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03-31-08 The Paralysis of Prosperity!
Several years ago a very significant newspaper (Chicago Tribune) took a poll about wages and personal income. It revealed that almost everyone was dissatisfied with their level of compensation. For example, those in the $30,000 to $40,000 range said they felt they could be content if they could just make $50,000 to $60,000.
Those in the $100,000 income level said they felt they could be satisfied by making around $250,000 so the question comes to all of us: “How much does it take?”
Solomon teaches us by his very own example. At one time he was perhaps the wealthiest man in the world. The books of the Kings and the Chronicles tell about his great wealth. The book of Ecclesiastes reveals the great “let down” later in his life that came from all of his possessions.
Was he looking for satisfaction and fulfillment in prosperity? Quite possibly. One author used the term, “The Solomon Syndrome” to refer to the afflictions of Solomon’s soul because he was trying to pursue eternal things by temporary means.
Solomon played the “monopoly game” in his life:
- He worked every angle he could to acquire wealth.
- He married every foreign princess that he could to enhance his kingdom and add to his coffers.
- He had great riches.
- He had great prosperity!
The tragedy of it all is that his prosperity became that which paralyzed him. Read his writings carefully and you will find words like “vanity” and “vexation of spirit”. He tried to finish well but became disillusioned with life. Solomon died a bruised and broken man.
Most of us are familiar with the Monopoly Game but may not be acquainted with how the game came into production. Charles Darrow created this game (Monopoly) and took it to the executives at Parker Brothers. (As a side note, Parker Brothers was almost driven out of business by the great stock market crash of 1929.) They rejected the Monopoly game because they found some “52 design errors” and thus would not produce it.
Undaunted, Darrow sought the help of a printer friend and produced 5,000 handmade sets which he sold to a Philadelphia department store. As you’ve probably guessed, the game became an “over-night success.” A year later Parker Brothers came to their senses and began producing the game. Since then an estimated 500 million people around the world have played this most famous board game.
Most of us play the game of Monopoly for distraction and fun. One year on vacation, my family and I starting playing a game that lasted for nearly two days! Here are a few “Monopoly Trivia” facts for you:
- More that 200 million games have been sold.
- More than 5 billion little green houses have been produced.
- A game with solid gold houses and pure silver hotels once sold for $25,000.
- The longest recorded game in history lasted 75 days!
- A game played underwater lasted 45 days.
- An up-side down game lasted for 36 hours.
- The total amount of Monopoly money in a set is $15,140!
It’s sad to say, but some people get stuck in the “paralysis of prosperity” and everything else gets lost in the pursuit of the dollar. I like what Dr. David Jeremiah said, “The vacuum in the human heart is not money-shaped, but God shaped!”
Maybe all of us should remember the charge by Paul as he wrote to young Timothy (I Tim 6:10) “….the love of money is the root of all evil…”
Let’s not get paralyzed in the pursuit of prosperity. It dulls our spiritual senses and we wake up near the end of our journey to realize what has happened …. and then it is too late.
Blessings, Pastor Ed Sears
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