By Alejandro Morles
One of my friends at the University once told me that he is majoring in Religious Studies and Economics because he “wasn’t sure if wanted to worship God or Mammon yet.” While I laughed at the moment, it was a quote that has become fixed in my mind. It is easy to witness God in the beauty of this world and in the arts, but why this dichotomy? Is God present during the conventional worker’s nine-to-five workday? Is God present in the creation of wealth?
It would be prudent to look first at what the Sacred Scripture has to say. In particular, the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) is a traditional source of wisdom on this question. In the parable, each servant is given a different number of talents. However, while the two who are given several talents go off and double what the master has given them, the third hides his talent in the dirt. When the master returns, he praises the two servants who have been productive with his gift but rebukes the third, calling him “wicked and slothful” (Matthew 25:26).
When one sees the master as a symbol for God and us as the servants, this rebuke begins to make sense. God blesses us His servants with “talents” such as skills, abilities, assets, and financial resources. We do not all receive an equal share of every resource, but neither do we truly deserve anything in the first place. It is only out of God’s goodness that we even have life. When considered in this way, one realizes that the parable teaches us to be grateful to God for everything that we have. Further, we see that we should strive to develop that which God has given us as a way of giving thanks to our Creator.
This analysis is grounded on the modern English meaning of talent. However, by using its original meaning, an additional insight may be gained. A talent (or “talanton” in Ancient Greek) was a unit of currency worth about 6,000 denarii; a single talent therefore was worth approximately 20 years of labor. Though the master’s servants are entrusted with different amounts of wealth, the servants that are entrusted with more have an even greater responsibility. As we read in the Gospel of Luke, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more” (12:48).
We should recognize, however, that even as we are all unique, we similarly have unique sets of talents. Someone who is gifted in the arts, for example, would not be developing his or her God-given talents by working a soul-crushing job working Excel. And similarly, someone who thinks he or she can cause a positive change in the business world would not be suited to professionally pursue a sculpting career.
If each servant is called to use his talents and multiply them, what does that mean for our modern-day economics majors? How does one enter investment banking, consulting, or other finance jobs and act as a wise steward? I believe it is composed of two main aspects: 1) consecrating one’s work and 2) being prudent with one’s wealth.
Consecrating one’s work requires that one focuses on how we are children of God and representatives of the faith even and especially outside of a church setting. Through work and prayer one strives to understand the talents he or she has been given and becomes devoted to a life which glorifies God through that work.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the motive of why so many people pursue a career in finance: wealth. Now, there is nothing wrong with pursuing a career that pays highly, but with more money comes more temptations, and this necessarily runs counter to glorifying God by one’s work. As written in the Gospel of Matthew, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’’ (19:24). While this warning is rather fantastic, it presents a real concern for those of us pursuing a lucrative career. A rich person needs to contend against debauchery, especially if their work colleagues may encourage it. A life of drugs, drunkenness, and sexual immorality is much more accessible to a rich banker who goes clubbing once a weekend. Indeed, when people maintain a “work for leisure mentality” as is so common for today’s workers, they are more likely to resent their work and relax in an excessive or perhaps slothful way. Instead, we should cultivate a “leisure for work mentality.” Our leisure time should recharge us in a productive manner to enable us to work better; it should not just be a meaningless binge of debauchery to “blow off steam.” Indeed, being able to cultivate such a perspective might recommend someone for a career such as in finance, as it would indicate that that career truly matches one’s talents.
Of course, greed is another vice which must be carefully guarded against. Wealthier people have even more obligation towards helping their less fortunate neighbors. Pope Leo XIII, in his papal encyclical Rerum Novarum, wrote that “when the demands of necessity and propriety have been met, it is a duty to give to the poor out of that which remains. “Give that which remains as alms” (36). The Biblical basis for this is see where Jesus remarks “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Acts 20:35 and Matthew 25:40). While there is nothing immoral intrinsically about amassing or seeking wealth, it cannot be the ultimate end itself. Instead, wealth must be used to make those around us better as well.
Economics majors should not underestimate the daunting task of being a devout Christian working in finance. God granted us our respective talents to use in making this world a better place in His name. We must not be lazy and wicked like the one servant who buried his talents. Instead, those of us planning to work an ordinary nine-to-five workday—whether an economics major or not—should be proud of our talents and truly build off them in a useful and generous manner. While the arts are beautiful and commendable, we are not any less in God’s kingdom. Being a child of God is not for specific professions or for specific times; instead, we must all be children of God and truly reflect over how we can live that out through our profession, no matter how ordinary.
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