Valerie Rae Hanneman
Acts 19:24-27 “A silversmith named Demetrius had a business that made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. Those who worked for him earned a lot of money. Demetrius brought together everyone who was in the same business and said: Friends, you know that we make a good living at this. But you have surely seen and heard how this man Paul is upsetting a lot of people, not only in Ephesus, but almost everywhere in Asia. He claims that the gods we humans make are not really gods at all. Everyone will start saying terrible things about our business. They will stop respecting the temple of the goddess Artemis, who is worshiped in Asia and all over the world. Our great goddess will be forgotten!” (CEV)
I was talking to a friend recently about the disaster caused by hurricane Katrina. As we sat and talked she was sipping her Starbucks coffee and carefully tearing apart her Starbucks muffin with her long decorated nails so that she did not drop any of it on her Macy’s clothes. She was talking about how the need was going to go for years and she just didn’t know what to do. As I sat there sipping my $1.29 Zip & Rip coffee, no muffin and the dress that cost me $2.00 at Lydia’s Closet Thrift Store I told her that it was easy to make a donation, I had made mine to the Salvation Army over the internet. Her eyes rolled, “I know that! I just don’t see how I can afford to give anything. Money is so tight!”
What did you think of old Demetrius in the story above? His story reminds me of a “CSI” episode that I was watching one day. There was this really bizarre murder and the CSI Tech was stumped and went to Grissom for advice. His advice was “When all else fails, follow the money. It will tell you what is important.” The money trail was almost as bizarre as the murder, but in the end it not only reveled the murderer, but was the cause for the murder.
If you read Demetrius’ words carefully, what is important to him is quickly reveled. He doesn’t start out by saying, “This man Paul is dissing our goddess, Artemis, and needs to be stopped.” No, what he says is, “We make lots of money off our statues and this man Paul’s preaching is going to cut into our cash flow big time - oh, yeah, he’s dissing Artemis, too.” When he incited the mob to march on the city they were not shouting out “Money! Money! Money!” They marched in the name of their religion and shouted out “Artemis, Artemis, Artemis” But the truth of the matter is that it was really all about the money he was afraid he was going to lose.
Money is the cornerstone of this world. All to often the world judges more by the bank account than by the inner quality of a person. We further flaunt our money (our worth?)by our “stuff.” My daughter’s $11,000 Aveo gets around town as easily as a $56,000 Hummer - but the Hummer is the one we go “Oohhh” over. (Now before you enlighten me about the off-road capabilities of the Hummer - remember that the closest most Hummers get to off-roading is that patch of dirt they ran over in the parking lot of the mall) A $1.29 cup of coffee tastes the same as the $4.00 Starbucks - but there is a reason that Starbucks are popping up at every corner. It’s all about the stuff. How much we have and how much it costs.
Grissom was right when he said,“When all else fails, follow the money. It will tell you what is important.” How we spend our money is the clearest indication of what is important to us.
My friend and I earn about the same. My friend has that Starbucks & muffin every day. She’s spending a couple thousand on just that a year. She seems to always be buying new clothes, shoes, etc. That is what is important to her. And to be honest, I don’t have a problem with that. It is her money. Starbucks is not important to me - I can’t taste the difference between it and the Zip&Rip. What is important to me is radically different. I gave the donation to Salvation Army because it was important to me.
My friend has a good heart and good intentions but to be honest - it would never enter her mind that she could make a several hundred dollar contribution to Katrina if she just skipped coffee and a muffin once a week. And again - that is okay - because that is what is important to her.
It is different for me though. I am a follower of Christ. Because of that, what is important to me is on the flipside of what is important to the world. What is important to me is that I love the LORD my God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my might and with all my wallet - and that I love my neighbor as myself. Because reaching our neighborhood kids for Jesus is important to me, my time, love and money go to support the Kids Klub outreach. Because reaching our community is important to me, I listen for what Father would have me do in the Venture of Faith - 21st Century campaign. Because I weep as I watch the devastation of Katrina, I am able to praise God for the opportunity to make a donation to the relief effort. And here is the good part - I have enough. I don’t have much by the world’s standards - but I have enough. And by my Jesus’s standards - I do have the best. Because I have Him.
I hope that anyone who cares to follow my money trail sees Jesus and His glory written all over it. I hope that my money trail leaves no doubt that He is what is important to me.
What does your money trail say about what is important to you?
LORD Jesus, it was a lot easier to pledge my life to You than it was to pledge my money to You. I still struggle with it. Help me so that when my money trail speaks - it sings Your praise. I love You, Jesus.
Posted by Valerie at September 23, 2005 08:19 PM