This is Part 7 of the 7-Part Series on the Terrain of the Seven Deadly Sins. In the previous six posts, I have discussed Pride, Lust, Slothfulness, Wrath, Envy, and Gluttony. Now is the last of the Seven: Greed. As with all the others, everything I describe is meant to be a metaphor of the actual Greed and stuff we deal with.
Greed has another name that likes to show itself more frequently and that is Control. Greed is not looking at something and wanting it "greedily". Greed is having possession of it and wanting control of how it is used. It is wanting more and more, not merely because you want it or need it, but because you want to control it. Greed and Control are essentially one and the same. The opposite of Greed however is Good Management. Because Greed is about control, geared towards self, Management is about directing the resources God has given us to an outward-focus.
A good example of where we see this distinction is in administration of a school classroom. There are two types of administrations that I will discuss. One type will tell the teachers what they need to teach, how they need to teach it, what techniques they need to employ, and what kind of grades need to be expected. This type of behavior is well-known as micromanaging. When the manager of a project must determine every little step of how everything must be done. While this may not be intentional, the root of this issue is Greed. But the other type of administration in a school classroom is the autonomous classroom. Here the administration tells the teacher what is expected, but how the classroom is run, how the subject is taught, etc is up to the teacher. A classroom can be autonomous while still working together with other teachers on a common topic. A good manager will delegate the tasks to those that need to do it and let those people do their job.
So now we get to the terrain of Catharsis Hall. What type of land formations would we see that is a metaphor of how Greed would rule it or how good Management would rule it? My friend and I, as we were discussing this, came up with two things: open, unexplored land, and the ocean. So why not put them together. I have 22 years of experience in missions, working primarily in Juarez, Mexico, and one thing I have learned about the mission field is the need for structure. If everyone was allowed to just do their own thing, it would quickly lead to chaos. But if everyone did their task within an organized, structured system, it works perfectly. There is a greater freedom in a structure than you could ever do without said structure. If you have a bunch of kids and a playground, you will see two types of behaviors. If you have a fence, the kids will play all over the place, even going as far as hanging out right against the fence. But without a fence, the kids will hardly move about because they have no sense of boundary of where they can or cannot go. A few would venture out but without knowing where they are or what defines them, they cannot do much or go far. The ocean is a great example. If left to our own, we cannot swim very far, nor can we handle many waves, let alone storms. Yet, if we confine ourselves to the bounds of a boat or a ship, the entire ocean is explorable for us. It is the structure of a ship that enables us to sail the ocean blue.
But what Greed does is place extra barriers where there should be no barriers. It is like subdividing the 100-Acre Wood and even going as far as regulating how one can have fun. The 100-Acre Wood is itself a boundary that while you are inside it, you have freedom to enjoy yourself. But if you zone-restrict a free territory, it loses its appeal. Good management will allow you to maximize your options. Sports has rules for safety but also so everyone can be on the same playing field. The rules are not meant to micromanage what can be done or not, but to give a structure for how the game can be played so all can enjoy it. But it can be micromanaged by referees, owners, coaches, or even some players. Greed will direct everything so the person can benefit from it. Management will direct so that the organization will benefit without concern about self.
And a lot of what it boils down to is this question: Do you want to write your own rules to the system? Or do you want to work with the system to bring out its maximal usefulness? Greed wants to write its own rules. It wasn't to dictate the pace, the production, the work, the everything. It was to dictate the who, what, where, when, and how. Management will see an end goal, set up the system that will most effectively reach that goal, and allow the powers that need it to be properly delegated to do so. A man cannot grab a bunch of feathers and jump off a cliff, hoping to fly. Greed will try to write the rules that say he could eventually do that. But no matter how much Greed wants to write the rules, it will never be able to. God's rules will never be revoked or removed. And those rules include the laws of science we have discovered. However, Management will design a lightweight aircraft that will use the laws of physics which God ordained, and use them to overcome gravity.
So now it comes to us. Who is ruling our terrain? Greed or God. If Greed is ruling, you will notice that you are trying to control and direct everything. If God is ruling, he will lead you in how to manage your resources. And God will often allow us autonomy to act as we will, especially when we work within the boundaries he has set up. God is not a micro-manager. He will not tell you what pair of socks to wear when you wake up. He will direct you and lead you as you need to be lead for the tasks God has in store for you but God does not want a "Yes Man". He wants people who will have a relationship with him, not people who will just say "yes" to everything he says just because. He gave Adam dominion over the creation. He let Adam choose the names of the animals. He tells us the list of what not to do because that list is far shorter than the list of what we can do. He sets the boundaries but allows us the freedom to live within those boundaries. And those boundaries are not chains. But Greed's boundaries are chain. Which one is ruling your terrain?
That concludes my 7-part series on the Terrain of the Seven Deadly Sins. I will have a couple more posts on this topic that will show how some of these terrains will overlap but this is the end of the primary set of posts. If you see yourself struggling in any one of these areas, place yourself in this terrain. Look around you. What do you see? It may vary from person to person. Each object you see in this terrain is a metaphor of something in your life that you may or may not know about. What you see something, ask what it is and why it is there. God will play this 'game' with you, and he will change your life when you play with him. And some issues you are dealing with have roots coming from two or more of the terrains I have described. I'll describe a few of those issues in my next couple posts.
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