The Danger of Riches by Alfred Graham

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 3, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 26.

The Danger of Riches.

By Alfred Graham

THERE must be some fascination in money itself, or a delusion in the hope of possible good to be derived from its possession. The latter proposition is true, and the good which men expect from riches is perfection. All nature aspires to perfection, and the lower creation realizes its aspiration, under normal conditions and favorable circumstances. Man realizes a constitutional demand for perfection, and is ever seeking after it. An error of judgment as to the idea of perfection, and the law of its attainment, and the consequent fact of failure, do not vitiate the general principle that man desires perfection.

But what perfection is there in being rich? Respectability. The principle involved in this idea is our respect for the opinions of others. No woman, for example, is governed strictly by her own taste, or that of the sterner sex, in the character and style of her dress; but she is a slave to the opinions of others of her own sex, by whose judgment she must stand or fail.

Men seek wealth from the same motive. Even the swinish miser, who despises rank and station, and ignores society, is in pursuit of the perfection of respectability. He expects the verdict of "well done" from his fellow-men, and to enjoy the honor of having attained the highest excellence. He cannot be supposed to be governed by any other motive to his low ambition. His comfort could be promoted with less than the sum to which he aspires; besides, he, as a fact, ignores comfort in any circumstances. He aspires to perfection—the personal excellence of being rich—this, and nothing more.

There is a nobler class of mammon-worshipers, who, though they are governed by the same aspiration for perfection, expect to attain it in a respectability of state and commercial power and influence. They constantly aim at a position and circumstances which will excite wonder in the vulgar herd, and cause people to say, "There goes Money-bags"—"That is Cash's establishment"—"He rents a pew in the church of the holy 7-30's"—"Old Stocks-and-securities controls this enterprise," or "owns that system." And an additional fascination is added to the bait by the possible hope of controlling legislation and corrupting the judiciary.

Millionaires are sometimes seized with a paroxysm of liberality, and they supply another condition of respectability—apparent benevolence. But, with rare exceptions, men of this class cannot, even by a stretch of charity, be supposed to know anything of the spirit of true benevolence. They affect humanity and the grace of Christian liberality to secure the applause of men, and Jesus says: "They have their reward." Men will talk, and newspapers will publish, and the donor is made famous, and becomes the cynosure of universal gaze.

The apostle Paul says, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Tim. 6: 9, 10.

If the reader will take pains to analyze this scripture, he will see that God regards riches as dangerous, and their possession to be deprecated rather than desired. Two points only we would note: "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare." The idea is that of a gin or trap concealed by a fascinating bait in order to obtain which the unwary bird or beast approaches at the unconscious risk of its life and liberty. How expressive this figure for its purposes! The fascination of wealth, with all its desirable possibilities, lures the man to his destruction; for it is added, "which drown men in destruction and perdition." Second point: "Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

No more fatal cause of apostasy and final skepticism exists than the inordinate love and ardent pursuit of money. It is an absorbing pursuit, and so occupies the time that it leaves no opportunity for worship, and so fills the heart that it leaves no room for God. And success often inspires such a dangerous feeling of independence and self-sufficiency that the poor, deluded victim of avarice exclaims: "It is vain to serve God." No wonder it is said: "They have pierced themselves through with many sorrows." It is a scene calculated to make an angel weep, that of a once pious man having forsaken God, and being now forsaken of God, all as the effect of loving money.

Let us all heed the words of him who said: "I counsel thee, to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich;" then we shall have imperishable riches whose values never change, and far beyond the reach of flood and fire.—Alfred Graham, D. D., in Bible Banner.