Lessons on Greed and Corruption

The headlines are dominated on this day by two major headlines. The first is the immense domino effect of greed gone wild by financier Bernard L. Madoff. In classic “rob Peter to pay Paul” fashion, Madoff stole 50 billion dollars from investors who trusted his position and reputation. Long after there were suspicions about him, even the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to investigate the suspicions and relied instead on information that Mr. Madoff supplied. The second example is the strange case of Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich. Placed in the position of authority to name a successor to the new President-elect Obama, the governor is charged with a scheme to profit from this appointment – as well as many other charges. These two merely headline the destruction of our financial system by people bent on personal profit.

What is strange about all of this is the context where it is happening. Go back a year…before the current crisis hit. The New York Times best-seller list top 15 books clearly indicated the irony. There were books presaging the crisis we are in. The other two dominant subjects are where we find the true irony. Many of them fed the greed orientation: WOMEN & MONEY, by Suze Orman; THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK, by Timothy Ferris; BE A REAL ESTATE MILLIONAIRE, by Dean Graziosi; WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON'T GET YOU THERE, by Marshall Goldsmith with Mark Reiter; and, a book co-authored by Donald Trump all led to a “more is better; get all you can” mentality. It is the second area that I find so interesting. LAUNCHING A LEADERSHIP REVOLUTION, by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward; GIVING, by Bill Clinton; and, NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton give the definitive contrast. Leadership has been the buzz word of business for years. In the midst of books touting mission statements and vision statements, the implication has been that business operates best from strong character and a commitment to give your best to others.

Here’s the problem. There is, admittedly, a residual stamp of God written into the constitution of every person. We bear the image of God which has left some form of conscience within. The breakdown occurs in that we live in a fallen world and are all, in the words of the Scripture, sinners. We tilt toward ourselves; no one is more important than us. Altruism that begins and ends with man will always end up in the benefit of self. Man has character but it is character that breaks down when left to itself. There is no surprise that we are seeing the decline because we have been in decline for some time. There is no fear of God in our culture; there is little respect for Christ in our land. This is not the first crisis of morality to grip our country, however, every other time we had something to go back and lean on: a morality dominated by Judeo-Christian thought and character. We have abandoned Him. My suspicion is that we will find no where to turn. My prayer is that God grants us the other alternative: a powerful movement of His Spirit: an Awakening; revival. (But revival always begins with God’s people. Are you ready?)