What Really Matters!

Opening illustration: Video of Chiune Sugihara’s Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppCEta8I4UA

Introduction: The power to obtain money is derived from God and as such all belongs to him; “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:18). Jesus’ discussion with the rich young ruler and the illustration with the disciples afterward show the difficulty of those who seek riches instead of God to enter heaven. The accumulation of wealth does not exclude those from heaven as Job, Abraham, Joseph and David were all extremely wealthy and were certainly devoted to God, although they had sin that was dealt with (Job 31:25, Genesis 22:16-18, Genesis 39:2, 2 Samuel 2:4). As Job shows, the Lord takes priority over all earthy things and devotion to Him is essential regardless of the accumulation or loss of wealth (Job 1:21). The heart of the illustration is that wealth detracts those from complete devotion to God (Kulikovsky, 1999) and therefore illustrates the difficulty of those who follow money to enter heaven. The Lord requires total and utter obedience to Him regardless of anything earthly, as Jesus expects individuals to follow God above riches, job, family or other earthly concerns (Matthew 16:24).

Matthew 6:33 commands us, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (NASB). The command is to be able to give up wealth, power, stature and family to follow God, as he will take care of the individual’s needs. An individual must be completely committed to God above anything else and that those who follow other gods, such as riches cannot enter heaven as they do not understand the proper hierarchy in their lives. One must not attempt to accumulate wealth as they have lost the proper focus; Luke 12:21 states, “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (NASB). The parable of the rich man theological significance illustrates the importance of God in our lives; God comes before anything else and to follow Him is a rich and rewarding call that certainly has eternal implications as Matthew 19:30 states “But many {who are} first will be last; and {the} last, first” (NASB).

What really matters in life?

1. When A Man Gains the Whole World

What comes to your mind when the bible says “if he gains the whole world”? I know nobody exactly gains the whole world. Even the richest man on earth can’t possibly gain the whole world, you know what I am saying?

So, my guess is very simple. The terms probably refer to the worldly pleasures like control, power and riches. You and I know very well that there are people on earth who pretty much enjoy this kind of worldly pleasures. Even some Christians enjoy worldly pleasures like greed and power.

Can Christians actually enjoy worldly power, control, riches and pleasures (I am not talking about lusts)?

I do think they are okay. To me, these things are neutral and they do not actually carry any meaning with them.

Take money for example. Money is neutral and it is how we use money that matters. The bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil ...” and if we love money to the extend where we can sacrifice things that matter to us like family, friends and values, then it is not going to be worth it.

Having said so, I also think that being rich is not evil. In fact, I believe if Christians are rich, they can be a channel to bless others on earth. If God is our King of kings, that means we are His princes and princesses. If you are a prince or a princess, do you know what you will inherit from your king father? Apart from his wealth and assets, you are also inheriting his throne in some cases. In other words, you will be given power and control which you can use to rule over the kingdom.

At this point, I would love to take a moment to talk about power (and control). If you are a Christian and a CEO of a multi-national company, you know you have the power to make huge difference in the company. However, it is how you use the power that matters. If you use your power to do good causes to the company or the community, then you are making a positive impact for the Lord. If you are abusing your power so that you can swallow more illegitimate money for yourself, then you will have to give account to the Lord by yourself.