WHAT ABOUT THE “ONE-PERCENT”?

There’s a lot of talk these days about so-called greedy millionaires and billionaires ripping 99 percent of the people off with crooked business practices and shady tax schemes. Some call for justice and redistribution of these supposed ill-gotten gains back to the rest of society, who are alleged victims of a system stacked against them. Since these fortunes were made through the sweat of the working man, the rich should give back what belongs to those they have plundered, right? Well, actually WRONG. The purpose of this short piece is not to defend corporate (or otherwise) greed. Wall Street and the business world are, in fact, infested with men and women who are only interested in increasing their fortunes. And they don’t care how they do it. Screw the little person. Screw the law. Screw genuine morality. However, what everyone is forgetting is that everything belongs to God. EVERYTHING. As bad as corporate greed is, the “99%” do not have a right to demand “their fair share.” Any kind of wealth and material prosperity is a gift from the Lord. This doesn’t mean that God has “blessed” all the rich and the poor need to “get over it.” The human race has been given a large degree of free will and some people have taken sinful advantage of this privilege to build fortunes. God will hold the “1%” accountable and will punish accordingly at the proper time. The “99%” should work to bring any and all financial criminals to a degree of earthly justice through the criminal system. But, as experience tells us, the wealthy often find ways to avoid paying for their high crimes and misdemeanors. The Lord sees and there will be no weaseling out of divine justice. As hard as it might be, the honest “99%” and the dishonest “1%” need to acknowledge God as the Source of everything they need and/or want. Fretting about the very rich will only leave one frustrated, angry and won’t solve a problem that’s been around for centuries. Trusting Jesus as Savior solves the biggest need and problem facing the “100%”—a spiritual vacuum between each and every person and God. BIBLE SEEDS: Psalm 24:1, 50:9-11; Proverbs 24:19; Matthew 11:28-30; Luke 12:17-19; 16:19-25; Colossians 1:16; James 5:1-7