A Profitable Worldview

"What we need is more money..." This is the thought that many will have today, as if money were the cure for every problem. There are many who truly believe this and live for accumulating more stuff. The profitable worldview is not limited to "more money." It could actually be shortened to simply "more."

The accumulation of stuff is widespread. Storage units are big business in every community. Homes built prior to 1950 had big living rooms and small closets. Today the opposite is seen. We have more than we need, but still need more, just in case. For some reason we have been sucked in to the notion that more is better.

One of the problems with the profitable worldview is in the deception of identity with how many things you have rather than in the character you have. Things, in and of themselves, are not bad until a person begins to see their identity and value in the number and kind of things they have. Things can be deceiving in that way. They make a very distorted mirror.

This is reinforced by others with the same worldview that give importance (identity) to others based upon their "things." Our society in the west has been blinded with this worldview. God has blessed us, not so that we can have more storage space, but so that we can be a blessings to others. But this requires a different worldview.

Another problem with the profitable worldview is seen in the fact that those who are blinded by it lose so much. Jesus said, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36. Those who are shaped by a profitable worldview can only see the bottom line, which is never enough. One of the richest men in the world was once asked, "How much is enough?" He replied, "Just a little bit more than I now have." If that is how you live, whether you are rich or poor, your worldview is called "profitable."

Probably the worst thing about a profitable worldview is that it promotes the popular notion of the ends justifies the means. In other words, whatever it takes to get a bigger bottom line, becomes "legal." The most valuable things get sacrificed for the things that will not satisfy. As the old expression goes, "Money can buy you a nice bed, but cannot buy you a restful night." One of the popular songs of the 60s was "Money Can't Buy Me Love."For some reason singers, the tune, and beat of that song were more popular than the message. In a profitable worldview, how to get more becomes relevant to simply getting more.

So how can a person provide shelter for a family, food for the table, shoes for their feet and still live by a Biblical worldview? Stay tuned. Tomorrow we will address that very question.