I Don't Understand

Okay, so it's no secret that I'm an Apple fan. I had an Apple IIe many moons ago—it was my first home computer. Ah, those were the days...no hard drive, big floppy drive and you had to keep switching disks to make it all work...but I digress...

I remained an Apple fan through the dark days, when Apple tried to become just like the other PC makers (only with a more expensive products), when they floundered to find their way, when you could practically pick up Apple stock for free (how I wish I had!). And when the first iPod came out, I remember wondering, "What in the world would I ever do with that?" Little did I know...

Today, it's "cool" to be an Apple fan. Apple products are among the most "desired" on many people's electronics list. And Apple continues to sit on a pile of cash. Every fiscal quarter, they make more money, usually at least as much as they predicted they would make, and often more. But I've watched with interest the last several quarters as a familiar scenario plays itself out: Apple announces earnings, it's usually as much or more than they predicted, and stocks go down. Investors respond to record growth by selling off their stocks. Huh? I don't understand...

Well, I know the "why." Analysts (who somehow make a living by being wrong much of the time) try to out-predict Apple (and other companies). So when Apple doesn't make as much as they analysts want them to make, or as much as the shareholders would like them to make, they "punish" Apple for making less than they wanted (even though it was more than before). Even though they may have a record earnings quarter, it's never good enough.

And it's never good enough because of something that goes all the way back to the beginning of human history—greed. In the 1980's, we were told "greed is good." But the church has for a long time considered greed to be among the "seven deadly sins" because of what greed does to a soul. Greed twists and corrupts our souls. "Enough" is never enough. Greed calls us to want more, acquire more, get more...we are never satisfied. Greed is the heart and soul of the consumer market today, and it's one of those things we, as Christians, don't even seem to notice anymore. Greed tears us apart, because, as Paul noted long ago, "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:10). Many griefs...and an appetite for more that is never satisfied.

When have you seen the love of money tear someone's life apart?