Money for the Love of It

Did you wish you were an oil worker in Alberta last month? Did you find yourself wondering what it would be like to share millions of dollars with a group of your closest friends? You can’t win if you don’t play! That’s what some people say. Other people say: don’t do it! Money is the root of all evil.

Funny thing is, when people say money is the root of all evil, they are actually misquoting Scripture. In the New Testament, in the first letter to Timothy 6:9 we read “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evil;” Notice that this passage does not say that the rich have fallen into temptation, only that the desire to be rich leads there. Money is not the root of all evil but the love of it is.

I don’t begrudge the lottery winning oil workers a dime. Let them enjoy it, I say. On the other hand, I can fairly predict their closest and most cherished relationships will change because of it. Other people will love this new money and want to treat it as their own. Family will expect lavish presents and treats. Friends will expect free drinks and cheap loans. Stores will no longer offer a neighbourhood discount. They are no longer poor. They are now rich and others will covet what they have and manipulate themselves into a share of it.

There are a few choices open to them. They can spend it quickly so that it’s gone - that kind of party normally leaves a big hangover. They can give it away to family and worthy causes. They can buy a farm (see the first option!), or they can invest it and move to a new location where neighbours don’t know about their sudden change in circumstances, Arizona maybe. The least stressful might be option #2 – share the wealth, enhance your community and preserve your relationships.

I have no grievance with lottery winners but I am adamant about opposing lotteries. They deceive people. They distract us from the problems of low farm income, an inadequate minimum wage and inadequate pensions and instead focus our attention on fantasies of the good life. They don’t expand the supply of money, they encourage the love of money and that’s where the sin comes in. Money is a means to an end. Don’t confuse it with the end itself. The world needs stronger, more sustainable, more just communities. Money can help with that but the love of money will get in the way of that.

For years my father bought lottery tickets, though he never won more than $10 to my knowledge. I was always critical of this practice even though I harboured a secret hope that he would win! God bless the lottery winners, but God save me from wanting what they have.

First Published in November 2005