Material goods are instruments, not goals

Material goods are instruments, not goals

Mark 10:17-27. How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!

Wealth is not the goal; but it could be an instrument to love our neighbors and truly enter the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus said to sell our possessions and to leave our families, how could we practically understand this better? I find solace in sustainability goals, social entrepreneurship, and integral human development goals in business. It may not necessarily be a very literal renouncement of our ties with our families and possessions, but rather, it is about renouncing overattachment – a bastardized version of “love”.

When politicians and businesspeople engage in nepotism, as in providing favors solely because of relationships and not because of merit, how is this “love”?

When a father merely provides financial sustenance to his wife and child without any attempts to build relationships, how is this “love”?

When a “philanthropist” donates a million dollars but continues to delay wages of his employees, how is this “love”?

When a businessman avoids taxes legally and delays payments to his suppliers, he may have complied with the law. But how is this “love”?

Entering the Kingdom means being authentically in love with our neighbor. The social entrepreneur seizes business opportunities to have just enough for himself and his partner communities. The salaryman donates a significant portion of his wages for a friend in need, no questions asked. The foundation director invests time and effort to teach business skills to the marginalized, not just donating nor posing for pictures for PR BS.

How beautiful would it be if businesspersons can become benevolent alchemists – capitalizing on business to convert goods into gold, then gold into Goods.


[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 59: FEBRUARY 28, 2022]