I’ve been thinking about getting a new car. Mine is about 10 years old and it has seen better days. Seems like the maintenance guys want $600 every six months to keep it in decent condition. I don’t really know what I want. Maybe a Jeep Gladiator or one of those new Broncos are nice. Maybe I will hang on to my car for a while longer. I have grown fond of not having any car payments. Sometimes I think about wanting a bigger house. I don’t have a man cave so I feel like I am missing out. I got a new computer last year so I’m good there. It may be time to get a new phone though. 

Sometimes I want more stuff. And more stuff means more money.

Money is what drives our society, is it not? Everywhere we go there are messages that tell us we need more money so we can get more things. 

I went to small group last night and we were doing a discussion on James chapter 5. I honestly don’t know if i have ever read that chapter before. Basically, James writes this book about how to be spiritually mature. And chapter 5 starts out talking about trusting in money and rather than trusting in God. And James is totally laying into these people about their obsession over money. There are a ton of discussions in the Bible about money vs God. Probably, because it’s easy for us to substitute money for God. Especially in our western culture.

I went to a very charismatic mega church after I graduated college. It was located in one of the richest cities in Tennessee in one of the richest counties in the United States. Everything in the church was nice. All of the pastors wore fancy suits and drove expensive cars. One time I was invited to a cookout at one of the pastor’s homes. It was a multimillion dollar home in a gated community with other multimillion dollar homes. I think at that point I started questioning why I was going there. I wrestled with the opulence that was paraded by the leadership of the church. I couldn’t picture Jesus going to that church. 

Is having money wrong? No. Is having a lot of money unChristian? I don’t believe so. Is wanting new things a sin? Nah. I kind of believe the more money you have though the harder it is to connect with God. It’s easy to learn to depend on our money. It’s easy to get our affirmation from our status in life, from where we live, what we drive, where we send our kids to school, how much we make. 

So should we sell everything we have and give it to the poor? I don’t know. I know Jesus told one guy that. I think it’s about our hearts and the things we strive after. If we put our income, our possessions, our social status …if these things are the driving focus in our lives then we are missing the mark. It’s something that we should always wrestle with so we keep our hearts in check. I am constantly asking myself why I want more things. Theres no right or wrong answer.

“If you make this amount then you aren’t following Christ.” That’s not true.

But it’s about the desire of your heart. Is your heart chasing after God or money? If you lost it all could you still worship God like Job did? I pray that may be the case for all of us. And I pray that what ever things we are blessed with we use to bless others. 

Sidenote. Any pastor in a multimillion dollar gated community… I don’t know, I just don’t know if I could ever believe in their brand of Christianity.