Do Not Let Materialism Overtake Spirituality

Do not let Materialism overtake Spirituality

Mark 6:7-13

7 And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; 8 and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff-- no bread, no bag, no money in their belt-- 9 but to wear sandals; and He added, "Do not put on two tunics." 10 And He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. 11 "Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them." 12 They went out and preached that men should repent. 13 And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

Several themes are in this narrative. Materialism is one of them. Yeshua had to get his disciples to divest themselves of material needs before they could be useful at building the Kingdom of Heaven. However, the disciples were not yet trained in how to accomplish this. How could they be expected to release all of their beliefs about Materialism so quickly? Therefore, Yeshua could have been testing them to learn how much work He needed to put into their re-education.

Your desire for Materialism over Spirituality can be discovered by taking a moment and reflecting on your giving to your church's work. How much of your total income do you give? This is a taboo subject in most churches. When tithing sermons are presented, they generally are accompanied by rejection. The Bible says that a tithe is ten percent. Where did this come from? When Abraham met Melchezidek, the priest of Salem (old name for Jerusalem), he immediately gave him ten percent of everything he had in thanksgiving to the LORD. Imagine if tithing was considered offering thanksgiving to the LORD. Would members of the church give more then? United Methodist reports indicate that people give 1.8% of their income to the church. A far cry from 10%. So, what do you give to thank the LORD for your blessings?

Materialism was a problem in Jesus' day also. It is challenging to live in this world and not be concerned about materials. After all, one does need food and shelter to live. Our world is the only place in the LORD's creation where Materialism and Spirituality exist. Our journey in this world is to come to an understanding that Spirituality matters more than Materialism. This is simple to say but very difficult to live out.

The hospitality of the ancient Near East does not exist today. Even charity work has changed drastically in the United States. Who fed the hungry people in the 1930s during the Great Depression? The church did quite a bit of it because helping others was more important than hoarding. Over the decades, the federal government has pushed the church aside so that people would become dependent on the government and not on the blessings of the LORD through His church.

Materialism has pushed many people away from faith and dependency on the LORD and onto the government. One can say that the Federal government of the United States is now considered a god. Why? God is defined as the all-powerful force that provides for peoples' needs. Is that not what the Federal government does? Yes, for many people, it does.

Socialism is a form of Materialism. It is the idea that everything must be shared equally between all people. Socialism has failed everywhere it has been implemented because an elite class of people form at the top of the socialism structure and take everything they need and want. They expect everyone who is not an elite to share everything they have. Their hypocrisy is clear to the people who have to give up their materials and money to those who want more but give nothing to receive it.

Since we live in a dual world, Materialism is a significant concern. People must learn how to live in a material and spiritual world at the same time. Jesus' warning to us is that we must not allow Materialism to be our number one driving force in the world.

However, wait a moment. The church is not following Jesus in this respect. By not taking anything but a staff, the disciples were being shown that they were being "paid" the same amount to do the Messiah's work. In today's church, as a person moves from pastoring a small church to a medium church, to a large church, then to the episcopacy, the annual salary and benefits increase astronomically. A bishop earns a much higher salary than a rural church pastor. Should not the church have equal equity for all clergy? Jesus' words in this passage can indeed be interpreted this way. Many clergy folks see their work for the church as a career. A large part of a career is to move up the ladder of success to earn more money. Thus the church is not suppressing the materialistic aspect of our world but is emphasizing it.