Undetected Spiritual Cancer

There is a cancer that is ravishing our society. Now, I use the word cancer hesitantly because I have not physically experienced the ravishing effect of cancer, but I have had loved ones suffer from cancer’s cruel hand. It is a dreadful disease that eats away at the physical body. However, there is a spiritual cancer that is subtle, but much more devastating. It goes undetected, and has been known to destroy families, organizations, and take the lives of those contaminated by it. This “cancer,” called materialism, is so dangerous because our human nature allows it to grow. To make matters worse, our culture feeds materialism 24 hours, 7 days a week.

So what is the cure? How do we treat this dreadful disease? Paul provides some encouraging words in Philippians 4:17. Hear and hearken to these words. “Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.”

This verse follows perhaps the most quoted and misapplied verse in all of Scripture, Philippians 4:13. This is the one we read on sports paraphernalia, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, laptops, pens… I could go on and on! “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Before I completely offend you, let me be transparent and say that I too have misapplied this verse in the past for those very uses mentioned above. However, Paul was pushing the Philippians (and us!) toward something greater than a first place ribbon, dream job, new home, the survival of a devastating breakup, and the host of other reasons we attempt to apply this verse. Paul was pushing us toward heaven. He was reminding us of WHO we have, and WHO has us. He was encouraging the faithful family of God to keep sacrificing for what is eternal and not what is temporal. He was training their eyes to look past earth and focus on Heaven.

God graciously allows us to enjoy nice things- even material things! He loves us more than our feeble minds can fathom. However, the problem arises when I start to believe I deserve nice things. Believing I deserve anything in this life is the gravitational pull of the cancer of materialism. It makes us want what we don’t need and despise what we have. Hearken to the encouragement and warning of Paul in Philippians 4:17.

We have two accounts. One is temporal while the other is eternal. Aim to fill the right account with deposits. The cure to the cancer of materialism is CONTENTMENT and radical GENEROSITY. Contentment is always a heart issue. Contentment is attained by looking for God’s grace in every season, then responding to that grace with gratitude. Generosity is leveraging your time, talents and treasure for the Kingdom.

 Consider this, giving is less about getting something from you and more about getting Heaven in you.

I Like Excuses...

JOHN 5:6-7

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

I like excuses. There, I said it! The truth of the matter is, so do you! There is something comforting and safe about them. If we are not careful, they can become our security blanket that keeps us stagnant and from becoming who God calls us to be. 

In John 5, there is a recounting of an interaction that Jesus has with a crippled man. This man gets a bad reputation. To his credit, he had been crippled for 38 years. He did not know who Jesus was. All of his hope hung on a myth or superstition at best. Then, he encounters Jesus. Jesus asked this penetrating question that He often poses to us. “Do you wish to get well?” At surface level that question seems insulting or naïve at best. Yet, we know that Jesus always ask questions that moves beyond the mind and penetrates the heart. We would think this man would give a resounding yes, but instead he gives an excuse. This man is face to face with the creator of heaven and earth. Instead of answering "YES", he explains why "NO" seems more logical. I have come to find that I share more in common with this man than I care to admit.

Here is one truth to be gleamed from this encounter. One Word from the Lord is more potent than several paragraphs of excuses! Let that sink in. As great of an excuse we can conjure up, it is no match for the omnipotent Savior. This does not mean we should ignore reality and walk in foolish faith. However, it is a challenge for us to seek God’s face, and when we encounter Him by His Word, take Him at His Word!