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Are You Greedy?

by

Eric Daniel Brown

Marcus Licinius Crassus is considered the wealthiest man in Roman History and quite possibly in world history, second only to Solomon. His wealth was not inherited but acquired, driven by rapacious greed. He gained much of his wealth by purchasing real estate and other possessions confiscated by the Roman government for pennies on the dollar. Crassus also kept a 500 man slave crew of fire-fighters that would rush to fires that would break out in Rome. After Crassus sealed deals with the property owners of the real estate on fire and other surrounding structures doomed to the flames, he then would extinguish the fires, rebuild the burned out areas and rent the properties he saved( Rumor has it Crassus was probably responsible for some of those fires). It was thought at one time, he owned most of the real estate in the city of Rome.

According to Solomon, one who is ‘greedy for gain’ is given to excessive covetousness to the point of plundering. Plundering is the act of wrongfully taking possession by force, theft or fraud. Said another way, greed is coveting that leads to lying, stealing and/or murdering for gain. Greed is not defined by what you want but rather by how badly you want it. We can be greedy for many things such as money, wealth, real estate, investments, cars, achievements, power, fame, sex, food… even shoes or baseball card collections.

For Crassus, his greed did not stop at real estate but also included fame and power. Crassus was known for his speaking abilities but Cicero was the great and famous orator of the day. Crassus was a successful military general but not at the same level as Caesar and Pompey. It seemed he was only ‘great’ at amassing ill-gotten gain. His wealth bought much political influence but very little love among the masses. In 59 BCE, the First Triumvirate was formed in which Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus became co-rulers of the Republic. Hoping to rise above the other two, Crassus planned to invade and plunder the wealth of the Middle East and secure renown throughout the known world by conquering the Parthian Empire.

Solomon declares in Proverbs 1:19, “So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of the owner.”

Upon entering Jerusalem, Crassus promised to leave the wealth of the Temple of God should the High Priest give a beam of gold weighing 750 lbs. After securing the beam, Crassus went on to loot the temple of every ounce of gold. The Parthians began a disinformation campaign to lure Crassus into a trap and even sent taunts about his old age to lure him in through his vanity. Convinced by Parthian agents that the Parthians were frightened and retreating, Crassus pushed forward to meet them in battle in what is now the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE. Expecting what appeared to be a rag-tag army of weekend warriors, Crassus advanced proudly. It was then the Parthians began to demoralize the Romans with psychological warfare using the beating of drums up and down the fortified lines. Suddenly, the Parthians dropped the animal hides from their horses and brandished a heavy cavalry fully armored. Plutarch says, “they could be seen clearly, their helmets and breastplates blazing like fire… steel glittering keen and bright, their horses armored with plates of bronze and steel.”

Rome suffered one of its greatest defeats. Half of the 40,000 man Roman army was vanquished, 10,000 were captured and another 10,000 escaped. Crassus was not among them that escaped. Instead, Crassus right hand was cut off, signifying how untrustworthy Rome was to the honorable Parthians who sealed deals with a right-hand shake. The Parthians then decapitated Crassus and filled his mouth with liquid gold, a public acknowledgment to his infamous greed. His head was then sent before the Parthian and Armenian kings where it was used as a prop in the Greek theatrical performance, Euripides. Crassus’ gold filled skull played the part of the decapitated head of Pentheus, the meaning of which is ‘man of sorrows’.

Proverbs 10:22 states, “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich and He adds no sorrow with it.”

This may be considered an extreme example of greed BUT we are all subject to greed if we are not on guard. Examine yourself for some of these symptoms of greed in your own life:

Coveting the wrong things. Coveting in and of itself is not wrong as it simply means you delight in and lust after something. Paul admonishes the Corinthians to covet the ability to prophesy and to covet the best gifts that God has to offer. Notice the 10th Commandment is to not covet that which is not yours. What do you covet?

Gain leading to a stronger desire to gain more. When we are blessed with any kind of gain or advantage, we should be thankful and content. If this instead leads to a continuing focus on what you still do not have then there is a problem.

Must gain it faster. We are in a time of ‘instant gratification’. Nothing signifies the symptom of greed in meeting our desires faster and faster more than DEBT.

Stress, conflict and adversity in your life. Examine the conflict and general strife in your life. Proverbs 15:27 says, “He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house.” Why is your relationship with your parents, wife, husband, children contentious? Is it self-inflicted because of greed?

Compromising with God’s Law. Greed has all but set in once you are willing to act unethically, immorally and sinfully to get what you want.

Once you have identified the areas in your life driven by greed, seek the antidote. What is the antidote? Look for my article on The Antidote to Greed.

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Are You Greedy?