The Love of Money is a Lure

Obsession with money is a lure, a mechanism for the devil to get his hooks into us.  Just like a fish on the line, once the devil has us taking the bait, he can yank us around, control us, puppet us.  The devil having only bad intentions for you and me, “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” John 10:10.  Glorifying money is a way for predators in this life to prey upon you.  It is as antiquated of a dilemma as any in human history, the choice between more money and morality.  Since we first heard the story of Able being willing to sacrifice more of his wealth to God causing a jealous, murderous rage in his brother, Cain, we should have learned the lessons that God takes precedence over money and that too much vanity can drive us to the lowest of sins.  Any junior league Christian should know not to take the bait of more money tainted by the poison of sin, right?  Wrong.

My extended family is full of sage Christians, those considered devout, who have been weekly church attenders for the majority of their lives: my parents, my aunts and uncles, cousins, even one of my brothers is a deacon.  But all of that spiritual education somehow got lost when my wealthier attorney supervisors went behind my back and started making dishonest propositions to the men in my family in exchange for bottomless, embezzled corporate funds.

I grew up in Southeastern Michigan, went to college and law school there, the Automotive Capital of the World.  I used to write patents for an American automotive company (Ford Motor).  For those of you who are less familiar with US car brands, they have a notorious reputation for failure. Deaton, J., NexusMediaNews.com, The Stunning Hypocrisy of US Automakers, (May 8, 2018) https://nexusmedianews.com/the-stunning-hypocrisy-of-u-s-automakers-9024d5a52698/ (discussing the 2009 government bailouts and loans US automakers needed); Buchanan, N., Investopedia.com, Ford, GM, Stellantis Lay Off 5,000 Workers; UAW ‘Stand-Up Strike’ May be Minimizing Damage, (Oct. 11, 2023) https://www.investopedia.com/big-three-lay-off-5000-workers-amid-uaw-strike-8350735#:~:text=The%20Big%20Three%20have%20laid,up%20strike%20strategy%2C%20experts%20estimate. (discussing 5,000 layoffs by US automakers); and  LATimes.com, Ford is slashing 7,000 white-collar jobs, (May 20, 2019) https://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-ford-restructuring-job-cuts-20190520-story.html (discussing a staffing cut representing 10% of Ford’s salaried workforce and the year prior GM announcing as much as a 14,000 worker layoff).  While executives blame the cultural frugality of foreign carmakers and the greed of unions for their lack of competitiveness, the real story is that executive greed is the biggest enemy of our State.  US auto execs spend more money to produce less all the time, they rush to take risks before other companies and they overspend tremendously when they do invest.  If anything, upper management seems to praise excess and embezzlement more than performance.  So, my attorney manager at Ford created a scam to squander even more of Ford’s money than usual by wasting it on something as futile as gaslighting a subordinate, me—a “stupid woman.”  He did so by employing non-attorneys like my father as well as other men inside and outside of our family to be dishonest with me, emotionally and physically abusive, harass me, not hire me in any profession, and to try to extort me into a heterosexual dating relationship where I would be required to submit to a man.  This “sextortion” has continued for over 17 years now and unfortunately includes the murder of my father, Jerry, two years ago by hospital workers bribed by Ford Motor at the University of Michigan Hospital. 

In order to do this, essentially financially kidnap an adult, a great deal of people must participate: hundreds of stalkers, engineering and legal hiring managers, judges, police, EEOC officials, professors, politicians, celebrities, preachers as well as family members… fathers, uncles, brothers and cousins.  Spending money on bribing all of these men made Ford’s plan all the more alluring because it required more and more money to be spent, more to be stolen from Ford Motor so that my former supervisor could skim more and more of a cut off the top.  Ford’s legal spending accounts are not genuinely monitored; therefore, he was not likely to be disciplined by Ford’s executives who gladly took bribes as well.  If something were to go wrong or there were any significant costs, it would likely fall on my people, a family outside of their circle, a middle class African American one, so, in his eyes there was no downside.    

Despite the obvious moral failures inherent with stealing, lying and extortion, many Christian men celebrated this opportunity to take money from a big bad billion-dollar company at someone else’s expense.  In my estimation, I have never seen men so excited for anything; men were more energized to participate in this conspiracy than to attend an adult entertainment show or the Super Bowl in person.  Before this occurred, I had no idea how wicked man is and how motivated men can be to steal money. 

My former manager continues to embezzle money from Ford at my expense as I try to sweat out this moral virus every year by applying to more and more jobs.  Something has to give, right?  But as I apply to new jobs or make new complaints to police he just keeps throwing new money at more police, more government officials, and more hiring managers.  There has been no relief, it has only gotten worse over the last decade, he has murdered my father and continues to make death threats against me and my mother.  It is a nightmare.  Men who are abandoning their professional responsibilities, motivated by jealousy of other men receiving bribes, competitiveness and greed, are trapping my mother and I in the middle of their embezzlement storm.

One might believe that a decent lawyer should be able to overcome injustice this gross.  Afterall, why become a lawyer if one cannot protect their own legal rights?  Yet, call me crazy, but I do think I am a decent attorney.  I do know the law, I know how to find it when I do not, I argue it well and, of course, I know how to locate attorneys just like anyone else noticing billboard signs or television commercials.  But Ford’s bribes have successfully been able to negate all my abilities for 11 years now.  So, the Law and the Bar have demonstrated their limitations, this circumstance being evidence of the same.  Nevertheless, man’s Law is but a watered down, inferior substitute for a higher Law, an imposter diluted by man allegedly to show neutrality with respect to one or more religions; God’s Law, the only reliable mandate of morality.  Racketeers revel in defying man’s Law, but authentic spirituality is fortunately something that is not, nor will ever be, for sale.  So then, all my legal training, three years of law school, licenses, an adjunct professorship, authorship of law review articles and other publications as well as thousands of legal assignments in their entirety are much less effective tools in producing justice and peace in our community—the policy purpose of any law in the first place—than studying and living the Word of God.  I am no longer only appealing to judges, lawyers and police but to those of you who are still unconditionally receptive to hearing and obeying God’s Laws—an ethic that formal training apparently does not guarantee but that reverence for God insures because She is the judge that takes no bribes. Deut. 10:17-18 (“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.”).  You must decline to accept more money from Ford’s immoral, purposefully ineffectual, extravagant conspiracy and help my mother and I out of this Babylonian cesspool. Baker, L., Why Is Babylon Famous in the Past and in the End Times?, (April 27, 2022) https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/why-is-babylon-famous-in-the-past-and-in-the-end-times.html (“Just as Satan is called the father of lies, the evil world system, Babylon—controlled by him—is mother to his evil acts.”).  For the love of money is as it always has been—the root of all evil.

Loving Money is a Spirit of Greed or Mammon

When we “love” something we highly value it, cherish it, treasure it, adore it, hold it in the highest of esteems. Merriam-Webster, Dictionary & Thesaurus (2020).  To place that much worth on money is unhealthy, spiritually and otherwise because worshiping wealth, “mammon” as it is referred to scripturally, has a debasing influence on us.  Britannica.com, Mammon, (Assessed 04-12-2024) https://www.britannica.com/topic/mammon .  Loving cash causes us to hate God according to Christ’s teachings:

"And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.  If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Id. (emphasis given)(citing Christ’s Sermon on the Mount in Luke 16:9-13 and Matthew 6:24).

Praising wealth is inherently aspirational, done to obtain more money when most of us already have more than we need, yielding a spirit of gluttony.  One of the main psychological drivers for greed is competition. Flanigan, P., AgeGracefullyAmerica.com, The Psychology Behind Greed: What Makes Greedy People Greedy?, (Assessed 04-12-2024) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/psychology-behind-greed-what-makes-sb0nc/ (“A competitive nature can drive a person to become overly greedy.  This can fuel a need to outdo others and acquire more resources than they have.  Competition can be healthy up to a point.  However, when it becomes obsessive, it can lead to greed and selfishness.”).

Greed is bad for at least two reasons, it causes us to compromise our morals and it is insatiable.  The love of money causes us to fail morally, it is “the root of all evil.”  1 Timothy 6:6-12.  Materialism is the opposite of divinity: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness.  Instead, greed does not give us fruits of the Spirit, it causes us to trust in riches and entertain earning money immorally, i.e., be more sinful, making it more difficult to enter the kingdom of God. Mark 10:23-27.  The wicked “bless the greedy” and “renounce the Lord.”  “God is in none of [their] thoughts.” Psalms 10:1-4. “Now the cause of the evils… is not riches, but an eager desire of them, even though the person should be poor.  And here Paul shews not only what generally happens, but what must always happen; for every man that has resolved to become rich gives himself up as a captive to the devil.” Maxwell, P., “The Love of Money is the Root of All Evil”: What It Means and How to Preach It, (Oct. 7, 2019), https://get.tithe.ly/blog/love-of-money-root-of-all-evil (quoting 16th Century theologian John Calvin).  Greed compromises our morals.

An attitude of greed is moreover, never satisfied; it is insatiable. Ecclesiastes 5:10-11.  We abandon our morals to compete with our siblings, neighbors and colleagues just for there to always be others in our community that will inevitably have more than us.  So greed tricks us into thinking that we are better than others because we have established a higher position in life when there will always be a higher pedestal somewhere, someone else “better” than us according to our own definition of betterment.  This causes our compromising to snowball, exactly what the devil desires. 

Prevalence of Modern Embezzlement

For a majority Christian nation, it is surprising how common embezzlement is in the United States.  As many as 75% of US employees admit to stealing at least once from their employer. Embroker, 60+ Employee Theft Statistics for 2024, (Jan. 4, 2024) https://www.embroker.com/blog/employee-theft-statistics/; Russman, R., Russmanlaw.com, How Common is Embezzlement?, (Assessed 04-12-2024) https://www.russmanlaw.com/blog/tags/embezzlement-definition .  Employee embezzlement is estimated to cost US companies from $50-400 billion each year, being responsible for nearly a third of all business bankruptcies.  Men are the most culpable as occupational fraud is overwhelmingly a male offense, men being 72% of the perpetuators, usually those in upper-level management. Id.  Often men steal for status and women steal to please their male partners.  James, C., Embezzling: why do people steal?, (Jan. 15, 2016) https://thesheetnews.com/2016/01/15/embezzling-why-do-people-steal/ 

"The motivation for men who embezzle seems to be that they typically need money as a result of individual problems brought on by their own behavior, often money spent on women, cars, and attempts to impress others. … [The] women embezzler’s 'appeal to higher loyalties,' specifically the needs of their families, to justify their behavior or they steal at the direct request or indirect pressure from a male partner, spouse or boyfriend in order to preserve that relationship.  The men in these coercive relationships are almost never indicted; it is the woman that takes the fall."

(citing, inter alia, Dr. Cressey’s seminal research study, People’s Money: A Study in Social Psychology of Embezzlement (1953)). 

Embezzlement is not limited to private companies; public employees can immorally and unethically take bribes to sway their decisionmaking.  Even though the US ranks low compared to other countries in terms of public corruption, Southeastern Michigan ranks exceptionally high.  See Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2021, (2021) https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/corruption-perceptions-index-2021 , (finding the US in the top sixth worldwide in terms of being perceived as lacking public sector corruption) versus US Sentencing Commission, Quick Facts, Bribery Involving Public Officials (Assessed 04-12-2024).  In 2016, the Eastern District of Michigan ranked among the top five districts in the country for bribery offenders, tied for first with the Southern District of Florida.

Even though we are largely a religious nation, in our professions we still fail to appreciate that embezzlement is amoral.  But embezzlement is stealing just like any other theft.  Why is it wrong to snatch the purse of an elderly woman walking down the street but acceptable to embezzle corporate or government funds?  Because one victim has much more than the other?  Both are wrong, both are sin and both are admonished in the Bible. Luke 3:14.

God rebukes stealing from anyone, especially your employer.  Ephesians 4:25-32 (“Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”); 1 Timothy 6:1-2.  God also hates bribes.                                                                                                                               See Johnson, L., Everything the Bible Says About Money (2011), ch 1; Exodus 23:6-8 (“[Y]ou shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.”); Proverbs 17:23 (“A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back to pervert the ways of justice.”) and Ecclesiastes 7:7 (“a bribe debases the heart.”).  It does not seem that most of the men who are taking Ford’s bribes are weighing the moral costs of either stealing or bribery.

There is not only a moral tax on stealing but a professional one.  A recent study out of Carnegie Mellon finds that greed fuels bribery. Maderer, J., Why Does Bribery Work?, (Feb. 12, 2019) https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2019/february/why-bribery-works.html (testing participants’ willingness to sway their decisionmaking in a joke judging contest by selectively providing financial incentives).  Greed and bribery have negative effects on employee morale, especially when bribes are taken by senior leadership. The Real Cost of Bribery, Forbes.com, (Assessed 04-11-2024) https://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2013/11/05/the-real-cost-of-bribery/?sh=742c929773e8 

"On average, cases in which a senior executive committed the bribe had 64.9 percent more significant impact than those in which the briber was lower down on the corporate totem pole, according to the survey results. 'Senior management is the ambassador of what the firm stands for—the culture of the firm and what people are incentivized to be doing,' Serafeim says. 'As a result, it sends a strong message about what the organization stands for.' ”

Companies with low-morale employees had poorer performing stock as well, their stock improving 4.1% as compared to 15.1% in high-morale companies. Id.  As cited earlier, over the last few decades, US automotive companies have had a legacy of underperformance compared to their Japanese and European counterparts.  Low morals produces low morale and lower performance.

Some believe the Bible’s lessons to be outdated and we imagine the devil to be a scarry looking individual, unrelatable, one with fiery red skin, black horns and a pitchfork, like something out of a Stephen King film.  The devil is more accurately portrayed on film, however, in movies like, The Devil’s Advocate, where Satan poses as a personable managing partner of an AmLaw 100 law firm whose business model is to run one racket after the next for more profits and professional admiration—an all-too-common phenomenon in the field of Law.  The Bible teaches us that Satan used to be God’s former righthand man. Ezekiel 28:11-19 (Lucifer was referred to as “perfect in beauty” and an “anointed cherub” who became too proud and greedy because of his beauty and favor).  Money and status are Satan’s main ammunition in luring us towards him and away from God. See e.g., Mark 4:1-20 (discussing the Word of God being “sown” among “thorns,” which are the “cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things,” said thorns choking the Word and stifling its growth in us).  When we elevate money over our morals we are not “cool,” smart, clever or lucky, we are instead spiritually weak, vulnerable, empowering the devil to secure his hooks in us and have his way.

Contentment is Christianly

Instead of worshiping money, as Christians, we are to push ourselves to die of ourselves, to be content. Mark 8:34-38 (“ ‘For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”); Hebrews 13:5 (“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”); and 1 Timothy 6:6-7 (“[G]odliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”).

What keeps us from being able to be content in this life?  Why must we hurt others to feel successful?  When we are content, we are more moral and we earn our money honestly.  Honest money, like time, is a gift from God.  Deuteronomy 8:18 (“[R]emember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…”); Johnson, L., Everything the Bible Says About Money (2011), ch 1..  Wealth “gained by dishonesty,” however, “will be diminished.” Proverbs 13:11.

Money in excess of the necessities only brings the admiration of others, something we misbelieve we need to be happy, but popularity is fleeting. Ecclesiastes 4:16 (“[T]hose who come afterward will not rejoice in [you].  Surely, this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.”).  When we love God’s approval, we obtain true satisfaction and become content.

Conclusion

In an overly competitive society, the objective metric of money seems like the best measure of success.  Money makes us more attractive; but admiring it is of this world, therefore it cannot be of God.  When it is difficult for us to assess whether we are becoming too obsessed with money we can ask ourselves, “do I have to do something dishonest or sinful to obtain this money?”  If so, that is a telltale that we may be worshiping money over God.  Though the US government or State of Michigan may never find us guilty in this lifetime, know that their jurisdiction is partial, fallible and incomplete.  God is our Creator, a greater government, a more absolute authority to which we are all ultimately subject.  Even if we gain all that is in this world at the price of our souls we would net a great loss.  So, love God, love each other, not money; and forever Fortify Your Faith!

Until next time: Namaste (or the spirit in me recognizes and greets the spirit in you)!