For The Love Of Money Series

The Death of god

Pastor Kyle Idleman asked this question that I'd like to share with you:

Do you remember in September of 2008 when the worst happened?

God died.

And who would have guessed? He seemed eternal. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. It happened at a point when his influence was global. People were surprised, basically no one really saw it coming. I'd even wager that no one was more surprised than his most devoted disciples. The aftermath of his death from the abrupt and sudden shut down of many of his most influential churches. Basically without warning, which led to many losing their religion overnight. I mean, it makes sense, right? They depended on god for their future. What were they supposed to do now?

I remember it being on national news. Weeping. Wailing. Gnashing of teeth. Not just in America but worldwide. People were talking on talk shows:

"How could we let something like this happen?"

"Why didn't we anticipate his collapse?"

"That's true, but it's not like it's even the first time this has happened. Don't worry, he'll come back good as new."

"Well - hold on. What are you saying? This isn't like the past. The only time that god ever died like this was in the 1930s."

Arguments going back and forth with such a sense of urgency. There was this sense of hopelessness, and it makes perfect sense. So many had put their hopes and their dreams in him. They were counting on him to take care of them. They were counting on him to give them significance. They were counting on him to keep them safe and protect them. Now where were they supposed to turn? God had been so incredibly powerful until now. After all, he had provided better lives, bigger houses - much bigger houses, and even faster cars.

Do you remember?

Do you remember when for so many people their god, money and wealth, when their god died in the midst of the collapsed economy and a recession was inevitable? See, the god of money, the idol of money, has been around a long, long time. Way before our time people knew him as heads of cattle. His names also included: animal skins, crops, spices, or anything that they could trade. These days he has a lot of names: bread, bacon, benjis, bank, bills, bones, cake, capital, cash, cheddar, cheese, clams, franklins, lettuce, moolah, paper, smackers, stacks... my college roommate even used to have a computer wallpaper of a sloth in a business suit, with this phrase below him, and this may be my favorite phrase, "dolla dolla bill y'all."

And for others he doesn't have the name of cattle or actual cash, but rather a little piece of plastic named "credit card." Or maybe a file or bookmark on a computer named "Portfolio."

The God of Money Has Always Been Around

This god of money isn't a new idol either. He's always been around, but I'd argue that his power now is unparalleled to any other time. There were times in the past when he was just your typical run-of-the-mill false god.

Back to the medieval ages, sure, wealth was important, but the monarchs, the kings and queens had most of it. Castles were surrounded with droves of serfs, or common people and laborers. But for these people, there was really no hope or means to ever acquire sums of money, or really all that many personal possessions. But as time passed, the world began to change. And as the world changed, so did the influence of the god of money. Democracy arose, and thank goodness for that, because it created a far more level playing field.

Western culture began to develop, and with it a term called "The American Dream" began to be commonly used and people would talk about the "pursuit of happiness." But you know, it makes me wonder if for many, when we talk about the "American Dream" and the pursuit of happiness, the god of money knows we're just in the pursuit of him.

Horatio Alger Jr.

One of the prominent authors in the 19th century was a man by the name of Horatio Alger Jr. He wrote more than 100 stories in his lifetime that were published by more than 70 different publishers. that helped the population of the U.S. believe the myth that anyone could work hard and become rich, or the phrase, "the self-made man." The story of shoeshine boy to wealthy tycoon. I think that money is one of the things that has grown so unbelievably dominant in our culture that it can be truly difficult for any of us, myself included in writing and delivering this sermon, to be able to mentally stand far enough back to get a perspective on it. So many times it's like no matter what we say, what we say we're going to do, we live as if the pursuit of wealth is the real goal in life. And then we're told things like "money doesn't make you happy," but come on. We know what's really going on there - all the super rich people just got together in a private meeting and agreed to just say that so that the rest of us feel better about it. Further, I think it'd be pretty hard to have a frown driving a Ferrari down to Florida to get on a yacht to go to a private island. Just saying.