The Idolatry of Money

Photo: Robert Schrader

Idolatry, the worship of idols. Money has the ability to motivate people above and beyond than their own self expectations. A person will work in undesired conditions just so they can earn money. People will step outside of their own comfort zone for money. They will allow themselves to be degraded, put down, disrespected, (even if it is minor) abused mentally and physically. People lose sleep and will stress over where their next dollar is coming from. The sad part about the people who have enslaved themselves to idolatry of money, is that all of the hard work in the end has the same result as the person who instead, decided to enjoy each day that was given.

What if every choice you made was dictated by your passion? There would be no more filling out hundreds of job applications just because the company is hiring, and you need money. I was (on a few occasions) given the advice to first establish my finances, home and career. Then after I was all set, I could enjoy the fruits of my labor, and enjoy the finer things in life. But, with death lurking around the corner everywhere we go, it seems as if maybe we should enjoy the finer things in life right out the gate. God has given us everything we need to live on this planet, without the aid of currency. Money is human’s most contradictive idea in the history of our existence. Meaning, “What I will not do myself, I will pay another to do with the money I earned by doing a job that someone else did not want to do themselves.” – Me-. The contradictive part is. In most cases no one is really wanting to do the job they are doing, that is earning the money to pay the person to do the job they also did not want to do.

But let us say that you do stick with your passion. We have all heard of the star rising from poverty who sings, dances, or plays sports, making their way to the top. As Biggie once said, “Birthdays were the worst days. Now we drink Champaign when we thirsty.” If money was not idolatry, then those lyrics would have no meaning. A slice of little Caesar’s pizza with a cup of water, should have the same emotional effect as a bottle of campaign. Because in reality, he still could have been writing songs and singing without the record deal and the money. Although I do believe singing was his passion. I also think that it was driven and altered by the desire of money. How long would Biggie keep singing and writing songs had he not gotten a record deal. Also, was the money worth it if it meant getting shot and killed.

Now let us say that a person (me) ends up getting an unwanted job. This is just to hold them over until their dreams come true. But like most people, 20 years go by and they are still no closer to their dreams. They have become content with their earnings and have learned to get by with what they have. My dream of becoming a Navy Seal still floats around my head. I am always kicking myself in the butt for not pushing myself more to make that dream come true. Nope, instead I settled for a job in the oilfields. I did this because I had to hurry up and make good money due to the fact that I had a child on the way. And of course, when you have a child, all of your “dreams” now become responsibilities. The problem with this is, if you are not happy with what you are doing with your day to day life, then the people around you will not be happy either. Even if you are paying all the bills with your unhappily earned money.

I have never in my life thought that money was more important than, friendship, family, dignity, passion, and fun. I mean we have to have it because the world has evolved itself into thinking we need it. But, if you need it to be happy, then are we living life with our priorities mixed up. please read Steve Jobs death speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8opYTwlGJVk