Theme: The only cure for Affluenza.
When I was a child, my favorite days were Sundays and Holidays because our family would gather around the vast ornate wooden table in my Grandma and Grandpa Graci’s home for a dinner that would last for hours. My Grandpa Graci, who I adored, sat at the head of the table, and I was always seated next to him on his left as I hung on his every word and action. The food would come in waves and was always so tempting in appearance and smell. My senses would be overwhelmed, and I wanted it all. I also wanted to impress my grandpa with what a big boy I was becoming by eating so much. Every meal ended with my grandpa looking down at me and, in broken English, saying with a laugh, “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.”
Those words have stayed with me all my life, yet throughout my life; they only came to mind after I had gone after more than I needed. “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach”’ could be “Your eyes are bigger than your bank balance,” or “Your eyes are bigger than your needs, or what is right,” or so much more. The Apostle John warned us of allowing our eyes to dictate our desires when he wrote, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. Everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:15-16 NIV)
It intrigues me as I look back some 60 years, before I knew what I was doing; the lust of my eyes caused me to covet more than I needed or could consume. It reminds me of who we all are and what nature we are born into. As part of our sinful nature, we, especially in the West, are born with the disease of Affluenza.
As Steve Farrar, the founder and chairman of Men's Leadership Ministries, wrote, “Affluenza always begins with the parents. Children catch it from the mom and dad. That is how the epidemic gets started. Children can now catch it from other children their parents have infected. But the antidote to having our kids get it from another family is for you (the parent) to say no.
The awful thing about affluenza is that it hits parents who love their children. It is so insidious. Affluenza severely affects our ability to discern. It begins to cloud our judgment and distort our value system. Affluenza brings about a slow change in the way we think about what is essential in life. Before you know it—if you take a deep look inside—you will find that affluenza causes you to value things over people. Those people will most likely be your spouse and children. They are the ones who always suffer most from cases of affluenza.”
I agree with most of what Mr. Farrar wrote, except that ‘saying no’ is the antidote. We need much more than the word ‘no.’ As Proverbs 27:20 tells us, “Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.”
Christians know that Affluenza is merely a symptom of something much more significant. We know that our very nature allows Affluenza to take root in us and spread. We also must understand that it will take a spiritual transfusion to heal us of this disease. In fact, it is so insidious and powerful that it will take losing our lives in order to cure it. Jesus gave us the cure and said, “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:33 NIV). Jesus is the cure. He is “the way, the truth, and the life,” free from the nature of sin that allows the disease of Affluenza and many more ailments to exist in us.
Pastor Dan asked this past Sunday, “What happened to you?” This question can be asked in two diverse ways. One would be towards one consumed by Affluenza as those around the victim witness the devastation it has caused. The other would be at one healed by Jesus as we see the supernatural change of a person whose eyes are always looking up and not clouded by earthly desires.
Scripture: Proverbs 23:5 , 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
“Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”
“So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Prayer:
Lord, how upside down we see this life. The things that are so temporary seem so appealing, while we often ignore those things that last. I find it almost funny, Lord, that those things we are usually attracted to are the ones that never satisfy and that we need more of, while those that are of you but are often placed last in our priorities satisfy entirely. Lord, direct my eyes and remove the blinders. Allow me to see reality amid the lies. As we approach the celebration of your birth, Jesus, let us have a perspective we have never had before, and let our focus be on you and the needs of others rather than ourselves. Amen.
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