Greed
Be content with who you are, and don't put on airs. God's strong hand
is on you; he'll promote you at the right time. (1 Peter 5:6)
A businessman
bought popcorn from an old street vendor every day after lunch. One day, he
found the peddler closing up his stand at noon. "Is something wrong?"
he asked. A smile wrinkled the seller's leathery face. "By no means. All’s
well." "Then why are you closing your stand?" "So I can go
to my house, sit on my porch, and sip tea with my wife." The starched businessman
objected. "But the day is still young. You can still sell." "No
need to," the stand owner replied. "I've made enough money for
today." "Enough? That’s absurd. You should keep working." The
spry old man stopped and stared at his well-dressed visitor. "And why
should I keep working?" "To sell more popcorn." "And why
sell more popcorn?" "Because the more popcorn you sell, the more
money you make. The more money you make, the richer you become. And the richer
you are, the more popcorn stands you can buy. The more popcorn stands you buy,
the more peddlers sell your product, and the richer you become. And then when
you have enough, you can stop working, sell your popcorn stands, stay home, and
sit on the porch with your wife and drink tea." The vendor smiled. "I
can do that today. So I guess I have enough."
“I'm rich
enough” – that’s a phrase going the way of the dinosaur. We love to super-size
our French fries, television screens, even our closets. Who could disagree with
Linda Kulman, who wrote: “We are a nation that believes in having it all. In
1950, American families owned one car and saved for a second. In 2000, nearly 1
in 5 families owned three cars or more. . . . Americans shell out more for
garbage bags than 90 of the world's 210 countries spend for everything. Indeed,
America has double the number of shopping malls as it does high schools.” Here’s
another stat. In 1900 the average person living in the United States wanted 72 different
things and considered 18 of them essential. Today the average person wants 500 different
things and considers 100 of them absolutely essential.
And our
obsession with stuff carries a hefty price tag. The average American family
devotes a full one-fourth of its disposable income to pay outstanding debt, and
we spend 110 percent of that same spendable income trying to manage debt. Who
can keep up? We no longer measure ourselves against the “Joneses” next door,
but against the star on the screen, or the stud on the magazine cover.
Hollywood's diamonds make yours look like a Cracker
Jack toy. Who can ever satisfy Madison Avenue? No one. For that reason
Jesus warns, "Be on your guard against every form of greed." (Luke
12:15)
Greed comes in
many forms. Greed for approval. Greed for attention. Greed for applause. Greed
for status. Greed for the best office, the fastest car, or the prettiest date.
Greed may have many faces, but it speaks just one language: the language of
more. Epicurus noted, "Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too
little." And what did John D. Rockefeller say? When asked, "How much
money is enough?" he responded, "Just a little bit more." Wise
was the one who wrote, "Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income." (Eccles. 5:10)
Greed has a growling stomach. Feed it, and you risk more than budget-busting
debt. You risk losing your purpose. Greed can seduce you right out of your
sweet spot.
You've seen it
happen, haven’t you? The popcorn peddler has one stand and one job and manages
both with great skill. But though his daily sales meet his needs, they don't
meet his tastes. So, to make more money, he buys more stands; to supervise the
stands, he abandons his own. The street vendor no longer sells; he manages.
Which is fine . . . if he was made to manage. But suppose he was made to sell.
Suppose he swaps the open street and the river of people and personalities for
four walls, a desk and green eyeshades. Will he give up more than he gains?
God's answer to that very question lies in Scripture's first parable. However,
long before readers pondered the stories of the prodigal son and the Good
Samaritan, they reflected on the parable of the trees. Jotham tells the story.
Jotham was one
of Gideon’s sons, and the sole survivor of a seventy-man massacre. Abimelech,
Jotham’s brother, authorized the slaughter. He sought to kill anyone who would
keep him from the throne. Jotham comes out of hiding just long enough to
address the citizens of Israel and tell them this story: “Once upon a time the
trees decided to elect a king. First they said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’
But it refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses
both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’ Then they
said to the fig tree, ‘You be our king!’ But the fig tree also refused, saying,
‘Should I quit producing my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the
trees?’ Then they said to the grapevine, ‘You be our king!’ But the grapevine
replied, ‘Should I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and people,
just to wave back and forth over the trees?’ Then all the trees finally turned
to the thornbush and said, ‘Come, you be our king!’ And the thornbush replied, ‘If
you truly want to make me your king, come and take shelter in my shade. If not,
let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’" (Judg.
9:8-15)
Using the
parable, Jotham warned the Israelites against the thorny Abimelech. And using
this same parable, God warns us against greed-driven promotions. The trees
entice the olive tree, fig tree, and grapevine with a throne-room invitation:
"Be our king!" One by one they refuse the offer. The olive tree wants
to keep giving oil. The fig tree wants to keep giving figs, and the vine wants
to keep bearing grapes. All refuse to pay the price of promotion. These plants
take pride in their posts. Why abandon fruitfulness? In the end, only the thornbush
takes the offer. Be careful, the story instructs – in a desire to be great, one
might cease being any good. And what good is a thornbush? Not much, unless you
like getting stuck. Not every teacher is equipped to be a principal. Not every
carpenter has the skill to head a crew. Not every musician should conduct an
orchestra. Promotions might promote a person right out of his or her sweet
spot. For the love of more, we might lose our purpose. If trees offer you
royalty, you don't have to take it. And just because a king gives you armor,
you don't have to wear it. David didn't.
When he
volunteered to go mano-a-mano with
Goliath, King Saul tried to clothe the shepherd boy with a soldier's armor.
After all, Goliath stood over nine feet tall. He wore a bronze helmet and a
125-pound coat of mail. He had bronze leggings and carried a javelin and a
spear with a 15-pound head. (1 Sam. 17:4-7) And David? David had a slingshot. That’s
like a VW Bug playing chicken with an
eighteen-wheeler; a salmon daring the grizzly to bring it on. When Saul saw
David, pimpled, and Goliath, rippled, he did what any Iron Age king would do.
"Saul gave David his own armor – a bronze helmet and a coat of mail."
(1 Sam. 17:38) But David refused it. Look at this wise young man. "David
put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it
was like, for he had never worn such things before. 'I can't go in these,' he
protested. 'I'm not used to them.' So he took them off again." (v. 39)
David rejected
the armor, selected the stones, lobotomized the giant, and taught us a powerful
lesson: what fits others might not fit you. Just because someone hands you
armor, you don't have to wear it. Just because someone gives you advice, a job,
or a promotion, you don't have to accept it. Let your uniqueness define your
path in life. "You, LORD, give perfect peace to those who keep their
purpose firm and put their trust in you." (Isa. 26:3) Examine your gifts;
know your strengths. "Have a sane estimate of your capabilities."
(Rom. 12:3) Don't heed greed. Greed makes a poor job counselor. She tells fig
trees to bear no figs, olive trees to bear no oil, and vines to bear no grapes.
Don't consult her. "Don't be obsessed with getting more material things.
Be relaxed with what you have." (Heb. 13:5)
Isn’t the right
job with a little better than the wrong job with a lot? "It is better to have
little with fear for the LORD than to have great treasure with turmoil."
(Prov. 15:16) As the Japanese proverb says, "Even if you sleep in a
thousand-mat room, you can only sleep on one mat." Don't let the itch for
things, or the ear for applause derail you from your God-intended design. In
his book Money: A User's Manual, Bob
Russell describes a farmer who once grew discontent with his farm. He griped
about the lake on his property always needing to be stocked and managed. The
hills humped his roads, forcing him to drive up and down. And those fat cows
lumbered through his pasture. All the fencing and feeding – it was a massive headache.
So, he decided to sell the place and move somewhere nice. He called a
real-estate agent and made plans to list the farm for sale.
A few days later
the agent phoned, seeking his approval of the advertisement she intended to
place in the local paper. She read the ad to the farmer. It described a lovely
farm in an ideal location – quiet and peaceful, contoured with rolling hills,
carpeted with soft meadows, nourished by a fresh lake, and blessed with
well-bred livestock. The farmer said, "Read that ad to me again, would
you?" After hearing it a second time, he said, "You know, I've
changed my mind. I'm not going to sell after all. I've been looking for a place
just like that my entire life." Paul would have applauded that farmer. He
learned the same lesson: "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be
content." (Phil. 4:11)
Before you
change your job title, examine your perspective on life. Success is not defined
by position or pay scale, but by doing the most with what you do the best.
Parents would do well to give that counsel to their kids; tell them to do what
they love to do so well that someone pays them to do it. And spouses would do equally
well to urge their mate to choose satisfaction over salary. Better to be
married to a happy person who has a thin wallet than a miserable person with a
thick one. Besides, "a pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain
and simple life is a full life." (Prov. 13:7) Pursue the virtue of
contentment. "Godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Tim. 6:6)
When choosing or changing jobs, be careful. Consult your design and then consult
your Designer. Don’t consult your greed – it’s a poor career counselor.
Happy Mother’s Day,
Randy
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