I have heard many sermons preached against the love of money and pursuit of riches in the Christian walk. Any pastor teaching this will get no argument from me. The message is valid and should be taught from the pulpit.
However, these sermons often fall short because the shy away from the whole truth. Challenging the pursuit of riches is easy. Challenging pursuit of the mundane and ordinary requires true courage when it comes to living out God’s purpose for our lives.
Challenging the pursuit of riches is easy. Challenging pursuit of the mundane and ordinary requires true courage.
Rich Abba, Holy Abba
What do I mean by that? I’ll try to clarify.
It’s easy to spot the love of money in a person who is obsessed with acquiring riches; one who loves the idea of a lavish lifestyle, indulging in fast cars, luxury yachts and private jets. It is equally easy to call that out and show, from scripture, that this is not God’s will for our lives as believers. There is more to life than making lots of money!
When preaching such sermons, our pastors are generally speaking to those hidden lusts of the flesh; those things we secretly wish for but which we would never actually try to reach for in reality, or talk about with our fellow-believers — partly because we know this is not God’s will and partly because they are so unattainable.
It is less easy to challenge those mundane — dare I say, ordinary — pursuits like facing the daily commute to and from the office. Or putting in eight to ten hours a day in a cubicle, and then bringing the laptop home so we can spend our evenings and weekends catching up on the work we didn’t quite get to between 8AM and 6PM… and doing this for forty-five years or more. Quietly treading water to retirement.
Of course, we have to do these things in order to pay our mortgage, or make rent. Or how about making monthly payments on our vehicle finance and paying down the credit-card debt we incurred on our latest tech purchases, like games consoles and big-screen TV’s.
Nobody could accuse a person in this position of pursuing riches. That is simply not the goal. Rather, it is a fight to survive, living pay-check to pay-check.
And yet…
Still others, like seed thrown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19
This is the result of a life spent pursuing the ordinary. The worries of this life (mortgages and bill payments) and desires for other things grow up like thorns, choking the word of God in our hearts and in our lives. Those ‘thorns’ render us forever unfruitful as we become consumed by a career and neglect God’s call on our lives.
How is this living out God’s purpose?
You may have noticed I skipped over the deceitfulness of riches in the above paragraph. Let’s address that now. What is the deceitfulness of riches in this context, if not the lie that we are doing okay, living out God’s plan, simply because we have not spent all our energy in the pursuit of riches?
Living Out God’s Purpose
Here is the hard truth. If life isn’t all about making lots of money, it most certainly isn’t all about making ends meet. Where is God in either of those pursuits?
If life isn’t all about making lots of money, it most certainly isn’t all about making ends meet. Where is God in either of those pursuits?
Rich Abba, Holy Abba
So, here is my call for each of us; to challenge the mundane and ordinary in our own lives. Yes, I led with the sermons preached by our pastors — but it is not our pastor’s job to give us the courage we need to live out God’s will and purpose for our lives. That responsibility falls to each of us.
Are you prepared to look deep inside your own heart and challenge those areas where you have become unfruitful? Possibly areas where you have allowed the comfort of the ordinary and mundane to choke the word of God in your heart?
Don’t be afraid or let the past hold you back. Take courage. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
Can you commit to living out God’s purpose for your life? Imagine where will God take you — if only you let Him!