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Women@Work

If Only They Paid Me More

Money really is a necessity! No one would argue with that, and money in itself is not evil. But because society places such a high premium on money, it has become another form of idolatry. Our society has abandoned its founding truth of "In God We Trust" and placed its values and morality in the arms of money, hoping to achieve "the American dream."

Consider, for instance, the once-popular television show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? With all the media attention that show received, most of us have either directly or indirectly been part of a conversation about what we would do with a million bucks. Personally, I've spent some time thinking, If only … Then one night I picked up the phone to hear, "Is this Kim Hackney? Kim, Bob has selected you to be part of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' You have sixty seconds to answer this question: 'What is the name of the Italian opera singer …?'"

Of course it wasn't really the television host but a good friend whose family was playing the home version of the game as part of family night. Nonetheless, I was glad to have answered the question correctly and contributed to the "wealth" of this contestant. But if only it had been Regis!

Oops, this is what I'm talking about. "If only" thinking is so destructive to Christians because it takes our focus off God, places our faith in something besides God, and causes us to become impatient with trusting in God to meet all our needs. Could this be why God tells us, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below" (Deuteronomy 5:8)?

As career women we need to guard our hearts against all forms of idolatry but especially against the god of money. Whether it's money we are making, money we want to make, money in the family, or the money we keep pushing our husbands to make, we need to guard our hearts against greed. Society would like for us to believe that more money brings happiness, contentment, or peace, so we chase after it as though life itself depended on it. But as Christians we know that our life depends upon God and it's in Him that we are given these internal blessings.

First Timothy 6:10 says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." When we look to money to meet internal needs, as only God can do, we are making for ourselves an idol in the form of money. Since most people don't talk about idolatry anymore, we tend to dismiss its prominence in our lives, believing we are not susceptible to its snares.

Consider for a moment: Do you know people in the workplace who are always trying their "if only" happiness to money, power, possessions, or status and never seem content with what God has given them? This is deception at its best, because satan often disguises our "if onlys" as ambition, when in reality it's greed! We can spot deception by asking a few hard but telling questions: "If I never get this raise, will I still trust God?" "If I'm overlooked for this position, will I continue to experience God's peace?" "Am I content with the blessings I have?"

Once in a while we all need to check ourselves and make sure we are not investing too much of our time, talent and heart in things other than God. God has great riches in store for us, some of which will come in the form of financial or professional status and some in the form of internal benefits. Neither the external or internal blessings will ever come at the expense of our relationship with God. He wants our hearts completely surrendered to Him—the one true God!

Taken from Thank God It’s Monday by Kim Hackney, © 2003 by Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Used by permission of publisher.

Visit Kim's Web site at celebratingvictory.org

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