Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Laurel and I were just talking this last week about the difficulties and sacrifices that we make because I'm a pastor. The biggest thing that I brought up was that we are really sacrificing financially...if you aren't aware of it, pastors don't make a lot of money, so we don't have a lot of money.

We went and watched Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps later that day and at first my suspicions of our being financially challenged were quickly confirmed by the film. I started to realize more and more that we forgo the majority our fiscal potential and I was feeling a little envious of the possessions that others are able to obtain.

What was amazing was that as the movie continued, I began to feel an oppression over me. The movie really wasn't that dark (I honestly expected it to be much more so considering it is an Oliver Stone flick). Yet, I could not shake this oppressive sensation.

Just before the credits began to roll, I had an epiphany...Jesus is right: the desire for wealth leads to destruction (1 Tim. 6:9 paraphrased). We quote all too often that "the love of money is the root of all evil," but the verse before it says that if you want to get rich, it leads to destruction.

My epiphany: I'm not sacrificing at all as a pastor. The real sacrifice is to give up the spiritual freedom and blessings of God in order to want money...to want to get rich.

The reality is that there is no freedom greater than to be totally dependent on God...when you can do nothing about your situation. It sounds moronic to say it out loud, but it's true. When I'm not in control and God is, I can let go. I can have freedom that money will never provide. I guess Oliver Stone was pretty right on when he subtitled the film, Money Never Sleeps. It makes me not want money. I really like to sleep.