Overheard countless times in the last two months: “I am concerned about the poor performance of my investments and savings.”
Not heard even one time in the last two decades: “I am concerned about my poor performance in laying up treasure in heaven.”
{Image from reader Ronni Hall and Cory Jamison. Thanks!}
Indeed, we are so worldly in not only our thoughts and actions, but in our very orientation.
“I am concerned about my poor performance in laying up treasure in heaven and pray our LORD and KING JESUS will work through me to make up for lost time in the coming days!
Ain’t that the truth!
“I am concerned I may have to go back to work, work overtime shifts, and not be able to retire when I want – if they keep me on at work; if anyone will hire me if they do not.”
“I am concerned I cannot send my child to college.”
“I am concerned I will have to buy cheaper food that will make my family sick and obese.”
“I am concerned I will have to move to a poorer neighborhood, where my wife and children will not be as safe.”
“I am concerned I will have to work the rest of my life in soul-crushing employment, time robbed from my family and church for unrighteous mammon, my eyes always looking over the horizon toward the mission field where I always have wanted to preach, my mind forgetting about the hobbies and little joys I used to have when I and my friends did not have to work so hard.”
“I have treasures laid up in heaven, brother! But I don’t think I’m supposed to die yet or die young, so I need health care coverage and retirement savings.”
Michael,
What you express here is the same tension that I cannot reconcile in my own life and the lives of my friends. Our work lives own us for the most part. How to break that ownership? I have not figured that out, yet break it we must.
We serve two masters. Jesus said we can’t. End of story.
It seems to me that the bar on minimum existence has been raised so high that no one can afford to get off the hamster wheel. Something in the very essence of our daily living here in America is so profoundly flawed as to force us into a mode that immediately conflicts with the Kingdom of Heaven. It is why no one is concerned with treasure in heaven. There is no time to ponder that issue, only time to punch the clock.
There has got to be a better way. Smarter Christians than myself will have to help the rest of us chart that path, but no one is stepping forward. That’s a major loss for all of us.
I think American Christians compartmentalize their lives too much. We work at work. We do not pray, worship, thank God, meditate on His Word, or witness. But we can and should do all these things at work. All of it can be accomplished alongside our duties. Unfortunately, most of us cannot bring our families to work. By the time we have our ducks in a row to spend more time with our families, our children are adolescents or adults with their own friends, agendas, and families.
Would I rather be spiritual at home? Sure. But if I have to go to work, then I need to make the best of it. Most churches are not open seven days a week, so I have to wheel and deal with the unchurched to switch shifts at work so I can go. You do whatcha gotta do, as my late father said.
An elder at my home church said something years ago which has stuck with me: that these are not the days when Christians will have a lot of time off to be with their families. I didn’t know if he was saying it as a word from the Lord, but his observation certainly seemed correct. These do not seem to be those days, where you put in forty hours and make a good enough living so you can spend quality time with your wife and kids at night.
Michael,
I believe the entire philosophical and practical foundation upon which we’ve built our work lives is faulty. Most of that error comes from industrialization, a topic I’ve touched on many times.
Problem is, it’s not a simple rebuild; we have to tear the foundation out to fix things. Still, that doesn’t mean we ignore the problem simply because fixing it is enormously difficult.
I stand convicted as I read this. But like you, Dan, I also struggle with that tension you described in your reply to Michael. For most of us our jobs are our means of support. And it’s through our jobs that we earn the money with which we sow into our churches and the ministries we support.
God help us and forgive us for serving two masters.
Was Paul serving God when he and Pricilla and Aquilla were making those tents?
Do women serve Him when their whole day and a lot of their night is taken up caring for small children?
Does my husband serve God at his job where he encourages his fellow workers-and his boss-with Scripture and with wise counsel when asked?
We compartmentalize too much-and trust God too little. He orders our steps.