Hypocrisy Exposed

Mark 12:38-40

      Backroom deals abound. Corporations in bed with politicians. Special interest groups writing legislation. The Justice Department being told not to enforce justice. Infectious diseases spreading without acknowledging the role of politics in its spreading. And all this to keep up the appearance of those in power.

      Jesus puts His finger in the eye of the teachers of the law, those who were charged with educating the next generation about every area that was touched by the Scriptures. And just about every area of life was touched. They taught about the LORD, but also about economics and interpersonal relationships.

      The problem became their own egos. They wanted to be important people. They wanted people to recognize their importance. They wanted the pats on the back. The wanted the special parking places. They wanted the exclusive clubs. They wanted the embossed place cards. They wanted all the outward symbols of success and respect.

      But behind the scenes, where no one was really looking, they were crooks. They used their positions to get what they wanted. And they wanted more for themselves. They wanted fat portfolios. They took advantage of the weakest in their society for personal gain.

      To put it in a modern context, they left political office and moved into the corporate world as a payment for their role in passing favorable legislation. They took favors from those over whom they had regulatory authority. They got cozy with the crooks and in the process became crooks themselves. They gave bankers the orders to lend money to those unable to pay, and then blamed those very banks for carrying out their orders. And then they tried to set themselves up as the heroes by forcing all of us to pay for their mistake, billions of dollars from my grandchildren’s pockets.

      Jesus says that this kind of behavior earns the worst punishment. He doesn’t sugarcoat the problem. He isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. The combination of crook and piety don’t mix. When a lawyer gets caught having an affair, the world says it’s no big deal. But when a Christian gets caught.... That is another story.

Success’s Cost

Mark 8:34-35

      There have been two financial trends that have caught my attention in the last few years: the failure of the housing market and the ratio of CEO to worker pay. The measure of financial success used to be the owning of a home, especially when it was paid off. People would have a mortgage burning party when the last payment was accepted and the note was paid in full. Owning the home meant security. It meant there was something to pass to future generations.

      The other trend I have noticed is the ration of CEO pay compared to the average worker. The US now has the highest ratio of CEOs anywhere in the world. The ratio here is 475:1. The next highest is 50:1. What this means in simple terms is that the CEO on average gets paid 475 times more than the average worker. A quick example. The CEO of UnitedHealth Group makes $101 million dollars a year while the average worker makes $59,000, a ration of 1737:1.

      Capitalism in this form is just as sinful and ungodly as Socialism, Sharia law or Communism. The few are stealing from the rest of us. They are stacking the deck in such a way that they get all the benefits while paying few of the costs. Like global warming spokespeople flying around the world repeatedly in their private jets and limousines from their multiple mansions, all the while preaching that we need to cut down on green house gas emissions.

      So what is the answer to the selfishness of man? Jesus said to Peter, the rest of the disciples and the crowd, that the cross is the answer. The cross is the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate thinking of someone else’s need before even considering our own. It is laying everything down so that someone else gets the benefit.

      Discipleship is costly. Jesus tells us that it is necessary for us to take up our cross. This must be more than a dangle worn around our neck, or a bumper sticker on our car, or the radio station we listen to as a way to declare our faith when someone goes for a ride with us. The cross must be a burden, a weight under which we barely move, perhaps even stumbling along the way.

      The cross is about loss. I can imagine a CEO taking up his cross and giving up his pay and spreading his salary out over all the employees. This would mean giving up his big house and cars and boat and vacation homes and dining at the finest restaurants. This would be back to grocery store shopping on the way home from work. It would cost them much and the benefits would be spread to the many.

      But I don’t want to talk about the CEO. I want to talk about us. What does our cross look like? What burden do we carry that almost crushes us, a burden that leads to other’s needs being met while ours go unfulfilled.

      Cut it out, Stan! It was OK when you were talking about those greedy CEOs, but now you are just being mean. It is OK to talk about “them,” but now you want to point your finger in my direction, and I don’t like it.

      Jesus told even the people in the crowd that they had to take up their cross or they would lose their life. It wasn’t just the few who were called upon for this type of sacrifice, but every follower of Jesus. The cross is something that we must embrace for ourselves. It is not a cross if the government imposes it on us. Mandating CEO pay ratios does not solve the heart problem. And Jesus wants to deal with the heart, our heart, as well as the CEO.

      Now I have to admit that I am in the middle of a personal struggle right along with you. I want to be willing to take up this kind of sacrifice and gain life, but I enjoy my comfort. So pray for me as I pray for you. Jesus is calling us to lives where we look at the other’s needs as a higher priority than our own. We say a big “NO!” to our needs and a big “YES!” to the needs of others.

Goldline

Proverbs 16:16

      In our greed-filled society, the words of today’s proverb could not be more appropriate. When was the last time you heard a commercial that encouraged you to make the best out of what you already owned, to not buy the newest, but be satisfied with what you have? I didn’t think so. We always want the newer, bigger, shinier, more enticing products. The packaging is almost as important as the product.

      I am sure you have heard the advertisements for gold and silver. They might be valuable, but wisdom is even more valuable. Wisdom can’t be stolen! Insight can’t be faked. Wisdom is a commodity that is in very short supply these days. Because our society has such a ‘quick fix’ mentality, and wisdom takes time to develop, few are patient enough to acquire it. And those that do have it generally don’t have wealth falling out of their pockets.

      Wisdom does not have the glamour of a new car. It is quiet and unobtrusive. It is there when asked for, but rarely pushes its way forward. That is because it is often rejected until it is sought.

      Wisdom would say that we need to pay our current bills and not borrow from the future, but not many people listening to this these days. Our grandchildren will be paying for our foolishness!

      We listen far too much to the young and inexperienced. We give power to the one who can speak well and convince the crowds. That is not wisdom. We need to make room for and value those who have experience at doing what we want to do, successful experience. New ideas are not necessarily wisdom. Often they are just new ideas that lead to failure.

Couponing

Proverbs 15:27

      We live in a society of debt. Each person in the USA owns over $53,000 in federal debt. If we had to pay the government’s debt today, that would drain most of our checking and savings accounts! And this doesn’t even take into consideration the unfunded obligations like Social Security.

      Then we add the personal debt, credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages, and we are pretty tapped out. Many people live paycheck to paycheck with little cushion. Many don’t even have a ‘rainy day’ fund.

      Most of us don’t have anything over which someone could bribe us. We don’t work at the permit office, or have positions of power that give us some advantage. We don’t have the authority to grant someone permission to do something.

      It is the ability to say “Yes” or “No” over a decision that opens the door to bribery. We don’t generally call it a bribe. Instead, we say they now have access to whatever it is they were seeking. We know ‘access’ in the political realm means power. But we don’t call a bribe a bribe. Instead, we wink and shake hands, and the favor gets done.

      This kind of power for sale is hated by the LORD. This power of a bribe to corrupt is recognized by the government. Ethics rules limit the dollar value of a gift given to an employee.

      The flip side of the bribe is greed. If the person receiving the bribe were not greedy, wanting more money, power, influence, then a bribe would not work. They take the little extra because they can. It is not that the bribe is huge, but that it represents power.

      I hope coupons are not bribery! I hope the store really just likes me and wants to help me out. If we purchase something using a coupon that we normally would not have purchased, is it a bribe? Did they exchange money (my discount) for their access to by credit card? Think about it, will you. What power exchanges hands when I get and use a coupon? Are they paying me for something? What do I get in return?