The modern consumerist society is often characterised by insatiability, the desire for the acquisition of wealth and possessions that knows no limit. Social theorists like John Kenneth Galbraith have argued that capitalist production is the culprit because it "creates the wants the goods are presumed to satisfy them". In his now classic The Affluent Society (1958), he argues famously and persuasively that modern capitalist production "fills a void that it has created".
Although his arguments are mostly correct, his analysis is nonetheless partial. The main weakness of his thesis has to do with the fact that he has confounded consumerism with insatiability by linking both to capitalism. Consumerism is indeed the creation of capitalism; but insatiability is not.
The great Enlightenment
philosopher, Immanuel Kant, is right when he perceptively argues
that insatiability lies much deeper - it is part of human nature
itself. In his celebrated Critique of Judgement, he wrote that
it is not within human nature "to stop possessing and enjoying
at some point and be satisfied".Capitalism did not create insatiability. It merely capitalises on it. While the cultural encouragement of insatiability is a modern phenomenon, insatiability itself is not. The Preacher, writing more than two millennia ago, testifies to this. Insatiability or covetousness is the character of fallen human nature.
The question regarding the purpose of wealth presents itself in these verses. The Bible and the Christian tradition clearly teach that money and goods are God's provisions for our sustenance, and therefore should not be despised. They should be received with gratitude and thanks, and managed responsibly.
There are certainly many advantages of being rich, and the Preacher lists some of them. The rich can afford to have a big family (6:3). And since there is a connection between wealth and health, the rich can ensure that their health is properly taken care of (6:3). Wealth will ensure a good education for ourselves and our children (6:8). As Derek Tidball has put it, "Wealth means you can wear the right old-school tie."
But the Bible goes a step further: because these provisions are expressions of divine love, they should not be seen as ends in themselves. For the Christian, the provisions and material blessings that they receive from God are not just meant for sustenance. They also provide opportunities to reach out to those in need, and are therefore given to us so that we may in turn bless others. In other words, wealth should be used to serve others; abundance should be shared.
The Bible therefore makes a profound and sharp distinction between saving and hoarding. As someone has said, hoarding is the heresy of which saving is the orthodoxy! To hoard is to selfishly immobilise our wealth, while saving, according to the biblical understanding, has God-honouring goals. Because saving, according to the Bible, has the channelling of one's resources in view, it is thus never an end in itself, but is a means to provide for the needs of others.
This principle is spelt out in Paul's second correspondence to the Christians in Corinth: "At the present time, your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: 'He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.' " (2 Corinthians 8:15). As Gordon Keddie has put it so well, "The hoarder serves his hoard, but the biblical saver serves the Lord!"
This passage therefore emphasises the point that wealth in a sense is never neutral. This is because wealth always has a context, and its acquisition and use always presuppose a certain worldview. The Preacher stresses that when wealth becomes the ultimate end of life, when it defines life and gives it meaning, it becomes something quite sinister. Its acquisition or loss can destroy the person for whom wealth is everything.
The perspective that we bring is
very important, and this applies not just to the wealthy but also
to the poor. Indeed it applies to everyone, because insatiability,
as we have seen, is the problem of human nature that is diseased
with sin. Insatiability breeds greed, and greed is destructive
for it blinds us to the welfare of others.