FREE THINKING: EXPLORE THE REALMS OF KNOWLEDGE

Every day we are faced with financial concerns, it might be the cost of living, utility bills, or food prices, soaring due to the pound falling against the dollar. Whether we like it or not, the world revolves around money and the use of it in our lives.

So, what is money? Money, the Bank of England’ tells us, ‘makes it easy for people to buy and sell things’. We can use it when ever the need arises to pay for many commodities, including food, houses etc.

Today the physical version of ‘Money’ known as ‘Cash’, as almost disappeared and has been replaced by cash machines and card readers. Although for most of us this can be of great benefit, but it can also be negative. We can quite easily forget the actual cost of things we buy, which in turn can lead to debt.

All people need to be able to live, and the ability to buy essential items is vital for survival. However, the problem is, having the finances to exist in a world where the gulf between the rich and the poor is increasing at a rapid pace. According to one website, ‘

‘While the richest 10% of adults in the world own 85% of global household wealth, the bottom half collectively owns barely 1%. Even more strikingly, the average person in the top 10% owns nearly 3,000 times the wealth of the average person in the bottom 10%’

Such facts are almost unbelievable but are true; a vast majority of humanity find themselves living near, or below the ‘breadline’, a point where life itself is threatened!

In the first letter to Timothy, we are told the ‘the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil’!

Often, we believe that being wealthy is wrong, clearly that is not the case. It is not merely a matter of what you have, but rather the way it is used. The parable of the talents doesn’t criticize the art of making money; we are told that the one who hid the money, was condemned by his master.

As I look at the world, especially in our own nation, I see a danger of ‘greed’ adding to the plight of the poor and working classes. Those who have much will no doubt be gratified with current fiscal measures introduced recently but many more won’t have the same benefits.

Needless to say, there seems to be a threat to the whole of society if we fail to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. The result could be division and unrest throughout our nation.

For Christians there is an added, yet less obvious but equally damaging side effect, and that is the replacement of our God with the virtual god of money. C S Lewis tells us, ‘One of the dangers of having a lot of money is that you may be quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give, and so fail to realize your need for God’.

We are told to have God at the centre of our lives and not anything or anyone else, this is one of the Ten Commandments given to us but one that is so easy to ignore, with immense consequences for such neglect.