Since the beginning of time this evil has been with us. But we have seen the love of money sprout its evil wings, particularly in the last few decades—with the increase of knowledge, with new inventions, and with our growing economy. Here are eight different causes by which the love of money has increased.
1. There are more ways to make money. With the worlds recent growing economy and technological advances, more people are working, and thus they have more opportunities to make money, to handle money, and to see money. This phenomenon no doubt has caused people to think more about money, thus increasing the love of money.
2. Because of credit cards and bank cards. The first credit cards came out in the early 1950’s. The positive aspect of these cards is their convenience. It is so much easier to present the card then to get out your check book and write a check, or to pay in cash, if you remember to carry enough cash. The negative side is remembering that your card is like money. I mean it comes out of your bank account. So, you have to know whether you have enough money in the bank. If you have a regular credit card, you can get into a lot of trouble—debt, because on most accounts you don’t have to pay it all back every month. This is where the love of money comes in. Since it is so convenient to use your card, people often forget that it is just like cash. And if they don’t have cash they very easily say, Oh I can put it on my card, no worry! And they end up using their card(s) very irresponsibly. And in many cases, they will sort of fall in love with their cards because they allow them to very easily buy whatever they want.
3. Through visual displays of wealth. It was not too long ago that photography and magazines were all in black and white. In the last few decades color has done wonders for our visual appetites, and unfortunately, it has stimulated our lust for wealth. There is nothing like excellent photography that makes advertising profitable; but on the evil side, it gives people a visual display of wealth causing them to fall in love with all that money can buy.
I suppose the temptation of wealth, mainly for young women is the glamor magazines. It will cause them not only to desire to be more beautiful, but to be rich and beautiful. And there are other magazines that sell new homes, new cars, and beautiful vacation spots. Again, these magazines are not only selling their product, but are causing the reader to desire to be wealthy—more than their neighbors!
Visual displays of wealth come not only in magazines but in stores selling everything imaginable. I’m sure you know that most people who shop in popular stores, like Walmart, buy much more than they need. They have been afflicted by the love of money.
4. Status and power. With the prospect of status and power more and more people are seeking job promotions or even entrepreneurship and owning their own business. And the more prosperous they become many are inflicted with greed and the love of money. But don’t get me wrong, promotion and owning a business does not necessarily equal something bad. It could be a blessing from God. However, if you don’t give Him the credit and thanks for it, you will become prideful and greedy.
5. Seeking a wealthy lifestyle. It seems like more and more these days people are seeing and dreaming about the lifestyles of the rich and famous, because of the happiness they think it will bring them. Of course, before the invention of television and the movies people had no such dreams. They had to rely on their own imaginations. But these days, with our computers and with AI giving everyone a boost, and with millionaires and billionaires everywhere, it is not hard to see and desire a wealthy lifestyle.
6. Mega churches. Paul taught that an overseer must be free from the love of money (1 Tim. 3:3); but I think that in many cases the main reason for building a large church is to bring in more people, in order to bring in more money. I have also heard (from reliable sources) that these mega churches follow a secular business model. Hence, in every respect they run the church like a business. I suppose that in some areas that is wise, but it shouldn’t be that way in every area. The churches’ goal should not be to make so much money, rather to minister to people, to teach people the truth from the bible.
7. Sports teams. The four most popular professional sports teams: baseball, football, basketball and hockey, have only been around for about 170 years. When the earliest teams (probably baseball) started the players didn’t make much more than the common laborer. But today superstar baseball players could make more than 40 million dollars in a single season.
Why the big jump in earnings? I have a house painting business and I make more money now, after four years in business, but good grief! I will never make as much as a baseball player. They say that the sports industry is driven by supply and demand. The supply is the few elite players and the demand is the demand for their performance calculated according to the money generated by what fans are willing to pay for ticket sales and for television and internet viewing. So, I suppose, there is a logical reason why sports players and owners are making so much money. But isn’t the demand coming from the fans—what they are willing to pay to see a game and certain players? Those who demand to see a game will use whatever money they are willing to spend on a ticket. They demand it! They demand it because they are lovers of themselves. And they are lovers of money because that money will allow them to pay for a ticket. Hence, sports teams, you could say, feed our lust for money and for our own entertainment desires.
8. Fraudsters. Recently, all over the country, and particularly in Minnesota where I live, fraudsters have been stealing hundreds of millions from government programs. These criminals set up fraudulent, non-profit shell companies that exist only on paper, and then link them together in complex networks to disguise who actually owns and controls them; then they systematically bill state agencies for services never rendered.
During the recent pandemic they organized what they termed “Feeding our Future,” and claimed to be feeding thousands of children daily, but it was all just on paper. They fed few to no meals and submitted rosters of fake names generated by software. They also pretended to make medical visits that were never made and phony healthcare agencies billed the state for the care. Once the government distributed the funds to the fictious companies, the money was rapidly funneled here and there to obscure the paper trail. Ring leaders spent millions of taxpayer money on luxury housing, sports cars, jewelry, and international travel. Hence, in this fraudulent scheme, it is plain to see that their motive was purely self-interest—the love of self and the love of money.
