Our nation is in a financial crisis. That’s not news to anyone. Financial failure, potential collapse, and government bailouts of multi billion dollar companies has become SOP in the USA. The congress is busy using our tax money to save poorly managed businesses in the name of keeping “Joe the plumber” and all of the rest of America from financial ruin and loss of hope for the future.
Then of course there are the reports of lavish salaries, severance packages given to, and excessive spending by, the top executives of those failing companies. You may be asking along with me: “How did things get this way?” Are those CEO’s people absolutely corrupted because of their absolute power? How could they take such exorbitant amounts of money that they haven’t earned and have no second thoughts? One possible answer to the question of why corporate CEO’s do such things could be because they can get away with it. They are selfish and greedy and are in a position to manipulate and take the excess to which they have access. They go after something they don’t deserve but can acquire through deceptive means because they know no one will call them on it. Everyone does it.
My question is, while they are proportionately above you and I in regard to the degree of money and power available to them are they that different from us? Is their moral ethic different from ours? Are their actions just our multiplied exponentially to the ultimate level?
What I mean is I believe there is a thread of immorality that runs through every aspect of American life especially when it comes to money. How a person handles money, and decisions on how to acquire and spend it, effects the way they deal with everything else in their lives.
There is a cultural pressure in this country, now more than ever, to “keep up with the Jones.” In today’s culture there are so many more costly possessions a person needs to be considered culturally relevant than ever. To even be considered average in today’s culture a person is expected to own two or more late model cars, a wide screen TV and surround sound system, the latest edition high tech cell phone or Blackberry, a state of the art desk top computer with a broadband ISP connections as well as a laptop with WIFI connection, a house with nearly twice the square footage than the average home just a generation ago and more. Then there’s the social involvement of the children. If you have kid’s they’re expected to be involved in at least one if not several extra curricular activities (athletics or some type of arts programs). Involvement in those programs also cost money. Even school base programs make a considerable financial demand on parents.
Just think about it. What if you met someone who told you they didn’t have at least some of those possessions or their kids weren’t involved in any “outside” programs. How relevant would you consider them? You probably would think of them as “poor” or socially incompetent or some kind of “religious fanatic.”
Truth is all the cultural pressures feed into the pressure to produce financially. If a person does not have some source of absolute morality in their lives to which they are faithful and committed the temptation to gain financially by immoral means is not only attractive it appears to be the only avenue of action.
Specifically a person looking to gain financially no matter the means finds ways to gain through dishonesty. It starts on a personal financial level and spirals upward until it reaches the level of the top CEOs and business executives. As it grows and becomes standard practice for everyone at every level no one “blows the whistle” on anyone for fear of being caught themselves.
Here are a few examples of financial immorality at the personal level. Making an expense seem like it was done for business purposes so it can be used as a tax deduction. “Sweetening” your resume by just slightly exaggerating your degree of experience so the possibility of getting that job might be better. Taking credit for other people’s actions at work or fabricating accomplishments at your job in order to gain a promotion. Manipulating the numbers to make your financial status look better on a loan or mortgage application to increase your chances of having it approved. Not disclosing a problem or potential difficulty with the car you’re trying to sell so you can get a few extra hundred dollars from the potential buyer.
There are many more examples I can come up with but won’t take the time to include them. In today’s society those practices are not really something people would ever question or give a second thought about but they are still dishonest. They are all lies in practice and by God’s standards they are sinful.
As a Christian it is my obligation to be truthful, honest and fair in everything I do. This includes they way I handle money. All those things I just mentioned are done to gain in some small but significant way.
If as a Christian, I believe that God is in control of my life and works all things toward the “good” that he has planned for me (Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11) I should have faith and be patient enough not to try out maneuver God’s sovereignty by attempting to acquire through dishonest means something I want or believe I need. If God has not seen that I have the financial means to get that loan, or car, or house or whatever honestly and according to his standard of truth then as Christians to seek it for myself is a direct sin against God.
So while the dollar amounts and degree of greed that are being associated with the CEO’s of failing companies and institutions in this country is the apex of immorality; the decision to live life immorally is totally a personal matter of the heart. Our country's economic crisis the resulting consequence of a countless number of personal immoral decisions and behaviors that have snowballed into a problem of colossal size. The financial crisis while manifested in financial ways is the result of a catastrophic degree of sin.
There may not be much any individual can do about what the CEO’s get away with. However a Christian can keep his mind and heart on God and His absolute truth and live his or her life in obedience and according to those truths. Do what you know is right and let God take care of the results. Teach behaviors based on God's truth to your children and fellow Christians and it will have a profound effect on society.
Of course that’s just my opinion.
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