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In the mortal words of Gordon Gekko, “Greed is good”. There
is a truth to this most of us are too self-conscious and insecure to admit.
Sure, greed is bad, greed places a quest for material wealth beyond need, above
relationships, above personal health, and devolves us to selfish survivor
mindsets more fitting to surviving a zombie apocalypse than the Costco
unreal-reality TV culture we find ourselves in. But maybe (a la Louis C.K.),
greed drives us to produce, to evolve, become more efficient, and create.
Greed, if connected to a stronger sense of morality and an understanding of
long-term consequences, can be useful and even good. This isn’t a moral
argument, just a broad perspective on the complex reality of life.
In his book “A Failure Of Nerve”, Edwin Friedman lists five
characteristics of emotional regression:
-
Reactivity:
the vicious cycle of intense reactions of each member to events and to one
another.
-
Herding:
a process through which the forces of togetherness triumph over the forces for individuality
and move everyone to adapt to the least mature members.
-
Blame
displacement: an emotional state in which family members focus on forces
that have victimized them rather than taking responsibility for their own being
and destiny.
-
A
quick-fix mentality: a low threshold for pain that constantly seeks symptom
relief rather than fundamental change.
-
Lack of
well-differentiated leadership: a failure of nerve that both stems from and
contributes to the first four.
Though early in the book, there is a strong Machiavelli vibe
to Friedman’s work. This is a good thing. Ideals are good, but reality must be
accounted for. What does this have to do with Christianity? When was the last
time you talked to God? Not prayed
at a meal for everyone to hear or showed off at a Bible study, I mean, had a
deeply intimate conversation with God. I ask this question because it matters.
The Church is too big and diverse to label or generalize,
but a type of Christianity exists where people live their Christian life for
others, for the approval of community, and to impress those around them. These
Christians react rather than act, blame rather than change, herd rather than
lead, and look for quick emotional “spiritual” fixes to the deprivation of
foundational health and healing. For all of that, they aren’t selfish… at least
not in a healthy way.
Yes, selfishness is bad for many of the same reasons greed
is bad, but maybe, there is a healthy application. What if many of the most
dynamic and influential Christians are the ones who place their relationship
with God above all else, who don’t care what the community thinks or values
that day, but instead, chase after Jesus where he is and as he is, who don’t
care about public approval or looking the fool, who are so selfish for intimacy
with God that they aren’t controlled by expectations or groupthink? It’s not
that they don’t care about other people, it’s that they care about something
else much more.
Yes, greed and selfishness are both bad, but what if they
are also the best words to describe the healthiest type of relationship with
God?
