Wisdom

Matthew 25:4 – “but the wise bridesmaids took oil in flasks for their lamps.”

Wisdom. Part of wisdom is making a habit of looking at possible consequences of our decisions. I admit, I often make decisions without considering the consequences. In our verse today, the wise bridesmaids didn’t assume the bridegroom would arrive on time, and they prepared for his late arrival by bringing oil for their lamps. The calculation here holds no moral choice – at least in the literal sense of the verse.

One other aspect of wisdom is to be able to include the moral calculation along with the financial or emotional ramifications of any decision. Knowing which axis should take precedence over the others is crucial. When I took Econ 101, the goal of businesses was to build a product or offer a service and make a profit at the same time. Now, the goal of corporations is to “increase shareholder value.” This is a completely different calculation and one that has clearly threatened our existence and the world as we know it. Oil companies fought long and hard to create a narrative that climate change isn’t real, even though they knew the truth. Their calculation left out the moral piece of the equation, which is the one piece that should never be ignored.

The movie “Wall Street,” with Michael Douglas was a cautionary tale to companies and corporations about the destructiveness of greed. Many people took the wrong lesson. The game, “Monopoly,” was created to illustrate the inherent inequity and immorality of unfettered capitalism. There’s a reason playing it sometimes upsets people. Yet people took, and still take, the wrong lesson from playing it. The lessons of both the movie and the game are that the people who are employed by, live near, or are consumers of a company’s product should matter at least as much as shareholders. The term “human resources” points to this valuation. Employees are not liabilities as many companies seem to think, they should be viewed as assets, as should the people living near a company and those who use its services or buy its products. Too often the only valuation companies make when taking action is their bottom line – and the profit of the shareholders.

God uses a different calculation and urges us to do the same. I have a friend who calls this “spiritual math.” One could substitute moral math, or humanist math. It reflects the reality that God’s values are different from human values. If you read the bible straight through, one thing that jumps out is how concerned God is with those less fortunate, those who are oppressed, those to whom injustice has been done, those who are ill or disabled. As an example, all through the Old Testament, God subverts the expectation that the oldest son will inherit the land. Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were all younger sons. King David was Jesse’s youngest son. God’s values are not our own. Where we value money, wealth, and comfort, God values loving our neighbor even to the point of selling all we have and giving it to the poor in order to follow him.

The wisdom of God is not human wisdom. It is concerned with relationships rather than material things. In business terms, the relationship between the company and its employees, customers, and shareholders are more important than the money generated. It’s possible to play Monopoly cooperatively, just as it’s possible to have and run a company centered on right and healthy relationships. When we exclude relationships from our decision-making, our decisions will often harm our relationships; with ourselves, with others, and with God.

I invite us all to consider the consequences of our decisions before taking action and to include the consequences to our relationships in that calculation. Let’s do spiritual math.

B