Rev. David Cook preached at ARPC this week on the topic of "Jesus & Wealth". This was part of a series of messages on the Sermon on the Mount, and this week's sermon focused on the text of Matthew 6:19-34.
Today's sermon really surfaced some ideas which I've been thinking about over the past couple of months. I shared with a couple of Shalomites during our prayer meeting that God's been speaking to me about life after law school, especially life as a (busy) lawyer. I think one of the biggest challenges for lawyers and other people who will probably live comfortably, is how to have (and keep!) a godly perspective to money.
A friend of mine just reminded me that it is so easy to be influenced by the world, and to lose perspective of God's power and greatness, and I think its a slippery slope. It never starts off with an obvious contradiction of the Scriptures. It starts with what is good, being slowly twisted to purposes which are not entirely pure, which eventually turns into sin and idolatry. Money is not bad in itself! Jesus makes it clear in the parable of the unjust servant in Luke 16:1-13 that our riches can be used to pursue things that last, rather than the superficial things that often consume our attention. But wealth can be hostile to our discipleship when it consumes us, when it consumes our attention. Rev. Cook reminded us that our preoccupation should be the same thing that preoccupied Christ:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
- Matt 6:9-10
Do we pursue things that are eternal? Heavenly accumulation lasts; earthly accumulation rots. Rev. Cook likened our pursuit of temporal things to people trying to buy real world products with monopoly money. Monopoly money is not the currency of the world! Similarly, our bank accounts and various assets are not the currency of heaven. How will the God of all the Heavens, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, take to our accumulation of earthly assets at the expense of eternal things?
Matt 6:22-23 reminds us that it all begins with what we expose ourselves to. The things which we set our gaze upon will eventually consume our soul. In the words of Rev. Cook, "your treasure is a magnet". Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt 6:21). Search your heart: what do you set your heart on? Do you seek first the kingdom of God? Or is the work of Christ merely something to be done on a convenient basis? Sure, we do serve God in our pursuit of success in our school, at work etc.: but has it become a convenient justification for our lack of attention and interest in the things of God? Or can we truly affirm that Christ is Lord over our studies and work?
A brief introduction to Rev. Cook can be found here:
http://www.smbc.com.au/pages/default.asp?pid=65
This message also reminded me of one of the sessions I attended at the GCF conference in Chicago last year. Here's an excerpt from my blog entry:
"An important reflection was quipped by Andy Crouch, who talked about how privilege should be seen in light of how Christ managed privilege: he never lavished it on himself. Moments of glory were always moments of service to others. We need to resist "rent-seeking" behaviour, and consider how to spend the rent and privilege we receive on others."
What do we truly seek after? Why do we work so hard? Is it for God's glory? Or is it for our own glory? Is it for the furtherance of God's kingdom? Or the glory of our name, and the accumulation of our riches and honor? God grant us the grace to always be honest with ourselves, that we may truly seek to live lives worthy of the gospel...
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