Mammon, my bad
I reckon we need a Prism article (or column) on business and money. Maybe it's just me, but as I've earned more (pay rises and the like), I've realised more that how we handle money is a pretty big deal. In the sense that there are lots of questions to ask – both of yourself (checking yourself for honest and wise dealings) and of others (for advice).
Is the desire to make lots of money wrong? Is it the task of each of us to invest and grow what we have? (The parable of the talents seems to think so. It's quite a capitalistic parable, in fact. :-) Is it as simple as keeping your sense of honesty and humility as your bank balance grows? In the business scene, what are some examples of people that are passionate and driven, yet humble?
I'm asking more questions than I'm answering, of course, partly just to help my own thinking. What are your thoughts?
And just for fun, did you know the phrase "my bad" was apparently coined by a Sudanese basketball player?
Comments
Will we see no abatement to this post-modern, materialistic pestilence? When will the bourgeois arise from their pleasure-induced coma to realise the reality of the capitalistic agendas in force in our society? These agendas are destroying the very fabric of what is already only an ostensibly moralistic humanity, and have at their very substratum this wicked malignancy.
One can appreciate Einstein's socialist conception, even if they can't acquiesce. Do you not sometimes wonder whether The Wealth of Nations has as much to answer for as The Communist Manifesto?
I often wonder the same thing myself, in exactly those words. You took them from my very mouth.
read this and while I'm at it, I believe you made this error.
now go sit in a corner.
;-)
You mistook the mistake that I made; which was infact [URL=http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000027.htm]this[/URL].
I have no idea how to make those links look cool. I also notice you can't edit comments on this blog.
I think I will stop commenting now.
Is the desire to make lots of money wrong?
I just want to say two quick things here.
One: I don’t think the parable is talking about wealth, but rather what we do with our life. This is what I took form the parable: we are to work for the Lord, it’s a warning against laziness and passivity, and a charge to take action and risk all we have for Christ and His kingdom.
Two: I think the scriptures are clear about the desire to be rich.
Matthew 6:19-21; 24 (NASB)
19" Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
21for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
24"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth.
That’s just my two cents.
The only downer with having an advice column is that the magazine is only published quarterly; so people may be waiting some time for a reply.
I agree with the comments above by Logan Clarke (and even more so with the quotes from the Bible!)
not his own money! - to buy himself a better future. Maybe we should be bribing the government to make good laws?
My question (sorry, no answers) is "so if you've got more money than you need to survive on, what do you do with it?"
No shortage of good causes, of course. How do you choose wisely? And what do you keep by to provide for your family in the future?
There's that strange parable about the shrewd steward who got praised for using money -
And by the way, it'd be nice to have a "sandbox" so I could see what my post is going to look like before I press "go". That "Email editor" link at the bottom didn't let me edit what I thought it would :-/
Thanks Ed. Yeah, I've been thinking about a preview or something similar for a while. I'll get Bry onto it. :-)
In his play, Macbeth (I wish I knew how to italicise in these comments), Shakespeare makes the point, I think, that a desire for power is not inherently wrong, it's the reasons behind that desire that make it right or wrong. Macbeth's ambition is wrong because he wants power for power's sake. If he had wanted power so that he could send Scotland in a better direction it would have been fine; but he didn't, and so it was wrong. I think it's the same with money.