By Pastor Greg
When Walter started working for
the biggest corporation in the world, the personnel director said he would have
to start at the bottom and work his way up. So Walter found himself in the
basement working in the mailroom. Walter
liked his job, but often daydreamed about what it would be like to be a junior
executive, vice-president, president, or even chairman of the board. One day,
as Walter was busy collecting the mail, he heard footsteps in the corner. It was a small cockroach. Just as he was about to step on it, he heard a
small voice scream, "Don't kill me!
Please, don't kill me! I'm Milton
the cockroach. And if you spare my life,
I promise to grant all of your wishes."
That sounded like a pretty good deal to Walter. So he spared Milton the cockroach's life.
Walter's first wish was to get out of the
mailroom and be a junior executive.
Milton granted that wish. A
couple of months later, Walter wanted to become one of the vice-presidents of
the corporation. That wish was granted
too. In fact, Milton the cockroach kept
granting every one of Walter's wishes until years later Walter was Chairman of
the Board to the largest corporation in the world.
Walter was very
happy. Every so often, he would say to himself,
"I am Walter. Everyone respects
me. No one is bigger or better or more
important than me." However, one
day Walter met a little boy down in the lobby.
He was kneeling in prayer. "Are
you praying to become like me,” Walter asked?
"Of course not," said the little boy. "I'm praying to become someone
important. I want to be like Jesus!" Walter was quite disturbed by this turn of
events, so the next day he told Milton the cockroach, "I want to be like
Jesus". So Milton the cockroach
granted Walter's wish and Walter went back to the mailroom in the basement.
Walter suffered from a
terrible disease. It is one of the more
debilitating diseases in all of humanity.
It affects where we live, where we go, and what we do. It affects personal relationships. It affects both physical and mental
health. It may seem to be an incurable disease,
but in reality, the cure is quite simple.
A person need only choose to be cured.
Sadly, many will not. Many will
continue to be infected by greed.
Perhaps you are
familiar with the Bible passage that says, “For the
love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy
6:10). The second half of that verse
says, “And some people, craving money, have wandered
from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows”. This is the disease
part. This is what loving money (or
wealth) will do to a person of God. Like
a trap, we become ensnared as it chokes us to death. We become enslaved. It cuts us off from God. This is why Jesus warns His followers to make a
choice. They must choose which master
they will serve.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if
your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is
bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you
is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for
either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth”[1] (Matthew 6:19-24).
Nowhere does Jesus tell us it is better to be poor than it is to be wealthy. It is not wrong to possess things. However, it is wrong for things to possess us. Allow materialism to work its way into our lives and we become slaves. It entraps our heart, our mind, and our will. However, if we want to understand what Jesus was saying here, then we need think beyond the idea of money, which is what comes to mind when we hear the word “wealth”.
Some Bible translations actually
use the word mammon at the end of verse
24, which is probably the best word to use.
Mammon literally means, “Where
we put our trust”. It could be anything
that becomes a rival for our loyalty to God. [2] To those listening that day they may have
thought cattle, land, or even money.
Today our rival might be prestige, position, power, health, family, or
even wealth. And although the Lord may
give these thing to a person – even to the Christian - they become our master
when they are what our eyes focus upon.
Our eyes are drawn away from God and toward the things of this world
that moth and rust will eventually destroy.
We are driven to accumulate these things. We work day and night to keep what we have or
even gain more. We are motivated by
greed – a disease that saps away our joy, our love, and our peace (Do not wear yourself
out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.[3] – Proverbs 23:4).
This same rivalry can affect a
church as well. Even a church can lose
its focus. Even a church can become more
motivated by the things moth and rust will destroy. The building, the pews, the pulpit, the hymnbooks,
the stained glass windows, and the bank account will one day return to dust. This is why a church must make a choice as
well. A church must choose to labor for
that which endures – the eternal soul of men and women and children.
Jesus says that at some point in
our life, we will need to make a choice.
We must choose either to become like Walter or to become like Him. If we choose to become like Walter, we will
find ourselves longing for the material things of this world. We will not deny ourselves anything,
especially those things that make us happy.
We will find ourselves living like a person of this world while claiming
to be a Christian; in other words, trying to stand in two places at once.
The words Christ spoke here should
cause us pause. They catch us up short
with the bold suggestion that in our relationship with God, wealth may be the
single biggest competitor in our lives. People who call themselves Christians need to
read verse 24 again and again and ask themselves who they really are serving.
We must make a choice. We must choose to make Jesus our master. If we truly desire a closer walk with God
then we must stop trying to stand with one foot on the earth and the other in
Heaven. It simply cannot be done.
[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Mt 6:19–24).
LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2] Tyndale
Bible Dictionary
[3] Biblical Studies Press.
(2006). The NET Bible First Edition;
Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Pr 23:4). Biblical Studies
Press.
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