Becoming a Christian changes the way you think. You no longer look to the American dream to guide your decisions because it has been replaced with a heavenly reality. Jesus Christ put it like this, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
When someone comes to Christ they begin to realize that the riches of this world can only imitate the treasures of eternity. When compared to the eternal weight of glory that awaits Christians in heaven, the riches of this world look more like imitation trophies made of hollow plastic. This hit me the other day when I was looking at the only trophy I saved from my childhood. From a distance it looks like a bronze trophy set on a marble stand, but in reality it is almost entirely made of plastic. The only metal it contains are the screws that hold it together.
That trophy used to mean a lot to me. I still remember winning it back in the 6th grade. It had value because my world was small and my perspective was limited. As I grew older my understanding changed and matured. When I came to Christ my taste for the things of the world changed as well. I realized I had to rethink many of the assumptions that had filtered into my worldview. I realized I had been suckered into pursuing Malcolm Forbes’ often quoted motto, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” My desire for more things and nicer things was not grounded in Scripture. It was coming from the world. The more I read God’s word the more I realized how much I needed to be set free from the imitation riches of this world.
Jesus was interested in the heart issue of laying up treasures in life. He said, ““No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” He wanted people to see the motives behind their decisions in life. Did their actions show love for God or for this world? This is one of our Lord’s most famous quotes because people still struggle with it today. Many of life’s daily decisions come down to a choice between God and money. Are you going to take a job that requires you to spend less time with the body of Christ? Are you going to work overtime if it means you spend less time with your family? Is Christmas more about gifts than worshipping our Savior? We are supposed to ask these questions all the time.
The heavenly economy is completely different than our world’s economy. It doesn’t look to the material world, but to the immaterial. It asks the question, “How rich am I in the agape love of God?” That is the currency of heaven. That is how we can store up riches that will stand the test of time. We must think in terms of the love of God. How can we grow in our understanding of God’s love? How can we become more loving people? How can we show the love of God to others? If we can taste that kind of love we will never settle for the knock-off lust that the world has to offer.
C. S. Lewis was a British atheist who came to Christ later in life. He understood the difference between what the world had to offer and what God has in store. He wrote this, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
That should shake us up. I know it does for me. That means the American dream is a mud pie in dirty slum. It is selfish and godless. The heavenly reality is a vacation at the sea. Why does the world settle for making mud pies? They know no better. Why do Christians settle for mud pies? They may have never really understood what Jesus meant when he said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
