Everything/Nothing Leads to God

A simple observation: It seems that a people are most likely to turn to God when they have either everything or nothing.

If someone is doing 'OK' in life, they are generally unsatisfied but have this idea that if they could just get more stuff (money, power, etc.) than they currently have then they would be happy. I suspect that many people in western societies spend their entire lives in this unsatisfied state.

If someone has nothing, they will often turn to God for help. If they own nothing, if nobody will help them, they turn to the being they have heard is both powerful and loving. Fortunately for us, God is not too proud to be the God of Last Resort. He welcomes His children no matter which route they use to come home because He loves them more than we can imagine.

The unexpected part of this might be the suggestion that when someone has everything, they can turn to God. But don't we always see news stories about rich celebrities battling depression, or even taking their own lives? Of course, by 'everything' I am here referring to everything that a human mind has decided it needs from this world to be happy. That could include fame, money and power. But it will probably also differ from person to person.

Part of my own testimony of becoming a practicing Christian is that, at the age of 16, I had everything a 16 year old boy wanted. I had as much material wealth as I thought I needed due to parents providing me with a generous allowance, I had a girlfriend who adored me, I had friends in and out of school, I had a lot of freedom with my time outside of school and success within school. This wasn't the money, fame and power that some people might call 'everything', but it was everything I thought I wanted, so I was surprised to find myself unsatisfied. That was my clue that there must be more to life than all these things, so I fell into the group of people that turn to God because they have 'everything' and found that it wasn't enough.

Why God Won't Help Me Win the Lottery

I have sometimes fantasized that although I do no play the national lottery, God would give me a winning set of numbers in a dream or vision. Then, armed with these numbers, and obviously God's approval, I would win millions!

Of course, this has not happened in real life. But I took a moment the other day to wonder if God might actually use the lottery in that way, and came to the conclusion that no, He wouldn't. I think that even if God wanted me to have loads of money for something, He wouldn't use the lottery to accomplish this.

Money, Coming and Going

When Jenny and I got married and brought our two lifestyles under one roof, we realized that we each manage our money in different ways. I look at what will be needed in the future, and budget so that I have enough, and Jenny keeps track of what she has spent her money on so she can tell when she needs to change her spending habits. I plan ahead for the future, Jenny analyses the past.

I do not think that either is the 'right' way to manage money, but I do think that using both of our methods together is a powerful combination.

Choosing how we watch our finance probably says something about our personalities.

Security vs. Value

Refunds, guarantees, warranty insurance and money back. Our culture, and our location in history, offers a sudden wealth of ways in which consumers can pay for something with money, and then get the money back again. This transaction in trade is so accepted and common now that many people try to deliberately flaunt these options on a daily basis with the aim of getting something for nothing.

But does the result of never paying for something diminish its value? I think that at least in our minds it does. If you buy something and are promised a refund if you aren’t happy with it, then you are less likely to care if it works because if it doesn’t you know you will take your refund and have lost nothing. But if you buy something and are told it is non-returnable, if you are told that you have bought it and therefore have to live with it, you will probably try to take better care. You will be more wary how you use it, and by comparison to the disposable item that you returned, your increased attention could be seen as a type of increased value.

Short Story: The Man Who Found Centillion Yen

Jake looked the new currency exchange clerk in the eye, and at the same time tried to think quickly about whether he had missed something. "So," he checked with the man behind the counter, "if I sign this contract, then under this deal you will exchange all of my current belongings, everything I own, for the centillion yen note and a flight to China in twenty years time?"

"Yes." The man simply nodded.

Jake, still not moving, searched the man's face for any sign of mischief or illusion, but found nothing beyond the friendly smile. So his mind went over the facts.

Centillion yen! It would make millionaires look poor and desperate. It could buy countries. It could end world hunger, and it could afford world peace, but he could only spend it in China twenty years from now.

The Illusion of Promotion

We imagine that the word promotion is a positive one, a word that defines success and achievement. But from a small amount of observational experience, when you look at how promotion can affect a person's life- not just the part of it that exists at work- I'm less convinced that it is always so positive.

Within the workplace, promotion is portrayed as a reward, a gift, given to someone with recognised talent. It can be said to be given so that a person has a job best suited to their level of competence, a distinctly flattering description.

However, in the context of a persons entire life, I think that very little may be gained from promotion. In some cases, I think that a person gains nothing at all, and instead they merely trade one benefit for another.

Greedy Optimism

Many people who would describe themselves as "not religious" appear to have an optimistic view that the world generally turns out OK. This view has possibly been influenced by seeing too many movies or reading too many books with shiny happy endings, but the optimism isn't founded on anything more solid that a vague idea that things just turn out that way.

Some of the most visible examples of this for me have been brief updates that people write online. I see people I know writing that they are currently going through a bad time, but that there is hope. Not hope in anything in particular. Just hope! These individuals sometimes quote the kind of happy mantras you might find in a birthday card or on a car bumper sticker, as if these small and cheap products are enough evidence to conclude that life can, and should, be nice all of the time. Strangely, the people who share these ideas about how nice life should always be are among the most frequent to complain that thing's are going badly.

All of this self-enforced happiness about life has recently reminded me of something else in the world- Economics. The way that the world has currently decided Economics works seems to echo some of this same unfounded optimism that I frequently see.

The Money Lists

At the moment myself and Jenny host a small group (home group/cell group/life group) each week. I once set an activity that focussed on how different people make priorities with their money. I didn't know how it would go, or what we would find out from comparing the lists. But by the end, I was surprised.

What do we spend money on?

First I got the group to think of a list of about 7 or 8 headings that someone might use to categorise everything on a personal budgeting file. The list was fairly generic. It included food, taxes, recreation, giving/charity, travel, savings, and a couple of others.

Time is Money?

Time is money? No. I have a full time job, so I know that's not true. I do get paid for my time, but I only get paid for my time in the office. No-one pays me to come home and have a meal with my wife. I don't have a salary for relaxing at the weekend. I don't claim trips to see family on expenses.

Some of the time I give my employer becomes money. But the rest of my time is just time. Not money.

Maybe they are comparable because I spend both of them. How do I spend time? Do I spend it the same way I spend money? Yes, I think I do. I think you do, too. People who hoard money and possessions as the most valuable thing in their lives often seem reluctant to spend much time relaxing without distractions. Rich people- despite being rich- seem very busy. Work hard, earn money, keep working hard. It looks, to an observer, like it might be difficult to break the cycle and really switch off from production mode.

But do I hear you saying that everybody falls into this category? Well, it's true that only a working man will earn a wage. But my thoughts are aimed more at the idea of this being a cycle that enslaves us. Does this have to be the case?

Giving: Africa vs. UK

In African church services, giving money is done very differently to how it's done in English church services.

The African churches I have visited have involved everyone getting off their seats, and dancing joyfully in a line to the front, where they drop their donation into the box or bowl. Music sets the pace, and you really get the sense of joyful giving that the Bible says God wants.

Switch over to a sunday morning in England- and I'm even talking about charismatic churches here- and it's a very different scene. The sung worship in some british services may be similar in style, but instead of the time of giving being a focussed and celebrated event, baskets or boxes are passed covertly along the rows of seats, so that people are distracted as little as possible from their singing.