SOUL
DETOX
MOOD POISONING– Materialism
That
feeling of freedom, open highways of possibilities, has…been lost to
materialism and marketing. ~Sheryl Crow
Christmas
– pic of Christmas tree and gifts
Black
Friday shopping, visa / master card/ Amex bills
Spender
vs. Saver… Frugal/ Thrifty vs Extravagant
In
Debt?...… you don’t have to live that
way! The argument – everybody lives this
way.. keeping up with the Jones’. Dave
Ramsey “Live like nobody else so you can live like nobody else”.
The
Price: (pics)
Living
the cycle of work, spend, charge, work harder, spend more, charge more.
It’s
a pervasive, insidious disease especially in our Western culture – we used to
want (pics) the latest Barbie doll,
GI Joe, baseball mitt or 10 speed bike from K-Mart. Now kids expect (pics) ipods, cell phones – not just any cell phone – an iphone,
designer clothes, designer shoes
Why? Peer pressure – keep up with the latest
trends.. have to wear the right label or you can’t hang out with the right
crowd..which means you can’t sit at the ‘right’ table at lunch or go out with
the ‘right’ girl/ guy for the Valentine’s dance.. Emotional need: belonging, acceptance,
affirmation. The best a parent can do is
to refuse to spend the $50 for a shirt that the child will out grow in 6 months
– crazy!!!
Our
culture overwhelms us with toxic materialism. A lying spirit tells us that more
money and better things will get us the life we desire – then, we’ll be secure,
happy, significant.
(pic)
like a smoker enjoying their cigarette, knowing each puff damages their lungs,
many of us willingly inhale the toxic lies of materialism at the expense of our
souls’ health and our effectiveness for Christ in the world. Jesus has
something to say about this… “What good will it be for someone to gain the
whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Matt 16:26
Pic
of House
People
like to pretend to be rich but in reality they have nothing. Most in our
current day and age are ‘house poor’…or.. they do not believe in delayed
gratification.
Proverbs
13:7 “One person pretends to be rich,
yet has nothing;(A)
another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.(B)”
another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.(B)”
Pic
of car
What
about those car payments? The lending institutions are more than happy to
accommodate us so our payments are more manageable.. the car loans are being
extended to 5 and 6 years.. what? And
the payments are still 500 plus!!
What!? And.. of course depreciation
hits the minute to drive your band spanking new vehicle off the lot.
Pic
of Hawaii
What
about vacations? Honeymoons? Oh.. no problem.. I’ll just charge it and pay
it back a little at a time.. and the honeymoon.. well. Certainly the financial
gifts that are given will cover that, right?
NOT! In reality, it’s not the destination that makes the trip, but the
person you’re with…..And after it’s all said and done.. how much do we end up paying for those
vacations or those items? What’s the mindset?
‘play now.. pay later’
Recent
stats: 60% of workers under 30 yrs of
age have already cashed in our borrowed against their retirement. 70% of them
have no money whatsoever in cash reserves. – no emergency fund. Dave Ramsey says we need to have $1000
accessible to use for emergencies and work toward saving enough to carry us
with our current bills for 6 months!
Good financial management I’d say!!!
In
our spend happy society however, no one seems to ‘get it’. There is a spirit of
entitlement in our day that is poisoning our 20 and 30 something generation.
The mentality is ‘life is short, I want it now, I deserve it’
Rom 1:25 25 They
exchanged the truth about God for a lie,(A) and worshiped and served created
things(B) rather than the Creator—who is
forever praised.(C) Amen.(D)
People
reject God’s truth with its power to liberate and satisfy and instead embrace
the pursuit of ‘stuff’. Why? Pastor Craig Groeschel says money &
things make three major promises that they cannot keep:
1.
the promise of happiness
2.
…significance
3.
…security
Book
“His Needs, Her Needs” – claims that women find security in finances… NO!
our security should be found in Christ..
All
3 of the above promises are lies. Ask someone ‘does money buy happiness?’ Most,
without hesitation would say no.. of course not! But if you also asked
them..”do you think a little more money would make your life better?” – they
would say.. yes.. of course.
Hmmmm….
More
than what they say… watch what they do.. I think we’ll find that in reality
they do believe the lie. Husbands break their backs to make more money, wives
go into debt for that new coach purse, hair color, bracelet, etc to make their
lives better. The just out of college person goes into huge debt buying that
new car and paying the higher insurance rates to boot!! What about the newly
weds who purchase that house that has the big walk in closet, extravagant fire
place, etc… they believe the lie –
having money & stuff makes you important, successful, significant
Ok..
so what about the 3rd lie.. money and things gives me the promise of
security? If we are like most people, we tend to think ‘if I just had enough
money, then I’d feel secure.’ The problem is – that statement is not true. Why?
Because when you get more.. you feel like you need a little more. Ask someone
“How much do you need to feel safe and secure?” the most common response is ‘I
just need a little bit more.’ Are we
trusting money to provide more than we are trusting God? Money and stuff will never give us the kind
of inward security that only God brings.
Satan tries to
use money as a substitute for God. Jesus said in Matt. 6:24 “24 “No one can serve two masters. Either
you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and
despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.(A)
Jesus
didn’t say you can’t serve God and power, sex, yourself.. He specifically
highlighted money. Why do you think our spiritual enemy uses money to deceive
us? Because money is an appealing, powerful false god. Satan will use anything
to pull us away from the one true God! Satan loves it when we love and worship
money. The toxic trap lures us to worship and serve created things rather than
the Creator. What does money promise? It
promises what only God can provide.
Money
promises happiness. True happiness, joy and peace can only come from God.
Money
promises significance. Only God can make us feel and believe we are valuable/
significant.
Money
promises security. Security can only be found in God – insecurity is wrestling
with a spiritual problem not a financial one.
Oftentimes
we trust in money – we fall into that trap/ the lie because we do not know what
we already have in Christ. If you are in debt, chances are you have fallen into
the trap so… the only way out is to own it. No excuses.. if you didn’t believe
the lies, you wouldn’t have purchased those things that you didn’t need with
money you didn’t have. Do we love, worship and serve things or God?
So
now what? If we have discovered we have believed these lies, what do we do now?
1.
admit/ confess the lies you have bought into
2. change what
you believe as that will change how you behave…
This is how the apostle Paul said it once he got to a place of truth in
this area: Phil 3:7-8 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss(A) for the sake of Christ. 8 What is
more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing(B) Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake
I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ(C)
“garbage’ in this translation is better
translated as dung/ poop.. or even a stronger word in the original language.
Bottom line – what is he communicating – all the things he thought were
important are good for nothing, useless, feces.. poop! He knew the truth.. and
probably found it out by experience – he has highly educated and a man of resources
before Christ. He found the truth – nothing compares to the joy of knowing the
Lord! The closer we get to Christ, the temptation of worldly possessions loosen
thie grip and attractiveness. We finally care more about eternal things than
the temporal. Charles Spurgeon said “You say, if I had a little more I should
be very satisfied. You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you
have, you will not be satisfied if it were doubled”. Having more in this world
does not bring fulfillment. Let’s start telling ourselves the truth:
Money & things will NEVER fulfill me. Luke 12:15 5 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against
all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”(A)
once you have done that you can…
3.start living within your means
4.
start paying off existing debt
5.
create a written budget & stick to it– tell your money where
it is going to go – plan! It is a proven fact that people without a budget
overspend and they have no idea where there money is actually going
6.
live the 80/10/10 principle
and
.. remember this: It’s not wrong to have things. It’s wrong when your things
have you.
SOUL DETOX
– MOOD POISONING– Materialism
1.
Have you ever fallen into the materialism trap at Christmas? What is your current family traditions with
regard to gift giving?
2.
Of the three false promises… which seems to be the one you get tripped
up on the most?
the promise of happiness…significance…security
3.
Share some specific examples of how you see these lies being
promoted in society?
4.
Comment on: Phil 3:7-8 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss(A) for the sake of Christ. 8 What is
more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing(B) Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake
I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ(C)
Can you relate to the Apostle Paul? What have
you given up or changed your perspective on since becoming a disciple of
Christ.
5.
After admitting and exposing the lies you have believed about
money / materialism, what are the next steps you will take?
·
start living within your means
·
start paying off existing debt
·
create a written budget
·
live the 80/10/10 principle
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