Scrutinizing Scrooge

We all remember Charles Dickens (thank you Paul for the correction) famous Christmas story about a grumpy miser who learns what the Christmas spirit is all about. Through all the re-tellings and re-makings of the story, Scrooge always appears to us in the same manner; old, grumpy, bony fingered, beady eyed, and well...white. His image forms the cautionary tales of what greed can make of a man. For a long time, I thought that greed was exactly what Scrooge portrayed; rich men with an appetite for power and money that far exceeds their compassion. White upper-crusters who's drive for industry produces a frightening vice that exploits all those who encounter them. Greed is something we see in big industry, in oil company exec's who's morals are as dark as their commodity, in Wal-Mart, in Martha Stewart, in Wall St. bankers. As an ascribed middle-class citizen, I shake my head in shame and disappointment with the rest who believe that greed does not touch our own lives. We often believe that this "disease" does not afflict the modest and the poor. The face of greed is a stranger to all of us when we examine the inner workings of our hearts.

These past few months, I am forced to scrutinize the Scrooge within myself. In Timothy Keller's book, Counterfeit God's, we are presented with the concept that greed is not a vice only reserved for the wealthy. Money doesn't always make a man greedy, neither does a greedy man always make money. The issue goes much deeper than that. Greed knows no race, religion, or economic status, it touches all of us at one point in our lives. As Keller points out, most of us will never think we're greedy, and perhaps its because most of us will never consider ourselves in that 20% that holds 80% of the nation's wealth. I never used to think that greed was something I would ever struggle with, but lately I can see how selfishness manifests itself in other ways. So often we come across shocking self discovery when we're busy condemning the specks in the eyes of those around us, while God is pointing at the log lodged in our own. I've seen money issues tear my family apart, I've seen it change people, and like so many others, I've been a victim of those who seek only for themselves. In my own blinded self-righteousness and pity, I forgot to contemplate all the times I look after my own best interest. I am greedy at the dinner table when I take the biggest steak; I am greedy on the train in the mornings when I push my way past an old woman just so I can sit; I am greedy when I look at the things my friends have and covet in my heart. I am materialistic, insecure, and hopelessly fearful of being poor. I used to believe that I was modest, but now I understand that I merely did not have the wealth to be lavish. How much I have so often determines how I live, and so often determines the standards of character I set. I've been forced to ask myself a question: Do I live a modest life because I'm forced to or because I choose to? Do I seek God because I have nothing, or because I choose to have nothing? It's easy to justify my righteousness through all that I do not have. But isn't that the very essence of false humility? Often times, Christians find a sense of moral haughtiness in poverty. We are taught to point the finger of judgement at the rich, to place the face of Scrooge on the wealthy. We are afraid of teachings of prosperity, and wary of those who give thanks to God for their wealth, and at the same time, we are ashamed to ask for wealth because we're taught that money corrupts.

I'm not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I for one am tired. I am tired of always feeling guilty when thinking about money. Why shouldn't a believer in God ask for wealth? Why must we always assume that those who have much are secretly corrupt in their hearts? Yes, there is truth to the saying that it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than to thread a camel through the eye of a needle, but we miss the fact that it is still not impossible. So what does it all come down to? How can a rich man enter heaven? The same way a poor man does; through grace alone. The issue of greed is never about money, its about where we place our worth. When we fundamentally believe in the generosity of grace, things begin to change. Yes, its always easier said than done. I still battle on a daily basis with my greedy tendencies. Sometimes the guilt is overbearing and I begin to "sacrifice" more for God, but then find a sense of righteousness in what I've given up. We've all heard this story before; the good christian sacrifices something out of a guilt driven conscience then declares they are closer to God, but we should not be fooled into believing that its purged us of our greed. It's our closeness to God that leads to sacrifice, and even then, its not what God asks from us. Mercy is greater than sacrifice, compassion and love is more valuable than what we give up for God. The one thing that was able to transform Zacchaeus (an infamously greedy tax collector), was the abundant grace of Jesus. He sacrificed because he knew he was loved and forgiven, that even he had a chance with God. He was willing to face the scrooge in himself, and the grace of God allowed him to see that nothing else mattered except the friendship of Jesus.