{"id":959,"date":"2010-02-04T19:11:32","date_gmt":"2010-02-04T19:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2010\/02\/new-years-resolve-jesus-and-money-part-eleven.html"},"modified":"2010-02-04T19:11:32","modified_gmt":"2010-02-04T19:11:32","slug":"new-years-resolve-jesus-and-money-part-eleven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/02\/new-years-resolve-jesus-and-money-part-eleven.html","title":{"rendered":"New Year&#8217;s Resolve: Jesus and Money Part Eleven"},"content":{"rendered":"<form mt:asset-id=\"10402\" class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\" style=\"display: inline;\" contenteditable=\"false\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/assets_c\/2009\/12\/Jesusmoney-thumb-400x400-10353-thumb-400x400-10354-thumb-400x400-10359-thumb-400x400-10360-thumb-400x400-10368-thumb-400x400-10371-thumb-400x400-10372-thumb-400x400-10373-thumb-400x400-10393-thumb-400x400-10401.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Jesusmoney.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/137\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/12\/Jesusmoney-thumb-400x400-10353-thumb-400x400-10354-thumb-400x400-10359-thumb-400x400-10360-thumb-400x400-10368-thumb-400x400-10371-thumb-400x400-10372-thumb-400x400-10373-thumb-400x400-10393-thumb-400x400-10401-thumb-400x400-10402.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-none\" style=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/form>\n<div><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><font color=\"navy\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.brazospress.com\/Book.asp?isbn=978-1-58743-274-3\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.brazospress.com\/Book.asp?isbn=978-1-58743-274-3<\/a><br \/><\/span><\/font><font color=\"navy\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;\"> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/isbn=1587432749\/bakerbookhouseA\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/isbn=1587432749\/bakerbookhouseA<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p class=\"ecxMsoNormal\"><font color=\"navy\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p class=\"ecxMsoNormal\"><meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\"><meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\"><meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\"><link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/\/C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CBEN%7E1.WIT%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml\"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"State\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"place\"><\/o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument>  <w:View>Normal<\/w:View>  <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>  <w:PunctuationKerning\/>  <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>  <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>  <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>  <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>  <w:Compatibility>   <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>   <w:SnapToGridInCell\/>   <w:WrapTextWithPunct\/>   <w:UseAsianBreakRules\/>   <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>  <\/w:Compatibility>  <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4<\/w:BrowserLevel> <\/w:WordDocument><\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"156\"> <\/w:LatentStyles><\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid=\"clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D\" id=\"ieooui\"><\/object>\n\n<style>st1\\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }<\/style>\n\n<![endif]--><\/p>\n<style><!-- \/* Style Definitions *\/ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\t{mso-style-parent:\"\";\tmargin:0in;\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\tfont-size:12.0pt;\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";}@page Section1\t{size:8.5in 11.0in;\tmargin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;\tmso-header-margin:.5in;\tmso-footer-margin:.5in;\tmso-paper-source:0;}div.Section1\t{page:Section1;}--><\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n<style> \/* Style Definitions *\/ table.MsoNormalTable\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\tmso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;\tmso-para-margin:0in;\tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\tfont-size:10.0pt;\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\tmso-ansi-language:#0400;\tmso-fareast-language:#0400;\tmso-bidi-language:#0400;}<\/style>\n\n<![endif]--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;\">There are certainpsychological dynamics which drive any culture, and two of the most obvious ones inour culture are the consumer and competitive drives.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>There are an awful lot of Christians who areconsumer junkies or competition junkies.<span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span>They have to go to the mall or play some game or watch some game, orthey are just plain bored with life.<span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span>This word just in&#8212; boredom is a state of mind of those who lackimagination, and especially lack Christian imagination.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>So what do we do to change the way we envision things, change the pattern of our behavior?&nbsp; Let&#8217;s start with how you choose a church.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;\">Do your best to stop evaluating your churchfrom a consumer point of view. <span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span>Don&#8217;tchoose a church on the basis of where <i style=\"\">youcan get the most out of it, <\/i>but on where you can best serve.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>What I am saying is that the consumermentality is a form of the primal sin of self-focus, self-centeredness.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>And the competitive mentality, especially ifnot properly channeled destroys friendships, marriages, leads to one drivingyour children to do things they are not really capable of or gifted for, andultimately it goes back to Cain and Abel. <span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span>It is sibling rivalry writ large. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;\">If you want afight worth fighting, then let&#8217;s fight the war on drugs, on sin, onpornography, on the sex trade, on sexual promiscuity and abortion.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>If you want to compete, then compete to bethe best parent, husband, Sunday school teacher you can be.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>I am not saying all competition is bad.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>There are of course athletic metaphors in theNT, but the question is what really constitutes winning?<span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>Have you won anything worth having if you&#8217;vecheated to get it?<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span><span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span>Have you won anything worth having if it leadsto the alienation of people who are your fellow Christians?<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>Christians have to be in the business ofredefining &#8216;success&#8217; or &#8216;winning&#8217;, or placing it so far down the depth chartafter compassion, and love of neighbor, and nurturing of community and the likethat it looks very differently. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;\">Let me give anexample. One of the persons I most admire in all of sports is DarrellGreen.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>He was an all pro defensiveplayer for the Redskins for many many years, and he led by example.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>His faith in Christ was the most importantthing in his life, and winning football games was entirely secondary.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>But as a Christian he committed himself toexcellence, to going on to perfection, to doing and being all he could do andbe to set a good example for his teammates.<span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span>He was an absolute team player.<span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span>When the Lord told him to stay in <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:state w:st=\"on\">Washington<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>even when he had multiple more lucrative efforts to go elsewhere hestayed.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>He had a church and a familythat meant everything to him and they were of a much higher priority thanmaking more money in his life.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;\">He stayed in <st1:state w:st=\"on\"><st1:place w:st=\"on\">Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> through theups and downs of Redskin history, and now he has been inducted into the Hall ofFame in 2008. What was especially striking to me was that he was inducted notby his coach, but by his son.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>And what hisson kept saying about him was what a role model of a godly father he had been,and how much he wanted to be like his father.<span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span>Here is an example of how Christian values can trump cultural values,without compromising one&#8217;s integrity and without failing to give one&#8217;s best inone&#8217;s profession.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>This is indeed beingin the world, and a good witness to it, without being of the world.<span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>A Christian is a person who needs not onlyto have his priorities straight when it comes to what is really of value inlife, but he also needs to know what are non-negotiables in life.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>It&#8217;s no use gaining the whole world andlosing one&#8217;s soul.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;\">Another way to change the pattern of your life is to change the persons you hang out with.&nbsp; <meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\"><meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\"><meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\"><link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/\/C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CBEN%7E1.WIT%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml\"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument>  <w:View>Normal<\/w:View>  <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>  <w:PunctuationKerning\/>  <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>  <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>  <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>  <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>  <w:Compatibility>   <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>   <w:SnapToGridInCell\/>   <w:WrapTextWithPunct\/>   <w:UseAsianBreakRules\/>   <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>  <\/w:Compatibility>  <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4<\/w:BrowserLevel> <\/w:WordDocument><\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"156\"> <\/w:LatentStyles><\/xml><![endif]--><\/p>\n<style><!-- \/* Style Definitions *\/ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\t{mso-style-parent:\"\";\tmargin:0in;\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\tfont-size:12.0pt;\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";}@page Section1\t{size:8.5in 11.0in;\tmargin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;\tmso-header-margin:.5in;\tmso-footer-margin:.5in;\tmso-paper-source:0;}div.Section1\t{page:Section1;}--><\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n<style> \/* Style Definitions *\/ table.MsoNormalTable\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\tmso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;\tmso-para-margin:0in;\tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\tfont-size:10.0pt;\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\tmso-ansi-language:#0400;\tmso-fareast-language:#0400;\tmso-bidi-language:#0400;}<\/style>\n\n<![endif]-->Psychologists areperfectly clear that people emulate and often become like those that theyadmire.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>One of the ways to simplify yourlife is stop trying to keep up with the Jones or hanging out with the Jones.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>The simple but seductive influence of envywhich leads to emulation and imitation is less powerful if one does notregularly hang out with people who are dripping in bling and up to theireyeballs in hock due to their over-sized house, car, boat and lifestyle.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>By contrast, when you start hanging out withpeople who have simplified their lifestyle, if you are not that way, you beginto become helpfully self-critical.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>Youbegin to realize you need to change some things.<span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>This does not mean you need to go camp outwith the Amish next week, but it does mean it wouldn&#8217;t hurt to get moreinvolved with Christians you know who are living a less consumer drivenlifestyle. <\/p>\n<p><font color=\"navy\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;\"><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>http:\/\/www.brazospress.com\/Book.asp?isbn=978-1-58743-274-3 http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/isbn=1587432749\/bakerbookhouseA &nbsp; There are certainpsychological dynamics which drive any culture, and two of the most obvious ones inour culture are the consumer and competitive drives.&nbsp; There are an awful lot of Christians who areconsumer junkies or competition junkies.&nbsp;They have to go to the mall or play some game or watch some game, orthey are&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>New Year&#039;s Resolve: Jesus and Money Part Eleven - The Bible and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/02\/new-years-resolve-jesus-and-money-part-eleven.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Year&#039;s Resolve: Jesus and Money Part Eleven - The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"http:\/\/www.brazospress.com\/Book.asp?isbn=978-1-58743-274-3 http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/isbn=1587432749\/bakerbookhouseA &nbsp; There are certainpsychological dynamics which drive any culture, and two of the most obvious ones inour culture are the consumer and competitive drives.&nbsp; There are an awful lot of Christians who areconsumer junkies or competition junkies.&nbsp;They have to go to the mall or play some game or watch some game, orthey are&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/02\/new-years-resolve-jesus-and-money-part-eleven.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-02-04T19:11:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" 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Year&#8217;s Resolve: Jesus and Money Part Eleven"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/d1fd6c7893819eabc624db38ecfd8426","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"description":"Bible scholar Ben Witherington is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website. Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&amp;E, and the PAX Network.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/author\/bwitherington"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}