I once knew an outwardly nice and caring man. As I got to know him though I soon discovered that there was more to his niceness and caring than at first glance. Below the surface of his loving exterior lay an agenda of hidden motives. Sad to say that his niceness and caring acts of kindness usually ended in a motive to serve himself.
He was a leader in the church. Most knew him through his acts of kindness toward them; and certainly he must be given credit for the nice things he did. But usually he did those things for people in order to gain their respect, trust, and confidence in him, so that he could control matters in the church. He became the go-to guy for all decisions. Even though these acts of kindness were greatly appreciated, they should never excuse a person who would use them for selfish reasons.
Why do we do the things we do and pray the prayers we pray? You might be surprised when you begin to examine your own motives behind them. How can we pray for big elaborate luxurious lifestyles when three quarters of the world struggles with starvation everyday?
Last night at our Vesper Service we study a lesson on greed. Greed always has a selfish motive to serve the betterment of self. For most of us in North America and other free democratic societies, we live in a vacuum of cultural greed. It is all about the economics of self, and making the almighty dollar serve whats best for me.
When I was younger I briefly worked in the woods cutting down trees for pulpwood to be sent to the pulp mill. During that period of time the workers of the local pulp mill went on strike for more pay. The mill was closed down for a couple of weeks until an agreement was reached between the Union and the management of the mill. In the end the workers got most of what they were asking for. However, the workers in the woods got nothing but a couple of weeks without any pay. I have always wondered: If unions are so great why do they not go on strike to support the workers in the woods as well? Who looks out for them? The pulp mill would not be open long if there were no men or women to work in the woods cutting down the trees.
Last night we talked about the North American standard of life. We begin by praying for a good education for ourselves; and then a good job for ourselves; and then frequent pay raises or better jobs for ourselves. We pray for great benefits and pension plans for ourselves so that we can live a comfortable stress-free lifestyle through the golden years of our lives. We pray for these things throughout the journey of our lives always doing what is necessary (or as little as necessary) to accomplish them along the way.
Don't get me wrong! I'm not suggesting that it is necessarily wrong to pray this way: to have a good job, great benefits, and a wonderful pension plan and comfortable retirement. But when the focus is exclusively on you from beginning to end, then that is greed. How can we be so self-centric in our focus for life when the Bible plainly states otherwise. "To whom much is given, much will be required." Look around you! The brethren of Jesus are crying out from all four corners of the world (Matthew 25:40).
Do a motive check on yourself and be surprised!
Blessings,
-Leo
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