The Idol of Materialism

Mark 8:34-37

Good Morning everyone, I am so glad to see all of you here. Last week we entered into our new series of In _ We Trust. We laid the foundation of what Idolatry is in a biblical sense which is those things that pull our trust and priority from God to things of this world. We examined some of the forms of idolatry from the Old Testament as well as the New, and finally we discussed how our modern day idolatry is actually more subtler. Today, though we are going to enter into our second week and look at one Idol in particular, which is that of Materialism.

So if you have your Bibles with you I am going to ask that you open them up to Mark 8:34-37 and as is always the case this will be on the screens to either side of me.

Mark 8:34–37 ESV

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

Let’s Pray and then we will jump into this message together.

The reality is that our modern society is plagued with this materialistic mentality, and for some the God in their life is the things that they possess. In fact, even within the music world we have songs like that of 21st Century Digital Boy from the band Bad Religion which states “Cause I’m a twenty-first century boy, I don’t know how to live but I got a lot of toys” You see in songs like this it really speaks to the heart of the nihilistic reality of the 90’s consumerism culture; a culture that was shallow and had an abundance of material possessions but had little depth of character and soul, and this has continued forward only in my opinion worsening as the years have passed along.

You see, in our modern culture Greed, materialism, and consumerism are rampant. The reality is there are many negative connotations that describe the obsession and idolatry of getting more stuff. Bruce Riley Ashford, stated “Materialism is the belief that we will be happier if we acquire more goods and services, while consumerism is our preoccupation with acquiring those goods and services. The materialist-consumerist mindset is idolatrous, because consumption becomes a functional savior offering the sort of redemption that only Christ can offer, and promoting the sort of utopia that will exist only in the new heavens and earth. Not only individuals but also entire societies can make an idol out of the consumption of material goods and services.”

Jesus spoke often about money and material possessions. In our verse that was read just a minute ago He said, Mark 8:34–37 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?” This is one reason why Jesus spoke on humnility, especially with regard to material possessions. In fact, what scripture has the habit of showing us is that “Self-denial really speaks of the folly of gaining material wealth while losing one’s own soul.” It is likely that the word ‘soul’ here refers to one’s selfhood. The implication is that true humanity is found not in the acquisition of goods but in humble service to others.

But this begs the question, we do have to work, after all. Is stuff really that bad? Does the Christian need to literally own no material possessions?

A few months ago, prior to the transition completing, as a worship team we went through one of David Platt’s books Radical, and in it he speaks to this very topic. He shared the story of Jesus and the rich young ruler, showing how we in the Western world have really diminished to a good degree an essential teaching of Jesus; we have almost shucked it off to the side rather than addressing the implications that it bears.

Matthew 19:16–22 ESV

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

You see what Jesus was doing was cutting to the heart of the matter. At the core of this person’s life and identity rested his trust and allegience to the possessions that he owned. That in his life ultimately was his priority, that in his life was ultimately his god. For if it was not, obedience would have followed and the man would have sold what he owned and followed Jesus. Let me ask this question of you, would you be willing to lay aside your wealth and your possessions to follow Christ’s calling and leading in your life? Would you be willing to sacrifice financially to advance the Kingdom of God?

If the answer is no, then material gain and wealth is more than likely an idol in your life and something that must be addressed.

You see Jesus was not trying to impoverish the young ruler, he was trying to cut to the heart of the matter and show him where his true allegience laid. It was (going back to our actual verse today) showing how easy it is for that rich young ruler to think that he was doing the commands of God, while ultimately prioritizing the wealth and riches of this world and ultimately losing his soul in the process. Christ and Scritpure continually shows us that ultimately our reward in Heaven, our reward in Eternity, is far greater than anything that we will amass, gain, or experience here on this earth....

But here is another point, because I want to be clear on this yet again, this sermon is not to tell any individual that they should go out, sell their house, sell their car, sell everything they own tomorrow. Unless God calls you to do those things do not. Yet, we should be cautious and understand that those who work only for selfish interest are no better off than those who worship idols. Indeed, by elevating work and the resultant wealth to ends in themselves work in this fashion is idolatry. But those who work justly, according to God’s covenant, will find that even in the worst circumstances God is present in their work, bringing joy and fruitfulness.

By prioritizing God over those things in our lives we ultimately walk away with more joy. Once again Tim Keller can help us understand idolatry and money or material possessions. In one of his articles and it is the same one that I utilized last week he begs the question of; Where do we spend our money? Do we spend a majority of our time window shopping and having online carts that are full, constantly seeing what else we need? Going back to last week “If you were to look at your daydreams. When you don’t have to think about anything particular, like when you are laying down at night ready to go to sleep, where does your mind love to rest? Or, look at where you spend your money most effortlessly. Also, if you take your most uncontrolled emotions or the guilt that you can’t get rid of, you’ll find your idols at the bottom. Whenever I hear someone say, ‘I know God forgives me, but I can’t forgive myself,” It means that person has something that is more important than God, because God forgives them. If you look at your greatest nightmare—if something were to happen that would make you feel you had no reason to live—that’s a god in your life.”

Here is the reality of this point, our modern culture is obsessed with amassing material things. We are obssessed with the greatest and best in technology, we want the newest vehicle with all the bells and whistles, we want to take the luxurious vacation packed full of delicacies and fun activities, we want to do what brings us the most joy on this side of eternity. Yet, by doing so we have put ourselves at risk or in some cases actually ended up prioritizing items and wealth over God in our lives. So for us in this western world, instead of tithing, instead of giving in abundance to the work of the Church and to the advancement of His Kingdom on earth, we instead pay the multiple streaming services that we feel we need, we pay the thousands of dollars vacation or downpayment on the newest vehicle even when there was nothing wrong with our current one, we make excuses as to why the thing that we want is more important than the act of giving unto the Lord which is essential to the life of a believer.

So where does your trust lie? Does it lay in the hands of the Sovereign God who will ultimately provide for your needs or does it rest in your own work and the things that you possess?

Finally, I think Tim Keller does an amazing job once again in describing the idol that can raise up in our life; the truth of the matter is money is one of the greatest leaders of arguements in marriages and families, it has led to divorce, it has led to individuals committing suicide and ending their life. Why? Because without the earthly possessions we feel as though there is no reason to live.... Think of our lives and how we live it. We work a job, we put money aside each and every month, we have retirement accounts and the list could go on.... This is so that at the end of our lives on this side of eternity we can, what? We can retire, we can sit back, we can enjoy the labors of our years of work.... But what if I told you that, to a degree that is making materialism and money an idol in your life?

Now this is not my own illustration, in fact, this is something that I heard years ago from Francis Chan but I think it is amazing and fits well in this sermon… You see this rope? (Pull out shoe lace or rope with the plastic piece on the end)… Imagine that this was wrapped around the entire room, heck the entire bulding, lets go farther imagine that this rope extends on forever. Imagine that this rope is really a timeline that goes on forever, this entire rope is eternity. You see this tape at the end this is our life on earth.... Do you see how small this is in comparison to all of eternity. What has always surprised me, what has always amazed me like it did Francis is that for many individuals all of your time, energy and focus goes to this small part of our timeline that is spent here on earth… We ask questions of are we going to eat well, are we going to have the job that we always wanted, are we going to have the degrees and accolades that we want and make us feel as though we have authority, power, and worth? Furthermore, we spend most of our time saving and putting money aside so that we can amass our wealth, so we can amass those things that bring us momentary joy, and ultimately we focus on this really small sliver in which we save, save, save, so that we can retire and live on the beach or lake or close to our kids and relax and enjoy this tiny section of our time on earth.... Yet, here is the reality: what scripture tells us is this small section of the timeline, this small section of our existence on this earth dictates where we spend the rest of our timeline in eternity.... We have one chance of this life on earth and then comes eternity, and you can fall prey to being fooled by focusing on enjoyments here on this side of eternity so much that it becomes an idol in your life, replacing the place that God alone should be, and in response lose out on the greatest reward which comes after we have completed the race and enter into the presence of the Lord.

You see this command of dying to self, this command of picking up your cross and following Jesus is a command of obedience that truly alters how we view this section of eternity. If we take this command seriously our question is not are we going to be able to eat and enjoy the finest of foods, it’s not are we going to be able to live in the house in the country, it’s not are we going to have the side by side and newest and greatest vehicle or form of technology. It’s not how am I going to amass my wealth so that at the very end of my life I can sit around sipping margaritas on the beach and drifting off into the sunset. It’s how can I impact the world for the Kingdom of God, how can I utilize the things that God has given me at my disposal to glorify Him, to meet the needs of others?

If there is nothing else that I hope you get from this message, it is do not allow yourself to become overly focused on this side of eternity, do not allow possessions and money and wealth to become the God in your life… Rather, allow yourself to be focused solely on His Word, solely on His will, allow God to be the focus on your life and trust Him to be the provider and sustainer and the giver of all things. Be content in the things that you have, and instead of focusing on investing earthly invest eternally because the dividened is much greater.

In conclusion, do not take this as a way of saying not to enjoy anything on this side of eternity. I said it last week and I will say it again, this is not a message to tell you to go out today and sell everything and live an impoverished life, but it is a cautionary warning to beg the question of what is most important to you.... Maybe for you, you need to realize that you don’t need another vehicle right now, or maybe not the 40,000+ vehicle when your vehicle is working just fine. Maybe for you it’s that you don’t need the 4+ bedroom home out in the country when it is just you and your wife living at home, maybe for you it is that you don’t need to spend the extra money to go on your 3rd or 4th vacation.... Now again, I am not saying that those things are bad in and of itself but if it hinders your ability to give to the things of God, if it inhibits your ability to care for those who are less fortunate, if it becomes the priority over church and God then those things have become an idol in your life. Remember, the dying to self and picking up your cross is a denial to the old life that you lived apart from Christ. Christ and His Covenant in our lives should cause us to be separated from the world and this means that we die to our own wants, desires, and needs and live to serve God and trust in Him alone for our vision, our calling, and our providence.

As the worship team comes forward I want to invite anyone who has not accepted Christ in their life to come forward and I would love to pray for you and start that journey of walking alongside you as you walk out your spiritual journey on this side of eternity. Maybe you’re struggling, maybe you know that this is an area in your life that you need to surrender to Christ the altar is open to you. Finally, as is always the case regardless of whether you take a step forward or not, know that this is your time and so as they close us out in the final song I ask that you would if nothing else spend the next few moment worshipping God who is worthy of all our praise.

Let’s pray and then we will dismiss to the fellowship hall following the completion of this song. If there is anything that you need throughout the week please do not hesitate to reach out.

Pray

Invitational

Dismissal-Emily

Final Walk Out Song