Pastor’s Blog

What would you be prepared to do to earn say £5 million? Attending a game show might not be your idea of a recreational activity, but your kids want to go, so you give in. Now that you're here, you are beginning to enjoy it. The studio frenzy is contagious. The music is upbeat. The stage is colorful. And the stakes are high. "Higher than they've ever been!" The show host brags. "Welcome to ‘What Is Your Price?’" You're just about to ask your spouse if that is his real hair when he announces the pot: "Five million pounds!" The audience needs no prompting; they explode with applause. "It's the richest game in history," the host beams. "Someone today will walk out of here with a cheque for five million!" "Won't be me," you chuckle to your oldest child. "I've never had any luck at luck:" "Shhhh," she whispers, pointing to the stage. "They're about to draw the name:" Guess whose name they call. In the instant it takes to call it, you go from spectator to player. Your kids shriek, your spouse screams, and a thousand eyes watch the pretty girl take your hand and walk you to the stage.  Open the curtain!" the host commands. You turn and watch as the curtains part and you gasp at the sight.

A bright red wheelbarrow full of money-overflowing with money. The same girl who walked you to the stage now pushes the wheelbarrow in your direction, parking it in front of you.  "Ever seen five million pounds?" asks the pearly toothed host. "Not in a while," you answer. The audience laughs like you were a stand-up comic. "Dig your hands in it;" he invites. "Go ahead, dive in:" You look at your family. One child is drooling, one is praying, and your partner is giving you two thumbs up. How can you refuse? You burrow in up to your shoulders and rise up, clutching a chestful of one-hundred pound notes. "It can be yours. It can be all yours. The choice is up to you. The only question you have to answer is, `What is your price?"' Applause rings again, the band plays, and you swallow hard. Behind you a second curtain opens, revealing a large placard. "What are you willing to give?" is written on the top. The host explains the rules. "All you have to do is agree to one condition and you will receive the money."

 "Five million pounds!" you whisper to yourself. Not one million or two, but five million. No small sum. Nice nest egg. Five million would go a long way, right?  Kids tuition paid off. Retirement guaranteed. Would open a few doors on a few cars or a new house on Wentworth. You could be quite the benefactor with such a sum. Help a few orphanages. Feed a few nations. Suddenly you understand: This is the opportunity of a lifetime. "Take your pick. Just choose one option and the money is yours. A deep voice from another microphone begins reading the list. 1. "Put your children up for adoption:' 2. "Become a prostitute for a week:" 3. "Give up your British citizenship:" 4. "Abandon your family." 5. "Kill a stranger:" 6. "Have a sex-change operation:" 7. "Leave your spouse:"

"That's the list," the host proclaims. "Now make your choice:" The theme music begins, the audience is quiet, and your pulse is racing. You have a choice to make. No one can help you. You are on the stage. The decision is yours. No one can tell you what to pick. But there is one thing I can tell you.

 I can tell you what others would do. In a national survey in a country not far from here people were asked the same question and revealed that money is on the heart of most people. In exchange for £5 million: 3% would put their children up for adoption. 7% would murder for the money. 16% said they would leave their spouse. And wait for it… 25% would abandon their family - for £5 million. Even more revealing than what people would be prepared to do for five million pounds is that most would do something. Two-thirds of those polled would agree to at least one or more of the options. The majority, in other words, would not leave the stage empty-handed. They would pay the price to own the wheelbarrow.

What would you do? Or better, what are you doing? "Get real," you are saying. "I've never had a shot at five million:" Perhaps not, but you've had a chance to make £5,000 or £500. The amount may not have been the same but the choices are. Some it seems are willing to give up their family, their faith, or their morals for far less than five million pounds. As Bob Dylan put it in one of his songs. “You’re going to have to serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you are going to have to serve somebody.”

When I was a teenager, one summer, I had two part time jobs on the go at the same time. I worked in a fish and chip shop at night, and a garage as a petrol pump attendant during the day. Neither knew of the existence of the other. It worked out fine. Until that is, the August Bank Holiday Monday. Both employers assumed I would work all day and neither was happy to learn I was working for someone else. I had to choose. It may be possible to work for two employers, but you cannot serve God and money. When the choice is seen for what it really is - a choice between Creator and creature, between worship and idolatry - between the intrinsic worth of knowing and being known by the Living God, and the intrinsic worthlessness of being known for our love of money, it seems inconceivable that anybody could make the wrong choice. Yet many do.  As Bob Dylan put it – “You’re going to have to serve somebody” In fact we already are. Its just a question of who.

May the Lord bless you and those you love.

Stephen

 With grateful thanks to Max Lucado for the illustration and Bob Dylan for the lyrics.