Two things I asked of You, do not refuse me before I die: keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?” or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God. (Proverbs 30.7-9 NIV)
In the wake of the FTX debacle (here and here, too), we are reminded of the wisdom we find in Proverbs: let’s not desire to be insanely wealthy, and let’s not deceive each other.
FTX was a crypto exchange platform built by traders for everyone. With low trading fees, you could trade digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Over 1M users use FTX.
Started by Sam Bankman-Fried, the collapse of FTX is being compared to Enron, Tyco, and Madoff in one story. Sam also created a few tokens of his own on FTX and used his platform to increase the value of those tokens. He then transferred the tokens to a hedge fund Alameda, and since the supply was largely in friendly hands, he was able to manipulate the value of those tokens through what amounts to, insider “wash” trading. He eventually got the accounting value up to $14B through “slight of hand” and then posted them as collateral and went shopping for a $10B loan from a bank. Well, the only bank that would approve his application was his own bank. So, he granted himself the loan and siphoned off $10B of real assets from Alameda and FTX for himself. (Source video)
FTX was giving money away too, so those grantees and efforts are now ended due to lack of funding.
He spent the money on politicians and lobbying, stadium rights, celebrity endorsements, condos in the Bahamas, and so forth. He traded some of the money left over, made some bad trades, and lost all their money. Authorities estimate there will be over 1M creditors in these legal proceedings.
What are the lessons we can learn?
First, when we lie and steal, whatever wealth we gain will leave us as quickly as it came (Proverbs 13.11). The Scriptures are clear that wealth gained through evil means is left to the righteous (Proverbs 13.22). One of the economic laws that God has put in place is that lasting wealth must be gained through honest work.
Second, when we desire to be rich, all kinds of evils will follow us (1 Timothy 6.10). Our desires should be for righteousness, not wealth (Matthew 5.6). Our desires should be God’s presence and his agenda for his kingdom (Matthew 6.33). If your desires don’t align with God’s desires, ask him to change what you want so that you want what he wants. It’s a process, but you can conform to his desires.
Third, be content with what God has given you. You’re in a good spot if you don’t desire either wealth or poverty. Be content with what you have and align your lifestyle to where you’re at economically.
Last, live at the median level of the community where God has placed you. “Wealth” and “poverty” are elastic terms. What’s wealthy in one community may approach poverty in another. Account for those differences and live at the median levels in the community where God has placed you.
Now and then, God reminds us of these basic lessons through the actions of others. Let’s learn from FTX and others that pursuing wealth is not how a disciple of Jesus Christ lives.
Bill English, Publisher
Bible and Business
