The Money God
If you listen to and support talk radio and television, from either end of the “political spectrum, you are carnal, fleshly, and in opposition to the divine redemptive purpose which is the gospel. In fact, if you listen to and evaluate the core message of such secular mediums, you will quickly come to the conclusion that they rarely deal with abortion and gay rights, and certainly never share the gospel, but deal almost exclusively with money issues viewed from a capitalistic perspective.
The words “jobs, economy, taxes. middle class, prosperity, capitalism, savings, national debt“, and many other words that are directed at your personal finances are the core element of their verbiage. It is self righteous, financial narcissism, and repugnant to the gospel of grace.
Therefore, you are in bondage to the love of money which is the root of all evil. Blunt? Yes! But true nonetheless. Allow me a recent example of fallen idolatry.
The New York City 9/11 memorial cost 700 million dollars to construct. It will cost 50 million to maintain yearly. And let us continue to "pray" for the poor and destitute while this monstrosity tickles our carnal itch. Hopefully we believers see the enormous waste and how such things are not of God’s kingdom.
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5 comments:
Rick, well said. WELL SAID.
Americans have become a soulless bunch of utilitarian, bureaucratized robots with minds spinning around with tax codes, social security bills, bank statements, retirement accounts, college loan payoffs, and insurance policy statements.
And unfortunately, Christians in this country have not been transformed by the renewal of their minds and have instead projected their corporate, bureacratized, mechanical system of thought into our churches, into the Word of God (prosperity Gospel anyone?), into the narrative of Christianity -- and therefore have obscured the simple, beautiful personhood of Jesus the Christ.
This is how Satan wants it. THESE mind-numbing, soul-killing, heart-shallowing elements are rooted in the love of money. And people don't realize just how much darkness they're in.
It's MATERIALISM of CHRISTIANS that is the greatest threat to American Christianity today, not "those gays."
Our culture's mindless, blinding, droning obsession with money, and the "pursuit of happiness" and competition, et al. is contributing to a burst of deviant manifestations of behavior both subtle and blatant -- psychologists identify these as mental health and personality disorders...but even the ways we identify and treat mental illnesses can lead to their perpetuation.
Secular researchers have a clue:
"Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche"
http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Like-Us-Globalization-American/dp/1416587098/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315877594&sr=1-1
to add to that list of soul-killers, I forgot to mention: credit card statements, mortgages, 401 K's, pensions, etc...etc...
Imagine if our minds and hearts were filled with the truths of the SERMON ON THE MOUNT instead, with the WORD, with all the other parables of CHRIST!
And ditto about national idolatry...It's okay to bomb Iraq endlessly. It's okay to bomb Afghanistan. (Until our economy is affected of course.)
It's okay to occupy 130 nations in the world, because supposedly "America's exceptional"--or we need to tell ourselves this because otherwise we'll just be stuck with the realities surrounding the "decline in status of the American white male."
And on 9/11 we were supposedly attacked for "who we are" and not out of any genuine, logical grievance against us, stemming from our ruthless treatment of people around the world. (This is not to say the Muslim terrorists were justified, or even wholly logical-- but that there was SOME logic behind why things happened the way they did.)
And what's most egregious is when CHristians abuse Zionist pro-Israel line of thinking to satisfy this insatiable hunger for war and supremacy--to justify fallen, imperialistic wars!
LUCKILY, many people are waking up--both believers and non-believers. I am a recent college grad and I am truly moved by the Spirit's work and work of common grace amongst my peers. More and more young people are not buying into the "American Dream" mantra, are not obsessed with maintaining American supremacy, are interested in social justice, in genuine religion (and therefore authentic Christianity without the baggage) etc..etc...
I love your phrase "soul killers". That is a description of the love of this world which in many different ways destroys the soul.
I have gotten a lot out of this article and Radiance's comments. Thanks again, Rick, a true pastor, for your blog.
If we could find one another, like-minded saints, in real geography, we could have some authentic churches gaining spiritual momentum by helping one another in accountability and so-on. I must confess my daily walk is not what I know it should be.
Victoria
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