What would you do with $1 billion?

God and Money

Oct 07, 2019

How much do you think Jeff Bezos (the guy who owns Amazon) is worth? $1 billion? $5 billion? $50 billion? Whatever number you’re thinking, you’re probably wrong.

It’s more than 100 billion dollars

Isn’t that just a ridiculous amount of money? I mean. One billion is equal to one thousand millions. So if he has $100 billion, he has one hundred thousand millions.

Now the reason I’m bagging on Jeff Bezos is because he got a lot of flak for cutting the medical benefits for part-time workers in Amazon’s Whole Food stores. Now it might not seem like a big deal — it only affects 1,900 workers, they can apply to be full-time and get more benefits…

But I think a lot of people (including me) were upset because this behemoth company, which can definitely afford to pay these people health insurance, just doesn’t want to. It doesn’t feel the need to. Plus all that other stuff in the news about how it treats its workers in warehouses (aka horribly).

It feels… icky. Maybe even… wrong? What about… immoral?

Is being rich immoral? Is it a sin?

The answer is no. There are plenty of rich people in the Bible (See: Job, Abraham, Solomon). Being rich in and of itself is fine. But the problem happens when we put too much emphasis on money. Jesus said it best, right?

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” — Matthew 6:24

So what does God say about owning a giant corporation with more than 600,000 workers (a number that doesn’t count all of Amazon’s subcontractors)?

Well, nothing directly (duh). But this is the closest thing I could get:

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. — Leviticus 19:9-10

Context: When you are harvesting something like wheat, you want collect as much of the grains as possible because you need that crop to eat and sell. So natural you’d want to go to the “edge” of the field and/or have people pick up the pieces that have fallen to the ground after the initial harvest. In other words, you want to maximize your profits.

But God says, “You shall not.” He doesn’t want his people to pick up every tiny piece of grain or gather every fallen grape. God wants you to leave some of your hard-earned profits for the poor and the sojourner. In fact, it’s the sign of a righteous man. See Boaz, in the book of Ruth, who allows widows like Ruth to walk behind the harvesters to pick up fallen barley.

“The Gleaners” by Jean-François Millet, 1857.

Now as far as I know, Jeff Bezos isn’t Christian. So, I’m not expecting him to follow this Biblical principle of allowing the poor to directly benefit from his company to the detriment of his profits.

I wish he would. But let’s turn the tables a little, shall we?

But what would happen if YOU were worth $100 billion? Would you do anything differently?

I think it’s easy enough for us to criticize Jeff Bezos. We all think, “I would give away $99 billion and keep just $1 billion.” And then we pat ourselves on the back and say we’re so generous.

But isn’t that still a lot of money? Would you be willing to give away $99.9 billion dollars and just keep $1 million? It’s still a million more than you have now. And this is imaginary money we’re talking about. But are you still having trouble letting go of that $99.9 billion dollars? To be honest, I am.

And that’s why money, while it isn’t inherently evil, makes such good temptation. We see what we could have and we see what others have, and then we desire more. We covet.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. — 1 Timothy 6:10

I don’t want us to think we are better people than Jeff Bezos. We all have that desire for more. (See also this fascinating article: “The Reason Many Ultrarich People Aren’t Satisfied With Their Wealth.”)

I’m running out of steam, so let’s just get to some practical actions.

If you’re an employer, pay fair wages. It’s that simple. Jeff Bezos pays most of his employees (not subcontractors though) $15/hour, which is higher than the federal minimum wage (which is a palsy $7.25). But seriously, he should pay them more and/or give them some better working conditions (YOU CAN AFFORD IT!!!)
Whether or not you’re rich, give money away. Honestly, this is a hard one, but it’s a habit you have to build.
I get it. When it comes to giving away part of your income, it hurts a lot if you’re poor. If you make $1000 a month, giving away $100 is a huge chunk of cash. So oftentimes we validate our lack of generosity by saying, “I’ll do it if I have more money.”
But it actually doesn’t get easier. Let’s say you make $100,000 a month, which means you’ll give away away $10,000 a month. You still have $90,000 left, so you’ll find it easier to give away money, right? But the actual value of the money you’re giving away is $10,000, and that giant number will freak you out so much, you will probably give less!
As Christians, this is why the practice of tithing is so important. 1) All of our money comes from God; 2.) We can trust him to provide for us, even if we give him 10% of our money; 3.) We allow him to use the money as he pleases via the church, rather than us “deciding” how to spend/donate/give away and letting our desires/money control our lives; 4.) It reminds us that we are not to glean to the edge of the field. Our profits and savings are not more important than the poor.

Other thoughts I don’t have time to flesh out:

The reason Amazon is so rich and can get away with treating its workers so poorly is that we value convenience so much. 2-day shipping is a “blessing” for us but a “curse” for so many warehouse employees, who have to fulfill all those order, and for all the subcontractor drivers who have to drive dangerously to meet their delivery quotas. Are you willing to “love your neighbor” by calling out Amazon, pushing for better workplace conditions, etc? Or not using Amazon at all? Oh man, that was hard to write.
(Shout out to Joon for this one): In Mark 12:41-44, we see the famous story of the widow putting two copper coins into the offering box at the temple. We often think that the story is about how amazing it is that the widow gave EVERYTHING and we should do the same. But people forget the context of verses 38-40, right before this scene. In it, Jesus calls out the scribes, saying:
“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
You see what I boded there? These scribes are the ones who are making these widows poor! They’re the reason why she only has two copper coins to give!
See also Matthew 23:23-24: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
There’s no point in tithing if you’re ripping off poor people to do it.

Let’s be wise with our money. Let’s not glean to the edge of our fields. Let us be generous, even if we have little. And let us be generous to those who need it.