Column: The many dangers on Wall Street

By DR. MARK ROSS/Columnist

I once heard about a wealthy man who was dying. While his life was full of many good things, including a wife and children, money meant the most to him. So important was this man’s wealth, he convinced himself he could do the impossible and take it with him.
He called his wife to his deathbed and extracted a promise from her. True to her vow, the woman liquidated the bulk of her husband’s assets and put the money in a large laundry bag. Then she carefully tied the bag to the rafters in the attic of their home.
This wealthy man explained to his wife, “When I die and my soul leaves my body, I will grab the bag as I ascend into the heavens.”
It made sense to him.
A few days later he died. Following the funeral and the coming and going of family and friends, the widow happened to be in the attic storing some belongings. She saw the bag of money still hanging where she had tied it earlier. Reclaiming the money, the woman remarked to herself, “I knew I should have put the bag in the basement.”
“There are no pockets in funeral shrouds.” “There are no U-Haul’s behind hearses.” Whatever cliché one chooses they mean the same, “You can’t take it with you.”
I do not know that he said it first, but Saint Paul said it best in a piece of advice he gave a young protégé named Timothy, “For we brought nothing into this world, so that we can take nothing out of it.”
I cannot say that any of the wizards of Wall Street actually plan to take anything with them, if in fact they have anything left when they die. They are too intelligent for that. However, I also assumed that they were too intelligent to put the nation in the place that it is. They were not. Some of the brightest got us into this mess and the same are trying to get us out. No, it is not an issue of intelligence but something darker. Paul also told Timothy, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”
I have always thought that Paul’s line was overkill. Kinds of evil exist that have no interest in money. While some people do hurt others for money, some do so simply for pleasure. Evil can be poor as easily as it can be rich.
Yet, I think Paul is talking about a more common evil, the kind that lives next door or closer. This evil cheats on expense reports and tax returns. This evil does not pay the paperboy or a debt back to a friend. This evil loans money to people who cannot pay it back. It risks the small fortunes and retirements of those who cannot afford to take a risk. This evil is rooted in a love of money.
“The love of money” is biblical language. Few speak that way in Washington or on Wall Street. They simply call it greed. They mean the same. Greed is to love money so much that we act as if we really can take it with us.
In the Parable of the Rich Fool, Jesus told about a farmer whose crop was so great he decided to tear down his barn and build a larger one. However, God spoke to this man and said, “Tonight, they will demand your soul.” That is how the text reads in Greek but translators rarely record it that way. It is not God, who demands his soul, but the “they” in the text are the rich man’s wealth and possessions. In other words, in life, he may own his possessions, but in death they will own him.
Paul is correct. You cannot take it with you, whether it is a full barn or packed portfolio. However, while we may not take our wealth with us, if we are not careful, our wealth could take us with it, and no one wants to go there.

Dr. Mark Ross is the pastor of Marion Baptist Church. To learn more about MBC, visit http://www.marionbaptistchurchva.com/