Profit 4-12-09
I caught part of a news segment in which a panel of guests were discussing the current economy, especially the causes of its woes and potential cures for its ailments. One of the guests was a leader/advocate of the socialist party. His comments were all to the point that individual profit is basically bad and that society’s welfare should be the primary goal for our political and economic policies. This is a disturbingly common view in our country and, even more unsettling, within the church. People seem to think that if you personally have something to gain from a given outcome then you are selfish and corrupt. This view is not only wrong, but is at its core fairly wicked. The profit motive is not only reasonable but is indeed one of the basic immutable laws instilled into creation by God.
Many would question this statement, and more than a few would be outraged that I could say such a thing; this comes from a basic ignorance of what profit is. Profit is not the same thing as greed. Greed is “a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/greed). Some might say, “wait a second – if you sell something for more than you paid, isn’t that a selfish desire for more than is needed?” Not at all, but rather that is simple participation in the market. Greed is not born from market interactions but is instead born from a covetous and ungodly heart; put simply, profit is the productive result of honest effort and greed is the destructive result of evil desires and wicked schemes.
This is not a finance issue; while other words may be more often used, profit and greed describe every aspect of our lives.
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:33-34 NIV)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:6-7 NIV)
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV)
If it is wrong to seek profit, then why did Jesus admonish us to build up treasures in heaven? Why then is the Gospel of Christ compared to treasure? Why are the rich told to use their wealth in this life in such a way as to build up true wealth in the next? In fact, looking at the 1st Timothy passage, Paul implies that all of us have been richly blessed with everything not merely for sustenance but for enjoyment!
Now, there are other passages in the Bible that seem to say that profit is bad.
Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. (2 Corinthians 2:17 NIV)
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (Philippians 3:7 NIV)
Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. (Jude 1:11 NIV)
In the 2nd Corinthians and the Jude passages, profit is referring to money exclusively; an argument can be made that the Apostles did indeed profit from “peddling” the word of God (see above passages in Luke 12 and 2nd Corinthians 4). Balaam chose to work against God for money and power – what I would term here as greed. In the Philippians passage, Paul is simply recording that everything that he valued before coming to Christ he now saw as worthless in his new life.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36 NIV)
This verse shows that the profit motive is an immutable law. By analogy, you could ask what profit would there be for a man on a sinking ship to sell his only life-preserver for a million dollars? People who see profit only as money have fallen into the trap of seeing this life as what is important. If a man is truly concerned with profiting from his life, he will do everything he can to live as Godly a life as he can, spreading the Gospel and doing as Jesus did. There is no greater personal investment that can be made, and no greater treasure that can be desired.
-Charles Peterson