Remember Lot’s wife’
How can Christians resist the temptation to join the bandwagon of “Just ‘make it’! Help yourself to ‘easy money’; however it’s to be made”? The culture seems to promote the acquisition of money ‘by every means necessary’, putting it on a pedestal as a god worthy of one’s every waking moment.
Your question brings two scriptural references to mind. Proverbs 16:25 (MSG): ‘There’s a way that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell’and Exodus 23:2 (NIV): ‘Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong’. In the absence of responsible and accountable governance, greed has become a cancer in our nation, and it is now a matter of “everyone for himself; God for us all.”
Greek words translated “covetousness” in the New Testament have the sense of “greed,” “setting the heart upon,” “longing” or “lusting after.” It has toppled highly paid executives; brought down giant corporations; it has cost thousands of workers their jobs and retirement funds.
Before He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, God sent an angel down to tell Lot to get out with his family because only he was found righteous in the sight of God there. When they had come out of the city, the angel told the company of people: “Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the plain; flee to the hills, or else you will be consumed.” Lot’s wife, however, could not resist the temptation to steal a look back at the city of pleasure she was leaving behind, and all the possessions she had in it—and instantly became a pillar of salt. Inordinate attachment to material things leads to perversion of the soul.
I once read a story written by Leo Tolstoy about a successful peasant farmer who was not satisfied with his lot. He wanted more of everything. One day he received a novel offer. For ‘just a token’, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his starting point by sundown.
Early the next morning he started out walking at a fast pace. By midday he was very tired, but he kept going, covering more and more ground. Well into afternoon he realized that his greed had taken him too far from the starting point. He quickened his pace and as the sun started to sink low in the sky, he began to run; if he did not make it back by sundown, the opportunity to become an even bigger landholder would be lost.
As the sun began to sink below the horizon he came within sight of the finish line. Gasping for breath, heart pounding, he called upon every bit of strength left in his body and staggered across the line just before the sun disappeared. He immediately collapsed, blood streaming from his mouth. In a few minutes he was dead. Afterwards, his servant dug a grave. It was not much over six feet long and three feet wide. The title of Tolstoy’s story is instructive: “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” Greed—dangerously deceitful—promises so much yet delivers so little.
Judas—one of the LORD’s first disciples—suffered a fate similar to the peasant farmer. As the treasurer of Jesus’ itinerant team, he wasn’t content stealing from the ministry, he went further to betray the trust reposed in him —a form of insider trading. Unfortunately, he realised, a bit too late, that material stuff cannot satisfy spiritual yearnings. Judas had bought a field (again—land!) with the money he received for his treachery; he was probably hoping to leave a good inheritance for his children’s children; this was where he fell to his death (Acts 1:18). Greed makes one do a lot of wicked, previously unimaginable things; it never ends well.
Gehazi is another man from Scripture who exemplifies greed—and its incalculable consequences. Greed didn’t cost him his life, but he suffered rather grievously on account of it. Gehazi was the servant of Elisha, the prophet. He was a witness to all the great miracles that Elisha performed, including the miraculous cure of Naaman, who suffered from leprosy. When Gehazi sought to personally profit from the miracle—he lied to Naaman that Elisha wanted a reward for healing him—Gehazi became infected with the leprosy that Naaman had been cured of (see 2 Kings 5:21-27). There are many Gehazis in both public and private sectors who feel that, as a matter of right, they must have a ‘cut’ in every contract, transaction and deal that passes through their office. They never notice the impending sword of judgement that is dangling perilously over them. According to the decree of the watchers (Daniel 4:17), the axe of God’s judgment is poised and ready to sever the roots of many terrible trees that have gained ground in this nation. How can we be so blind to this fast-approaching calamity? May we learn from history and turn from our wicked, twisted ways. Greed turns souls leprous and affects those around as well.
Greed accounts in no small measure for the huge disparity that exists today between the rich and the poor in the land. Matthew tells of a young man who once asked Jesus what he needed to do to gain eternal life.
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First published on 4 October 2009 in my Making Sense of Life column in The Nation on Sunday, a Nigerian newspaper.
