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Loaded
Brian Mashburn
June 14, 2015
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Loaded
Money is a loaded subject. It is loaded with emotion; temptation; opportunity. It is loaded with options. When you have some, you have power and control. Those make you a little bit like God. Admittedly or not, we like being a god, which makes money one of the most difficult - and most important - subjects to talk about.
It is more important for us to talk about if you are a Christian. Your Lord Christ loaded his teachings with talk of money - more than almost any other subject.
It is even more important for us to talk about if you are a Christian in America. Even our poorest are loaded with wealth when compared to the global community.
There is a little girl named Callie in Zimbabwe, Africa, named after my daughter Callie here. Merely because she was born there, she will struggle to get one survival meal per day, while my Callie, by being born here, will have three (with snacks available in between). Zimbabwe Callie will have one set of shoes and clothes, while Callie here has a closet full of both. Zimbabwe Callie might get enough school fees paid to have 8 years of very basic education, while my Callie has finished that along with exposure to the arts, sports, music, history, and multiple cultures, and she's not even halfway done.
Just by being in this country, my daughter Callie has hit the cosmic lottery. What she gets spent on her in a year as a 7th grader puts her in the top 15% of the wealthiest people in the world. And you? Unless you make less than $23,000 per year, you are in the top 2.5%.
We are loaded and we are Christian. Jesus says we can't serve God and Money. What are we to do?