gods or God's?
money · sex · power
Suppose you are cleaning out a basement, and you discover an ancient, oil lamp. There is an engraving on the side, years of grit and grime make it illegible, so you grab your shirt-tail and begin to rub the lamp. Pyrotechnics! Poof,
a genie with a voice resembling that of Robin Williams, appears and exclaims, “I am granting you one wish—any- thing—what do you want?”
One wish. Anything you want! What do you wish for? If we are honest, most of us would wish for some variant of money, sex, or power:
10 million dollars
A Lamborghini
To have sex with _____
To marry _____
To become President
To have the power to fly
To have the power to be invisible
To have the powers of flight and invisibility while being President with 10 million dollars
If money, sex, or power doesn’t show up as a first wish, they would make your Top 3! Sure, you might wish to usher in world peace, which sounds noble, but remember, it still requires the power to do so!
We learn in Scripture that King Solomon, David’s son and the second King of Israel, was granted one wish. God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5). Solomon asked for wisdom. We pick up the story in verse ten: “The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, ‘Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart…’” (1 Kings 3:10-12).
And yet, even Solomon, with all the wisdom of the world in his heart, ultimately couldn’t resist the sirens of money, sex, and power. These would vie for inordinate space in his life. Money, Sex, and Power would function as gods.
In myriad ways and to varying degrees, we experience these gods beckoning for our devotion, attention, time, and resources. And this trio of money, sex, and power is sophisticated and sneaky: They offer counterfeit and empty promises of what they may bring to us if we attain them: status, security, comfort, relief, pleasure, acceptance, approval, accolades, satisfaction, and happiness.
And yet, it doesn’t have to be this way. What if money, sex, and power weren’t gods, but instead, were God’s? God’s belongings; God’s possessions, given to us as gifts. Gifts serving as conduits and vehicles for properly
ordered worship of the Gift-giver rather than the disordered worship of the gifts themselves. Indeed, money, sex, and power are wonderful gifts yet they can be terrible gods!
Each Fall, WCPC embarks on a Stewardship Series, highlighting Scripture’s reminder we are not owners of anything, but stewards of everything. In God’s economy, nothing we have is earned; everything we have is gifted. In this light, our minds, bodies, and souls, and with them our time, talents, and treasures, are used to glorify God and serve others rather than to glorify and serve the self. This year, we will spend six weeks exploring the proper stewardship of money, sex, and power, investigating our temptation to make them gods while leaning into their redemption as God’s gifts to us…