on mode for Capitalism with a capital "C". Capitalism has done more than any charity, church, or government in the history of the world to raise the standard of living and reduce poverty. I don't think Capitalism and Social Good are mutually exclusive.
Thank you for those quotes.
Monsignor Pope is very much alive. One of our FReepers goes to Mass at his Church.
I couldn't agree more...being in a race for more WILL kill you spiritually. What is that old saying, money isn't evil, it is theLOVE of money that is evil.
That said, I am in full on mode for Capitalism with a capital "C". Capitalism has done more than any charity, church, or government in the history of the world to raise the standard of living and reduce poverty. I don't think Capitalism and Social Good are mutually exclusive.
Please remember that Jesus spent 90% of his life as a middle class small business man.
He spent his last breath making sure that His widowed mother was taken care of.
Meeting our worldly obligations is not a sin.
I would say so.
Prosperity gospel preachers come to mind.
I agree, Castlebar.
I thought that was envy.
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Good question. I think there cannot help but always be tension between our trust in God and our desire to plan prudently for our future. It would be nice if there were simple rules to resolve it, but, as with so many other areas of life, there seem not to be. Oh, well.
I think we'd have to conclude from reading the Bible the answer is no.
Consider:
David and Solomon were very wealthy.
After his ordeal Job was blessed with twice the wealth he previously had.
There was a group of women in the NT who supported Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3).
Ministry requires finances. You gotta eat and sleep somewhere.
There have been many other wealthy Christians. I think of Truett Cathy, founder of Chik-fil-a. He keeps is business closed on Sunday and doesn't stay open past 10.
I know there are countless others.
I think the reason the US has been blessed so much is that we still send a lot of missionaries around the world to spread the Gospel. That requires money.
Where I think the greed comes into play is when you have the mindset of the rich man whose land was very productive (Luke 8:13-21).
From that account we learn the man stored up treasure for himself. He had made no preparations for his eternal life. Nor does it seem he was generous with his finances.
I think there is no problem being wealthy and is something we should all strive to be. We should just then use that wealth to advance God’s will.
JoMa
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