Working on Wall Street

Working on Wall Street

I am someone who is deeply troubled by the amount of suffering in the world--torture, poverty, animal cruelty, and so on. I have come to the conclusion that the most effective way of helping to relieve this suffering may be not to work against it directly (e.g., by working in a charity organization) but to make a lot of money that I can then donate to others who are working on these issues. (See, e.g., this interesting article: http://www.utilitarian-essays.com/make-money.html .) As a result, I'm considering a career on Wall Street.

I'm interested to hear what thoughts you may have on this. What would God think of this approach? In particular, does the "eye of the needle" passage apply here? Thanks!
 
The most effective way to stop poverty is to rebel against the government and for a new, less stupid and greedy, to rise. This would allow more money for schools ect. lowering the amount of homeless.
In order to lower crime I would suggest this; you get drunk and drive, you get sent to jail were you are killed, you rob some one or a store, you are sent to jail were you are killed, you kill some one, you get sent to jail were you are killed, you are a racist and you make peoples lives miserable, you are send to jail wre you are killed. You see were I'm going with this?
Now since we have Teh New Government Of Awesomeness we send more money to other contries so their peoples are not poor. If the government takes it or themselves we go to war with them, the poeple revold, we make a new government for the peoples and we all live happily ever after!


(Note: This will never happen and might not work XD)
 
I have come to the conclusion that the most effective way of helping to relieve this suffering may be not to work against it directly (e.g., by working in a charity organization) but to make a lot of money that I can then donate to others who are working on these issues. (See, e.g., this interesting article: http://www.utilitarian-essays.com/make-money.html .) As a result, I'm considering a career on Wall Street.

I'm interested to hear what thoughts you may have on this. What would God think of this approach? In particular, does the "eye of the needle" passage apply here? Thanks!

As long as it's legal, moral, and not against scripture, I would think God is fine with any career. I'm a financial planner and while I'm not exactly on Wall Street proper, the markets are certainly a major part of my job. While your intentions are good, I think you're missing the bigger picture.

I read the essay you linked to and, quite honestly, it's a bit too simplified. Nowhere does it mention God, but only what men can do to improve various situations, some of which are not exactly in line with Christian beliefs. Put simply, God does not need your money, He needs you. Choosing a career on Wall Street simply to make as much as possible to support various causes is a recipe for unhappiness if God does not want you there. The same is true with any job.

The "eye of the needle" passage applies to everyone regardless of income and wealth. I'm right smack in the middle class and not a "rich man" by American standards. But, compared to just about any other country in the world, I'm filthy rich, and you probably are, too. "Rich" is very subjective and depends on how you define "poor" as well. Christ meant that the rich man was dominated by his LOVE of money, not the money itself. I have many wealthy clients (by any standard), that give freely and are outstanding examples of Christians. Just because they're worth seven figures does not mean God will not allow them into heaven. At the same, I have plenty of clients worth considerably less, but miserly with their money. Even though they're not "as rich", they're love of money is hated by God. It's not the income, it's the intent.

The Utilitarian philosophy is very guilt-ridden. Many times the essay mentions that if a person has a certain job, then by definition, that means someone else did not get that job, leading the reader to believe that they have committed some sort of offense. Following this idea to its conclusion, we should all sit around doing nothing so that no one is offended. I strongly encourage you to consider this philosophy before following it too closely. God knows where He wants you, and it may very well be on Wall Street. But, will you make as much of a difference giving thousands of dollars away to men every year, or sharing the Gospel with your neighbor? Seek His will and you will find your answer.
 
Having money is not a sin but letting your money have you is- God can and will use you to reach others no matter where He places you- just make sure you are in the right place for Him to use you to the fullest- He is glorified by the missionary and He is glorified in the life of one who sacrifically and glady gives to support said missionary- it is really finding God's perfect will for your life that counts- just put things in thier proper order:

Find out where God wants you
Find out who He wants you to reach there
Find out who He wants you to support
Let the light of His love shine thru you werever you are planted

Do these things and you will hear "well done good and faithful servant"!
 
Toad said:
As a result, I'm considering a career on Wall Street.
Well, you are a brave soul, apparently willing to directly confront the Gates of Hell. Do you see your financial success coming from ingenuity, luck, or prayer?

Your intentions are admirable, but the circumstances you'd enter into could certainly jeopardize your spiritual values. Matt 6:21 warns, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Much as I've tried to come up with good counsel from the scriptures to go forth and seek your fortune, I come up empty. Biblical advice seems to be about person to person involvement, such as the good Samaritan, looking after the widows and elderly, giving to the poor, caring for the sick, visiting those in prison, etc. To my mind it also indicates that performing locally is better than going globally. Person to person involvement. Where you can manage what you are giving, and see what you are accomplishing, should give one much better control over results.

You might make your commitment to a non-profit charitable organization, specifically concentrating on grant-writing, to gather generous funding from all the fat-cats and their organizations who are the darlings of Wall Street. Now that's a challenge.

Pardon me if what I've said sounds cynical; it's just that when money becomes the driving force in our lives we expose ourselves to disaster. I hope you will find answers to your concerns by prayer, meditation and deep consideration of the words given by our Lord, Jesus Christ. You won't go wrong there.
 
Now - if we could just do something about the oil commodity speculators who are keeping the raw barrel price of oil artificially high..........:(
 
Amen to that- those rascals are putting a strain on my back pocket
 
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