I Need More

          In the summer of 1995, David Miller decided to leave the corporate world to go to seminary. He wrote four hundred friends and acquaintances alerting them of his startling decision. He expected his decision to be received with scorn and disdain. What he got instead were positive responses. One summarized well the reaction from the corporate world:

I have worked hard to reach the pinnacle of my profession. I have more money than God, yet I am unfulfilled. My marriage is in shambles, I hardly know my kids, and when I look in the mirror, I wonder where the man went who so idealistically graduated from college 30 years ago and was ready to make his mark on the world. I'd like to talk to my pastor, but he has no clue about my world and the pressures I face. Let me know what you find in seminary. I'd like to talk with you.

             All over the world, successful people are coming to the realization that they need more. I think I know where they can find it. How about you?

Seven "Deadly" Sins

             I am about to begin a sermon series on “Seven Life-Affirming Virtues.” What I plan on doing is staking out the territory God inhabits (the virtue), and addressing the two extremes that flank either side. Both flanks are sins. For example: the virtue humility is flanked on one side by pride (too high a view of one’s self) and on the other side by low self-esteem (too low a view of one’s self.)

            My story this morning concerns an article I read about DISCIPLESHIP magazine back in 1992. In the article, readers individually responded to a survey by communicating to the editors of the periodical the greatest spiritual challenge of each reader.

            Here is how they ranked:

               1. Materialism

              2. Pride

              3. Self-centeredness

              4. Laziness

              5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness

              6. (Tie) Sexual lust

              7. Envy

              8. Gluttony

              9. Lying

            If you count materialism as greed, you find all seven of the traditional “seven deadly sins” present.  Notice none of these sins will get you thrown in jail. None will even get you disfellowshipped from today’s churches. As far as the secular and spiritual cultures are concerned, you and I can practice these sins with impunity—free from unpleasant consequences.

            Maybe that is why these sins are called “deadly.”

Impeding Progress

1 Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won't let go (Heb. 12:1a.) CEV

It is said that the army of Alexander the Great was advancing on Persia. The moment arrived when all might be lost. The problem? The soldiers had accumulated so much plunder from previous victories; the possessions were beginning to weigh them down. They were no longer like soldiers—they were like a traveling pawnshop!

Alexander recognized the issue. He ordered that all of the booty be piled up and burned.

This did not go over well with the soldiers… initially. In time, they understood their commander’s astuteness. One historian has written, “It was as if wings had been given to them—they walked lightly again.” The army proceeded once more to victory.

The writer of Hebrews was seeking to motivate the Christians to do symbolically the same thing. They were weighed down by false values, which translated into a defeated lifestyle. He challenged them to take inventory, and to throw everything away that hindered their walk with Jesus.

Might we be wise to do the same?

Source: Our Daily Bread, July 3, 1992

It's All Mine

          I like the story told about Dr. George W. Truett, a great preacher in located in Dallas in the first half of the twentieth century. Here is how the Christian publication, OUR DAILY BREAD, told the story a couple of decades ago:

[Truett] was invited to dinner in the home of a very wealthy man in Texas. After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area.

Pointing to the oil wells punctuating the landscape, he boasted, “Twenty-five years ago I had nothing. Now, as far as you can see, it's all mine.” Looking in the opposite direction at his sprawling fields of grain, he said, “That's all mine.” Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged, “They're all mine.”

Then pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, he exclaimed, “That too is all mine.”

He paused, expecting Dr. Truett to compliment him on his great success. Truett, however, placing one hand on the man's shoulder and pointing heavenward with the other, simply said, “How much do you have in that direction?” The man hung his head and confessed, “I never thought of that?”

A Tale From Ancient India

          Nathan Castens writes about a legend from ancient India that he first heard retold by Henri Nouwen (in his book THE WOUNDED HEALER.)

Four royal brothers decided each to master a special ability.

Time went by, and the brothers met to reveal what they had learned.

“I have mastered a science,” said the first, “by which I can take but a bone of some creature and create the flesh that goes with it.”

“I,” said the second, “know how to grow that creature's skin and hair if there is flesh on its bones.”

The third said, “I am able to create its limbs if I have flesh, the skin, and the hair.”

“And I,” concluded the fourth, “know how to give life to that creature if its form is complete.”

Thereupon the brothers went into the jungle to find a bone so they could demonstrate their specialties. As fate would have it, the bone they found was a lion’s. One added flesh to the bone, the second grew hide and hair, the third completed it with matching limbs, and the fourth gave the lion life.

Shaking its mane, the ferocious beast arose and jumped on his creators. He killed them all and vanished contentedly into the jungle.

Casten’s continues, “We too have the capacity to create what can devour us. Goals and dreams can consume us. Possessions and property can turn and destroy us—unless we first seek God's kingdom and righteousness…”

             Remember, God made us in His image. God designed each person to regard his neighbor as highly as he regards himself. Deuteronomy 10:19, is another of God’s ways of stating—love you neighbor as yourself.

            Among many teachings, Deuteronomy emphasizes to us the spirit of God with regard to things. Rick Atchley wrote that God's people “… may own things, but they don't accumulate things at the expense of other people, because they know that God made things to be used and people to be loved.” Rick's statement expresses well a sentiment of Deuteronomy. 

            Remember:            If things become gods, people become things.

Seeking $990,000 in Change

           Did you hear about the man in Lexington, North Carolina, who tried to fool a Wal-Mart cashier by buying a few hundred dollars worth of items using a one million dollar bill? Of course, the one million dollar bill was counterfeit.

            Somehow, the clerk sensed that something was awry. It might have been when the gentleman asked for more than $999,000 in change! Thinking quickly, the Wal-Mart employee called authorities and Michael Fuller was arrested.

            This story has gotten a lot of play on the Internet and in the media. With the largest bill currently in circulation being that of the $100 amount, it is easy to question how in the world Mr. Fuller could have expected to function in a culture with a proposed currency being so obviously out of whack.

            Unfortunately, he is not alone. I would argue that most people in our culture have a view of money that is out of whack. We place too high a value on the dollar amount, even when it is a real, legitimate, and government-backed currency. $100 does not buy nearly as much life as many of us think.

            I believe that was what Jesus meant when he said, "No one can serve two masters. The person will hate one master and love the other, or will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and worldly riches” (Mt. 6:24.) NCV

PRIORITIES OF LIFE

           A preacher named Tom Harguess wrote a bulletin article a couple of decades ago that I think captured our struggle with affluence. Here is a portion of what he wrote:

            While holding a gospel meeting in Gallup, New Mexico, I began visiting with a lady of the congregation, who had some time ago read an old book on the sinking of the Titanic. It makes you take focus on what is really important in life.

            On April,14 1912, at 11:40 P.M., the unsinkable Titanic struck an iceberg. It sank about 2:20 A.M., and the S.S. Carpathia arrived on the scene to receive survivors at 4 A.M. At the time of the collision there were a total of 2340 on board. Only 745 of that number were rescued.

            What is it to a man who is about to die, to know that there is at hand on the Titanic 3 electric elevators, squash courts, Turkish baths, a hospital with an operating room, private promenade decks, Renaissance cabins, a palm garden, a darkroom for photography, the tapestry of an English castle, and a dinner service of 10,000 pieces of silver and gold.

            In that midnight crisis the one thing needful was not provided, where everything was supplied. The one inadequacy was the lack of lifeboats!

            In our modern world we have many luxuries. The finest homes, the finest automobiles, the finest clothing, the finest food money can buy; many different toys to amuse us. What many don’t have is security of life. A knowledge that heaven awaits us.                                        

           Be careful when you surround yourself with things and leave off caring for your spiritual welfare. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26).

            Well said, Tom. What are our priorities of life?

Hush Little Luxury

       I wish I knew who wrote this little ditty addressing materialism in America. I think it is spot on:

            Hush little luxury, don’t you cry –

            You’ll be a necessity bye-and-bye.

Keeping Up With the Joneses

Ever heard the saying, “keeping up with the Joneses”? It means replacing something you own—a coat, a car, or something else—with a more expensive version, because you saw a friend or neighbor with a nicer one than you owned.

            Several years ago, I read a story that made me think of this practice. E. R. Eastman wrote about the time he and his wife went to an auction.

            Before the auction, they saw an empty pork barrel they wanted to buy. They became separated and, when the time came to auction off the barrel, neither could see the other.

            The auctioneer was a friend of theirs, and he could not resist—he kept raising the price way over the actual value, as man and wife stubbornly fought to win the bid.

            I think that is what materialism does to people. In trying to bid against the Joneses, we raise the price of things way over their actual value.

Serving God and Mammon

            Back in 2004, Steve Rushin had an interesting take on athletes and materialism in the magazine SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. Attending the NBA All-Star game—that year in Los Angeles—Rushin noted in an article entitled “Amens and Amaretto”:

            Jesus said, "Ye cannot serve both God and mammon," but that didn't stop everyone from trying during NBA All-Star week in Los Angeles, where Magic Johnson took the stage of the Shrine Auditorium and said earnestly, after a three-hour tribute in his honor, "First I want to thank God, but also American Express."

            It was like that all week in L.A., God and money intersecting, sometimes literally, as in the gold cross of diamonds that dangled from the neck of  Indiana Pacers forward-center Jermaine O'Neal. Or the silver cross of  diamonds that accessorized the Kobe Bryant jersey worn by TV's Laverne, actor-director Penny Marshall…

            My concern is not for the ones in the story. For all I know, they may have changed. My concern is, how much do their attitudes reflect mine?

Priorities

I’m not a guy who places emphasis on a church building, nor do I disparage factories, but I appreciate an old, old quote from John Kelman:

God pity the nation whose factory chimneys rise higher than her church spires.

Answering Our Prayers

            The tale is told of a son who overheard his father pray that the needs of the poor might be fulfilled. The son said to his father, “Father, I wish I had your corn.”

            “Why my son? What would you do with it?” asked the father.

            The son replied, “I would answer your prayers.”

Sexploitation

This is quoted directly from TIME, May 10, 2004:

"'My father makes a percentage off me, so he had no problem with it.'--

Jessica Simpson, pop star, when asked what her father, a Baptist minister, had to say about her new line of 'kissable' body-care products."