© 2006 SeanDietrich.com

MONEY MONEY
By Sean Dietrich

Greed permeates our lives and assaults us from many angles. Though not always aware of the greed that lives in our own hearts, we go on doing things the same way. I used to believe that I was a normal American who wasn’t particularly money hungry. But I was wrong.

We (as Americans) have been sold a phony bill of goods. The philosophies we have been forced to swallow are simply wrong. Not only are most of the concepts we as Americans believe completely false, but also many of them are very harmful to our life with Jesus.

QUIT EARNING YOUR LIVING

Most people say “…we need money to survive.” Some people use the term “earning a living.” At first glance, those statements seem very true. After all one does need food and water to survive right? But is green paper really a vital element to survival?

The error is in the underlying messages we are sent. Sometimes, “earning a living,” can imply that I don’t have the right to live unless I work from 9 to 5. Or more specifically, it can mean: I don’t have the right to enjoy life, unless I work 9 to 5. According to the Puritans, this is good philosophy. According to Jesus, it’s garbage.

NOT BREAD ALONE

Jesus said that man doesn’t live on bread alone, though man believes he lives on bread. Jesus said that man lives off every word that proceeds from God’s mouth. (Deut 8:3) Most of us know the story, the Israelites were so worried about how they were going to survive out in the dessert, and they were frantic with no food. They completely missed it. Bread is not the source of life at all, but God is. He clothes us, and only he can feed and water us. We depend on him alone, not food and water.

PRETTY GREEN PAPER

Money itself cannot sustain life. Not even if you eat it for food. I’ve been so enslaved to depending on the green paper, that I haven’t been able to depend on what American money says “..we trust” in. I have really found a freedom in Jesus lately, by laying down the self-imposed need for money and trusting him. Yet another stepping-stone on the journey!