Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. ~Ecclesiastes 7:7
Now the feast of Unleavened Bread, called “The Passover,” was approaching, and
the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get
rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Then satan entered Judas,
called, “Iscariot,” one of the twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and
the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray
Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented and
watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was
present. ~Luke 22:1-6
Judas is the perfect example of the Proverb, at least the bribe corrupting. As
I have said before, there is a lot of speculation concerning Judas’ motives for
betraying Jesus. What we do know is that money certainly sealed the deal. Many people
find it hard to resist the temptation of money. We’re looking for the sweet
deal. Bribes don’t necessarily have to be blatant or evil to be effective.
I’ve signed up for a credit card I don’t need, just to get 20% off on what I’m
buying that day. When we receive offers for trade-in values for sight unseen
cars, that’s a temptation, or bribe of sorts. A merchant is using the power of
the money he or she has to try to get you to part with your money for a product
or service that he or she also has. If it didn’t at least catch our attention,
they wouldn’t do it.
Of course, I realize that genuine extortion and bribery, for immoral purposes, are
a lot more serious than the salesmanship examples above. My point is that we
all have a little bit of that pause in our spirit when it comes to what may
look like quick gain, enough so that we are wise to be careful, or we too might
be taken in by a scheme that may appear innocent at the beginning.
Bribery and extortion are both means of trying to control another. Extortion
tries to control through threats of revealing, usually a secret, and the person
succumbs to the demands for payment to keep the secret from being revealed. Bribery
is an attempt to get your way, or influence another through, “little gifts,” or
rewards. Both are evil. When either means of influence enters into a system, whether
it’s a legal matter, a family problem, or a church issue, it needs to be dealt
with before it ruins everything it touches.
James dealt with this issue in his letter to new Christians. “My brothers, as
believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a
man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor
man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the one
wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor
one, “You, stand there,” or, “Sit at the floor by my feet,” have you not
discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?...Is it
not the rich that are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging
you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of Him
to whom you belong?...If you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the
law as lawbreakers.” (James 2:1-4-& 7-&-9)
James was concerned about what was happening in the church he was addressing
and saw the need to speak out against those who have a tendency to be influenced
by the power of money and also call out those who unjustly use their financial
gain to wield power over the less fortunate. It takes a strong, healthy church
to do what is right because God has called them to do so, even though it may
anger the major contributors to the ministry. Churches need to remember that
whether a person has money or not, they are all equal at the foot of the cross.
Our calling is to do the will of God, not the will of the one who can finance
his or her way. When we lose sight of God’s will and bow to the money, we run
the risk of becoming led astray. Solomon would say our hearts have been corrupted
by a bribe to the church. On the other hand, when we give, we must remember
that we are giving to the Lord, not to influence Him, but in submission
to Him. That means we also submit our wills to His. We hand over our gifts to
be used by Him for His glory. Church leaders need to remember that the resources
with which they have been entrusted, are not theirs to fund a pet project, for
they are only stewards to use what they have for furthering His Kingdom.
It’s certainly easy to see how Judas was influenced by a bribe. And after the
resurrection, the Jewish leadership used bribes to keep the guards quiet. When
you think about it, if the guards had decided not to keep quiet, they could
have turned the tables and said, “If you don’t pay us, we’ll tell!” In
that case instead of being the bribers, the leadership would have been
susceptible to extortion. When money gets involved as an influencer, it can
cause a lot of problems.
It is good for us to remember that we too can be tempted by those same
influences and keep our hearts and minds focused on what God’s Will is and stay
away from thinking about what we can gain instead. What we gain by remaining in
Him and doing His Will, is eternity with Him in what is now the unseen world
and that outweighs any risk of being influenced materially in the seen world. We
also need to continually hold up our leaders in our prayers, that they will use
God’s resources for His glory. That they will not be tempted to hold back, or
swayed, but that God’s Will be done in all things.
Prayer: Father, I want to love You and Your will. I want to be a good steward, and
shop wisely, but not let money have an undue influence on my decisions. Thank
You for guidance. Bless me with self-control. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Offering Song
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