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Thought for the Week

Clifton College's Chaplain, Kim Taplin, brings us his 'Thought for the Week'

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Money, money, money

The iconic, 1970s Swedish pop group, Abba, sang:

Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man’s world

The international financial crisis is dominating the news. Banks are going to the wall or are being effectively ‘nationalised’ by governments. Share prices are in free-fall. Markets are in turmoil. Bankers and City workers have become the new pariahs of an understandably angry and frustrated society seeking someone to scapegoat or blame. Many ordinary people fear that their future security has been put in jeopardy by the poorly-regulated, self-centred risk-taking of a wealthy elite. Meanwhile, anxiety about savings, pensions, employment and home ownership is growing as global recession looms ever larger on the horizon.

Is money intrinsically immoral? Of course not! One of the most misquoted verses in the entire Bible is 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 10. Some people mistakenly pontificate that “Money is the root of all evil.” However, the verse actually says something quite different:

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

We all need money to live healthy and fulfilling lives. We would all love to win the Lottery. However, when money becomes the be-all and end-all of our lives, and when we are motivated by little else but its acquisition, then St Paul warns us of danger ahead.

Money is morally neutral; it may be used for good or evil. However, it is avarice and selfish materialism which open the door to all that is corrupt in human nature and destructive of community.

The American 1$ bill is the quintessential financial symbol. Clearly written on the back, between the two circles of the Great Seal of the United States, are the words, “In God we trust”. Maybe that must always be the bottom line.

13 October 2008

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