Put to death therefore what is earthly in you

 …covetousness, which is idolatry...

Colossians 3:5

Put Off
Idolatrous Greed

"Greed" sounds like an everyday topic for a stock exchange engineer like me. While our actual business is providing access to capital, critics say this is a honeypot for greedy people. In this world having a lot is good, but having more than just a lot is even better. So we are constantly pushing technology to be faster, by matching financial trades in nanoseconds, replacing optical fibers by microwaves (because the light is too slow in optical glass fibers) and using cognitive systems ("artificial intelligence") for cyber defense. But where is the narrow edge between reasonable behavior and nonsensical striving?

Thomas Middelhoff was an important German top manager with a signing authority of 500 million Euro. He sometimes flew from home to the office by helicopter and used the Concorde for business trips. He said: “I was so greedy I even saved taxes.”* But at a certain point in his life he lost control and all his fortune, and was convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion. Today, he thanks God that he went to jail for three years, where he began to read the Bible and found Jesus Christ as his Savior. The motto of his autobiography is Job 1:21, The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.

Is greed and idolatry only a topic for rich people? No, not really. As far as I’m concerned, I also look for ways to optimize tax and to save money in our family budget. And when I pass by a bookstore, I am often tempted to buy a book. There’s an exciting one, 20% reduced – why not? The distinction between responsible and unhealthy, unspiritual behavior is not easy. (By the way, when will I read all my books?)

Should Christian believers not be greedy at all? Surprisingly, yes, of course they should, but in the right way! My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (Psalm 42:2) And Luther translated 1 Peter 2:2 as: Be… like newborn babies, eager for the pure milk of the word. It is a kind of greed, but not for earthly possessions.

Prayer: Dear Lord, open my eyes, sometimes blinded by greed for material things, to see the eternal treasures I have in you. Give me the wisdom and strength to turn from greed for ephemeral possessions to craving for the only really essential and eternal possession, your Word.

^* Interview in Idea Spektrum 51/52, 2018 (German magazine)