PrintA False God Is Exposed
Way back at the beginning of the Christian era, the Apostle Paul visited Athens and when questioned about his beliefs, he said, "Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious, for as I was walking along I saw your many altars. (Acts 17:22-23 NLT).
I suspect that he would say the same today were he to walk along the streets of any of our great cities – even those who would consider themselves secular rather than religious. Despite our protestations at being called "religious', there are many altars at which people worship these days. One of the more obvious is the altar to the "Mighty Dollar God".
The global financial crisis (as it is now universally called) has finally exposed the true nature of the Mighty Dollar God. Like all false gods, the Mighty Dollar God has lured us with all kinds of promises about the good life. What this false god has not told us is the price that we will have to pay, the sacrifices we will have to make and that all the promises will turn out to be lies. But now this false religion with its false god has, at last, been exposed.
The Mighty Dollar God is greedy, not benevolent. Enough is always just a little bit more so the devotees of this god seek greater returns and dividends. The deeper one goes in their allegiance to this false master, the greater their willingness to sacrifice time, energy and relationships on its altar. The fact is that we become like the gods we worship. Jesus made it very clear:
"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money". (Matt.6/24 NLT)
The implication here is unmistakable; we can't serve two masters but we will serve one. The choice is ours to make. Either the Lord God will be our Master or money will master us. And let's be clear here; money can only be our servant when God is our Master. To think that we can master our own lives and make money our servant is a religious chant that you will hear only at the altar of the Mighty Dollar God. It is part of this false religion. We are designed to serve, not master. We are not qualified to master, only to serve. So, which master shall we serve? God or money?
As the altars to the Mighty Dollar God come crashing down all over the world and its lies are now exposed for all to see, let's hope and pray that this global financial crisis will become the means that turn the hearts of many back to the worship of the one true God.
