The Quest for Money

By Awake! correspondent in Britain

‘MY GOAL,’ admits Julian from the Philippines, ‘was to be a millionaire by the time I was 45.’ Karel, from South Africa, confesses, “I was possessed with the aim of being rich.”

Of course, not all, realistically, want to be millionaires but do desire to have enough possessions and money to enjoy life and to do what they want. This was the attitude of Japanese businessman Kichisaburo who said, “I thought these things would lead to happiness.”

Liz, from Canada, felt similarly. “As a young person,” she relates, “I believed that money brought freedom from worry.” Her husband, Tom, hoped that money would help him “get away from it all, . . . where there would be no crime, no pollution, no two-faced people to deal with.”

On the Move​—For Money

Throughout history, people seeking wealth have been on the move. In colonial days, British businessmen followed hard on the heels of explorers to commandeer the mineral resources of whole continents, such as Africa. Then, with the decline of the empire and with recent economic crises, the movement has often been in the reverse direction as Commonwealth citizens travel to Britain, not necessarily to become rich, but to make sufficient money to support their families.

Thousands of men and women leave the Philippines in search of work in other places, and many find employment in the Persian Gulf states and elsewhere. Mexicans and many from Central and South America migrate northward in the hope of earning money in the United States. Many European countries play host to people from the Middle East and North Africa.

According to South Africa’s Manpower Review of January 1987, the number of officially registered migrant workers there was 371,008 as of June 30, 1985. The report adds, however, that “there are an estimated 1.5-million illegals who have slipped into South Africa to tap some of its wealth.”

Even within today’s more affluent nations, people are on the move to make money. This is true in Britain. More and more people are working in the south and keeping their homes in the north. To illustrate why, a residence in central London (in the south), described as a “broom-cupboard flat [apartment],” having only 61 square feet [5.6 sq m], recently came on the market for a staggering £36,000 [$54,000, U.S.]. Yet, this sum of money buys a three-bedroom house within 80 miles [130 km] of London.

There are some 60,000 Asian inhabitants of Bradford, a city in northern England. Many of these immigrants came to this industrial center to work in its woolen mills. But as automation cut the labor force, the unemployed now rely on government social security payments for their livelihood. Thus, many find that their quest for money ends in despair.

Developing Countries

Similarly, in developing countries, the prospect of regular employment attracts thousands from their homes in rural villages to the cities. True, many find jobs. But do their earnings bring happiness?

What little remuneration workers receive must first pay the often exorbitant rents on substandard accommodations, possibly in the sprawling slums that surround the towns. The remainder has to meet the pressing needs of their relatives back home in the village. In Africa, for example, at the end of the month, many city post offices are full of men lined up to purchase money orders for their dependent relatives back in the villages.

Even when families live together in the cities, further economic burdens press in. Money must be set aside for health care, for transportation, for school fees, for food, and for rented accommodations. The list appears endless. It is little wonder that many town dwellers hold down two jobs.

Does this read like a recipe for happiness? Hardly. So, then, whether you move or stay where you are, the question remains, What role does money play in your life? The answer is crucial to your happiness.

Money​—A Cruel Master

ADVERTISING uses subtle psychological ploys to foster the consumer society. It persuades people to ‘buy things they don’t need with money they don’t really have, sometimes to impress people they don’t really like.’

Many are induced to try to make lots of money in the hope of achieving security. But does this lead to the desired result?

Liz, mentioned earlier, eventually married a financially secure husband. She says: “When I married, we had a beautiful home and two cars, and our financial situation allowed us freedom to enjoy anything the world had to offer in the way of material things, travel, and recreation. Oddly enough, I still worried about money.” She explains why: “We had so much to lose. It seems that the more you have, the less secure you feel. Money did not bring freedom from worry or anxiety.”

Although the quest for money is a distinguishing mark of our times, true contentment rarely results. “An obsession with money may seem natural in the 1980s, an age of materialism,” writes David Sylvester in the Detroit Free Press. “But I see this materialism as only a symptom of our uneasiness.”

Credit or Debit?

Even if your income does not permit you to buy certain luxuries, our materialistic society would have you believe that it is your right to have them. This emphasis on the enjoyment of possessions, coupled with inflation, has spawned the booming credit card, or plastic money, business. The rationale is that ‘it makes no sense to wait before buying since the price will surely be higher if you do so.’

Britain, with 22.6 million credit and charge cards, now carries the label of the “biggest user” of such cards in Europe, dwarfing France’s 6.9 million. Even so, it is claimed, the market in Britain is “not yet saturated.” How times have changed! “Debt was once something to be avoided,” comments The Listener magazine. “Today it is called credit, and is urged on consumers from all sides.”

As a result, global debt has soared and now threatens the world’s richest nations. And on the individual level, debt as a proportion of income is higher than ever. This situation is by no means limited to one country or even one continent. “In days gone by, black people never used credit,” comments a black resident of South Africa. But he adds: “It is their credit that helps many firms, such as furniture shops, remain in business.”

“We’re the IOU generation,” comments business writer David Sylvester, “overspending, underinvesting, living like tomorrow never will come​—or if it does, social security will bail us out.” So, has this materialistic approach to life brought happiness?

Sad Consequences

“City high flyers ‘ease pressure with cocaine,’” headlined The Daily Telegraph of London. Yes, more and more highly paid young businessmen, faced with tremendous pressures as they negotiate money deals, fall afoul of a growing plague: drug addiction.

New York’s financial district, centered on Wall Street, suffers the same epidemic. A Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent reportedly said: “Those involved are very discreet. People don’t just blatantly snort coke but make no mistake, 90% of them in the financial district accept its use. Those whizz-kids burdened with all their pressures are scared stiff that they can’t make a deal unless they’re high on something.”

But the criminal activity that currently stains the financial markets is by no means limited to drug abuse. There are reports of massive fraud and insider trading.

“How can people who earn more than $1 million a year need money so badly that they are prepared to break laws to get even more?” asks Wall Street psychiatrist Jay B. Rohrlich. Answering his own question, Rohrlich continues: “Some people actually get high and hooked on money in the same way that others become addicted to alcohol and cocaine and other drugs.” To them, he explains, “money becomes the antidote to a perceived sense of insufficiency.”

In our increasingly materialistic world, the amassing of a fortune is no longer frowned upon. A survey, published in the French magazine Le Figaro, reveals that money does not have ‘a bad smell’ anymore. Interestingly, when asked what they thought money can offer, 45 percent of the French surveyed answered: happiness. But, sadly, just the opposite is true.

Can anything be done to counteract the inordinate desire for money that has resulted in so much unhappiness?

Need for Self-Examination

You may not feel that you are addicted to money. But consider: Is money or what money can buy a main topic of your conversation? Do you place a lot of emphasis on money? Do you reason that your view of it is nothing out of the ordinary and so justify a craving for it?

No question about it, there is a danger in falling under money’s spell, becoming its slave. A wise teacher of two thousand years ago warned of its “deceptive power” and likened the pleasure of having lots of money to thorns that choke the life from nearby fruit-bearing plants. (Matthew 13:22) The Bible also warns that “the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things” and that those who pursue it ‘stab themselves all over with many pains.’​—1 Timothy 6:10.

Truly, when money dominates, it is a cruel master. Yet, it has a useful role in today’s world​—as a servant.

Money​—Your Obedient Servant

“BETWEEN 1968 and 1986 the proportion of adults in Great Britain with a building society savings account rose from 15% to 64%,” reported the Glasgow Herald. In contrast, the paper observed: “The number of people who belong to a Christian Church has fallen.”

Money, or Mammon, has long been considered to be in opposition to God, no doubt because of Jesus’ words: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other . . . Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”​—Matthew 6:24, King James Version.

At the same time, however, the Bible says, “Money is for a protection.” (Ecclesiastes 7:12) Or as a person in modern times put it, “Money speaks sense in a language all nations understand.”

But how can we see to it that money benefits rather than dominates us?

Content With Essentials for Life

Food

Clothing

Shelter

The above are essentials. You need them to be happy. As the Bible says: “So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things.” You really do not need any more. “For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out.”​—1 Timothy 6:7, 8.

However, what if the money you earn is not sufficient to provide you with what you consider to be necessities? Then you may contemplate a move to an area where your wages will cover your needs. But here is where you need to evaluate the situation honestly and carefully, for God’s Word goes on to warn: “Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin.”​—1 Timothy 6:9.

Wisely heed this warning! Listen to the Christian apostle Paul who urged, “Let your manner of life be free of the love of money.” (Hebrews 13:5) Examine yourself, asking: ‘Am I content with just the essentials? Or do I yearn for luxuries?’

True, money can provide enjoyable extras. “Bread is for the laughter of the workers, and wine itself makes life rejoice,” the Bible says, “but money is what meets a response in all things.” Yet, the extras that money can buy are not essential to true happiness.​—Ecclesiastes 10:19.

Money Management

What, then, can you do to keep money in its proper place, as a servant? It is vital to live within one’s means. For example, Liz, mentioned earlier, says: “I now realize that the source of my family’s problems when I was a child was poor money management. We purchased on credit, and therefore we always had a debt hanging over our heads. This brought anxiety.”

You will, of course, need to reckon carefully just what money you have available. On receipt of your income, first set aside money to pay for the essentials. In this way, your money will be a protective servant, as Ecclesiastes 7:12 says it can be.

Reasonable foresight is a necessary part of good money management. Set aside the amounts needed to care for coming expenses. But, remember, an obsessive concern for a monetarily secure future is really a damaging form of materialism.

Remember, too, that some of the money you have may not really be yours. Do you recall when Jesus was asked about the matter of paying taxes? He requested a coin and inquired, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

“Caesar’s,” was the answer.

“Pay back Caesar’s things to Caesar,” Jesus replied.

Thus, duly constituted governments rightly demand tax money in payment for such services as health care, education, and transportation facilities. If you desire God’s favor, then you are under obligation to pay the prescribed amount demanded for taxes.​—Mark 12:13-17.

Another Essential

Besides food, clothing, and shelter, there is another essential that we cannot neglect without causing ourselves serious problems. Can you determine what this essential is from these words of Jesus: “Make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous riches, so that, when such fail, they may receive you into the everlasting dwelling places”?​—Luke 16:9.

Riches do fail. Of that many of us are well aware as we find the purchasing power of our money eaten away by inflation. So, then, as long as we are alive, we will want to use our money in a way that will make friends of those who can receive us into “everlasting dwelling places.” Who are these benefactors?

Jesus Christ himself gave the answer when he said in prayer: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3) Yes, if we want life beyond our present short, trouble-filled existence, it is absolutely essential that we become friends of our Creator, Jehovah God, and his Son, Jesus.

Wise Use of Money Now

“Honor Jehovah with your valuable things,” counsels God’s Word. (Proverbs 3:9) Consequently, those who look to God for true happiness use their money in a way that pleases him. They aim to care adequately for their family’s material needs. (1 Timothy 5:8) They make honest provision for others who are related to them in the faith. And they also make voluntary contributions to support the work of providing spiritually upbuilding information in the form of Bibles and Bible-based publications, such as this magazine.

Knowing that God’s Kingdom will rid human society of its materialistic, selfish commercial elements, they avoid being sidetracked into pouring money into schemes that are already doomed to failure. (Daniel 2:44) “Having sustenance and covering,” they are content with a life-style that cares for life’s priorities.​—1 Timothy 6:8.