What Happened to Wall Street?

The way of the world is always guided by self interest; this self interest is acceptable to the man of the world, it is taught in his home, his school, and his marketplace.

The way of God is guided by God. God needs nothing of the creation He has made to authenticate Him, or to authorize His way. It is God’s will that men and angels learn of Him, for that will benefit them, God needs no benefit.

We have to learn to accept God as altogether superior to us, each and all. All power is Gods power, even the power residing in a man, all things belong to Him, and of man He says “all souls are mine.”

If we were to accuse God of acting in His own interest, it would be true, for He cannot act against Himself. But it would not be sin, for God does not sin. God’s self interest is pure, and even generous, which we will learn if we take Him at His Word.

We might feel slighted in some way if God’s way required Him to act in a manner that crossed our will. But that would reveal our shortsightedness, our selfishness, and our unwillingness to submit to God, (who is) our Superior.

The man of the world might vindicate his own self interest were he ever to lead a life free of wrongdoing. But his self interest is contaminated by his sin, by evil; in fact it is so overwhelmed by his sin that it is called selfishness, or greed. It is the man promoting himself always first, and thereby placing God as man’s inferior. This is the sin which Satan sinned by seeking Gods status for himself. It is the sin of pride, the root of idolatry.

Idolatry puts something in the place of God, and God’s place will never allow an equal, for there is no equal to Him. Nonetheless, man is so deceived by the power of sin that to some extent each man makes himself an idol by sinning. All sin is against God, it contradicts God’s will and way, and by sinning a man or woman makes themselves a god.

The marvelous history of mankind proves over and over in the most perverse and sublime ways that man is incapable of living selfishly without dire consequences. History shows that men are inclined to continue in their selfish ways until these consequences force them to submit to someone other than themselves for help. It is our prideful shortsightedness that keeps us from going to God immediately, for His ways are able to save us, to heal us and to deliver us from consequences and from hell itself.

God has no needs. He is sufficient in Himself. Mankind has nothing but needs. We are always dependent on others, and to a far greater degree that we know. Still our pride and self interest together draw us away from God’s way to self promotion, to greed and to competition which result in strife on every level, often to outright war. So powerful is self interest in the lives of most men and nations that those who have by faith in God conquered selfishness are unable to restore the world to peace. Nonetheless they do what alone can remedy the disaster of selfish living, they live for others. Their live are dedicated to God and to their neighbors. If God needed anything it might be for you and me and all mankind to heed Him and prefer the well being of others before our own well being.

My own country of the United States declared her independence from a King who selfishly exploited economic life of the people. The high ideals of God given equality of all persons, the guarantee of their life, liberty, opportunity, and of their inalienable rights have not always been authenticated in deed. The “playing field” may have been level for some white Europeans, but (notably Africans) many other peoples were not practically included, but treated as unequal. Even today, after we have taken great pains to legislate protections against unfairness on the basis of race, national origin, religious affiliation, gender and age, the United States has only succeeded in making a level “playing field.” What is the result?

Our four major sports are highly competitive (forms of war), and our government has simply succeeded in creating an economic environment for self interest and competition among men and women. It may be regulated by law to protect us from violence to persons, but what is the end of our economic striving? Time will tell.

We must learn from God that His way is to put the needs of others first. This is right and good; it is the practical demonstration of His love working through our hearts. It is the only way in which true peace amongst us can and will arrive. The life and the words of our Messiah, Yeshua of Natzeret (Jesus of Nazareth) are the greatest substantive exposition (and a better exposition by far than this writers) of that fact, and the only exposition of authority. Yeshua is the Way, and God is love. All else is vain, destined for judgment, and unworthy of pursuit. Viva El Camino.




© 2008 David Severy