The Eternal Perspective of “Things”

In our Working ‘On’ My Ministry in God’s Business segment last quarter, “In But Not Of The World”, we discussed Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17.  He calls us to see this world for what it really is and to not be deceived by its attractions.  We used money as an example of just one of many “things” that Satan has offered as alternatives to God and His ways.

Money is a key tool in the devil’s bag, but far from the only tool.  Money, in its narrow definition, is simply dollars, pounds, pesos, or any of the monetary exchange units used in the world’s system of trading based on equivalent measured value.
 
In its broader definition, Money can mean “riches” or “things” that money gives one access to such as physical pleasures, clothes, jewelry, fine food, houses, reputation, notoriety, influence, power, etc. These may be lumped together and described as what the Bible calls them: the “things” of this world.  What these things all have in common is that they have value only here on Earth and will have no value in Heaven, in and of themselves.  We contrast these things with true wealth and the “abundant life” that Jesus promised in this month’s Devotion.

We can likely all basically agree that things like money or riches are not intrinsically evil.  But money does have a deceptive power that’s truly unlike any of the other things that comprise the world system of temptations and alternatives to God and His ways.  God clearly commands us not to covet, steal or have other idols.  He also commands us to be good stewards and to use our gifts to love others.  Like the other things, money can be used for good or for evil.  “Things” can be used and leveraged for great good or great evil, and the difference is largely how we see them, which determines how we use them.  This relates to our attitude or paradigm towards them.  And here is the source of great confusion in our culture.  As 21st century American Christians, we’ve been grossly influenced by a mix of philosophies and forces which combine to imply either that (1) the great goal of God is the earthly prosperity and/or pleasure of His children and that accumulating or access to “things” is the evidence of His blessing or (2) that we are to play God on earth by redistributing wealth irrespective of individual personal responsibility or stewardship.

One of the causes or methods that Satan has used to promote these erroneous paradigms of “things” is the very prosperity of our nation.  At this moment in history (which is, in fact, the “blink of an eye” in eternal terms), America is the richest and most powerful nation the world has ever known.  Unfortunately, because of this prosperity, we see the world through a distorted lens.  We Americans have access to so many “things!”  Many now believe that they are entitled to things that most of our brothers and sisters in Christ in other nations have no access to, or any hope of ever having.

For us in C12 one of our “things” is a company.  It is not the only thing, but it’s very important in that it represents a huge part of our lives and God-given role on earth.  It’s a large part of “the race that is set before us.”  Because we lead a business, we have great power and leverage.  We’re seen as leaders and respected by those who don’t have companies.  We’re given “positional respect” as reflected in the following:

• We’re given control over significant amounts of riches.
• We have access to pleasures and temptations that others don’t.
• We enjoy freedoms that others don’t have over our time and the ability to choose many things.
• We possess fine “things”… clothes, cars, homes. 

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