viewoutsidethepew

I live in a western culture, central Canada. On the surface there is a lot of wealth.

People want to own things: car, home, in fashion clothes, but especially large screen TV’s and expensive cell phones. It is this same drive that motivates congregations to own a building, a travesty that has followed mission work all over the world.

These goods feed self. Are we better Christians because we have the latest smart phone or a 60-inch TV? Does our mission to love the world only happen when we own a building that we have a sign out front of with our group name and religious affiliation? If such things are merely tools, holding no emotional bonds, then I fall silent.

But Jesus quoted that we must first love God, and Fenelon points this out writing, “in a word, we must love Thee without loving self except in and for Thee.”

Many people may, in fact, think themselves honest when they say they have no other gods, or idols, in their lives. But how easy it is to obey another god than Creator. This god is persistent, omnipresent with us, wicked and deceitful and knows things about us that no other human knows.

Who (or what) is this god?

Self.

What in our lives feeds our ego, our status, our ease without aiding our service for Jesus?

Pampering ourselves with the pleasures available for the flesh does not help God produce fruit for the harvest.

“Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. Instead, store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust don’t destroy and thieves don’t break in and steal. Your heart will be where your treasure is. No one can serve two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:19-21, 24 God’s Word ©).

Remember, it’s not just what you own that can be a problem, but what you want to own!