GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 8:26
Bad Investment
In 2021, GameShop was a small video game retailer. Because of social media hype in January 2021, the company’s stock soared from $20 per share to over $483. The explosion of the stock price came from a campaign against particular kinds of investors—all of which are beyond my bailiwick. However, a new phrase entered the lexicon—“meme stock.” In financial terms, a “meme stock” is a company’s stock that becomes wildly popular among individual investors due to social media hype rather than a company’s actual financial performance or business fundamentals. Meme stocks can swing between 50% and 100% in a single day. For example, on January 28, 2021, GameShop stock reached a peak of $483.00 per share as investors rushed to buy in while the stock price rose. However, the core value of the company did not increase. Once investors realized that they were buying “meme stock,” the price plummeted to around $3-$5 per share. It was a near “dead” stock in Wall Street’s view. Investors who bought the stock at $483 lost huge amounts of money.
In 2021, a startup company called WiFi Money began a social media blitz promising “passive income” opportunities—using only a laptop and Wi-Fi. It claimed to teach people how to dropship on Amazon and Walmart and show people how to invest in real estate and cryptocurrencies. Investors could make money while they slept. They promised luxurious lifestyles—jets, supercars, exotic trips, and more. They tried to lure people in. According to the company’s advertising, “If you’re not making money online, you’re doing it wrong.” The company sold expensive “WiFi Money Academy” courses for $500 to $10,000. It promised step-by-step access to “done-for-you” business systems. Some “mentors” encouraged people to borrow money or use credit cards to buy in. In November 2024, lawsuits against WiFi Money’s deceptive practices and false promises of wealth were filed. The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office estimated that Nebraska consumers lost more than $3 million in the scheme.
Jesus cautioned his audience against the ultimate bad investment. He said, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36) Jesus never taught a life of poverty. However, he did teach that a life spent investing in GameShop or WiFi Money schemes while ignoring the lasting value of life is a bad investment. These schemes are only metaphors for a life spent seeking wealth, which will perish. To illustrate this, two women stood by the grave of a man who had died. One woman asked, “How much did he leave?” The other woman answered, “Everything.”
There is no spiritual virtue in poverty. Likewise, there is no spiritual virtue in great wealth. In fact, Scripture teaches that a person should provide for their family. The Apostle Paul said it plainly: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8) On the other hand, to spend life grasping for what will be left behind and ignoring one’s own soul is a bad investment.
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