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| Having the right object of worship can help us learn to focus on people and their interests, rather than our own. |
A
social media post recently declared that in the United States “we need to put
the worship of the almighty dollar aside, and take care of people first.” I
agree, to a point. Capitalism, consumerism and materialism seem to have
converged, resulting in obeisance to money and things, at the expense of
concern for the needs of people.
These
days we think and talk a lot about not only those suffering from abject
poverty, but also people working hard, often with more than one job, who still
can’t seem to get ahead. Too much week, or month, always remaining at the end
of their pay.
So the
solution, it seems, is simple: Cease the mindless worship of the so-called
almighty dollar and instead, start doing unto others as we would have them do
unto us. Alas, like most simple solutions, it just ain’t that easy.
For
those who do worship money, whose answer to “How much is enough?” is “Just a
little bit more,” they’re going to need more motivation than a simple plea to
“stop!” Their response is likely to be something like, “Why? Why should I even
care? Ya gotta look out for number one. I’ve got mine, so go get your own.”
For
most us, if we were to hear that kind of reaction, we’d recoil in horror: How
insensitive! How uncaring! How selfish! And yet, our society constantly tells
us, “it’s all about me” – so why should we worry about the needs of others? We
reply, because it’s the right thing to do! According to whom? If we’re nothing
but products of mindless, purposeless evolution, why should we have any concern
about one another? Survival of the fittest and all that.
Years
ago, a country song bemoaned, “looking for love in all the wrong places.” I
suspect one reason we’ve lost compassion and sensitivity for people around us
is because we’ve focused our worship in all the wrong places. MBA programs in
the vaunted business schools may teach about the bottom line, maximizing
productivity, squeezing the most out of the people working for you, and how to
grow one’s unique brand globally, but how many of them spend time on how to selflessly
serve the interests of customers, clients and employees?
I
referred to this in a recent post, but the decided shift from the sacred toward
the secular in recent decades has “freed” decision-makers from wondering, “What
does God think about this?” or “What would Jesus do?” as the faddish WWJD
bracelets used to remind us. If our god isn’t the almighty dollar, then it’s
our own self-interests. When we worship self, it’s a demanding, uncompromising “deity.”
However,
when we truly worship the God of all eternity, not with mere lip service but
with passion and devotion, “self” has a way of diminishing in our focus. John
the Baptist, upon realizing who Jesus Christ was, said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Another
translation states it this way: “He must
become greater; I must become less." There is a direct correlation.
Genuine
worship of God doesn’t mean adhering to rigid rituals and regulations, but
understanding that part of our purpose, one of the reasons He placed us on this
planet we call Earth, is to serve and be of help to others. Jesus stated it
this way: “The King
will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it
to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me'” (Luke 10:27).
When God is
excluded from our considerations, when we don’t feel bothered to ask or pray
about how to properly use our resources, as well as the authority we have in
our respective spheres of influence, we certainly aren’t troubled by annoying
questions about what He thinks. Which can “liberate” us from feelings of
concern about our fellow man, woman or child.
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