Greed in Gov. Bryant's office?

Tray Hairston is a good guy and a friend of mine.  Has been for awhile.  When he left Balch & Bingham to go work for Gov. Phil Bryant (R), I thought it an odd but not incomprehensible match.  Tray was going to work for Gov. Bryant on economic development issues, and Tray has professional experience in that area.  I was proud for him, and admire the work he's done in this first year with Gov. Bryant's office, especially on the medical corridor project.

Then this tweet came through the other day:

Tray Hairston ‏@TrayHairston

Money is not the root of all evil; Money is the root of all that is great because it is a measure of a man's productivity.

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Well, first off, the Bible is the source of the axiom Mr. Hairston is attempting to refute, except that he's aiming at a commonly misquoted passage.  The Bible tells us that the love of money, not money itself, is the root of all evil.  Second off, saying that money is the measure of a man's productivity sounds a bit odd to me in light of Jesus' teaching concerning the camel and the eye of a needle. (And sounds a bit like the love of money.)  Finally, I guess Mother Theresa wasn't very productive.

Here's the passage Mr. Hairston misquoted, and I'd like to offer it up to those in our state's government, especially the ones who pray so that they may be seen by others:

"There is great gain in godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs." (1 Timothy 6:7-10 RSV)