Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Pardon me while I whine...

I try to be positive and encouraging, but allow me to express my puzzlement just a bit. I was delivering a bunch of magazines one day and noticed a headline on the cover of Jet magazine back in August and it has intrigued me ever since. This guy is the founder, president and CEO of a record company that obviously is doing very well. His name is Bryan "Baby" Williams. He talked about his newest purchase, "something I did for myself" he says. Car? House? Hummer? Condo? None of the above...he had 17 individual, 18 karat white gold and platinum crowns put on his teeth, encrusted with ascher-cut diamonds. Six hours of dental work later, his grill is permanently in place for the meager sum of $500,000 (that's a half million dollars, folks).

I'm sorry, but there is something wrong with this picture (see picture). While God has no problem with people having the good things of this world and having them in large quantities, there comes a point where one has more dollars than sense and chooses to exchange those funds for selfish pleasures. He dropped a half a million dollars on his TEETH, so he could continue to be the "flyest guy in hip hop." Oh, please. Most people won't ever make $500k in their lifetime, working their whole career at the same place, but this dude forks out all that cash on his mouth, so he can be trendy and cool. New Orleans residents could have used that money a whole lot more than his mouth could have. The article stated that he and his brother fed 2,000 people last Thanksgiving. That's a nice gesture, but at $10 per person, that's $20,000. That wouldn't even cover the cost of ONE of his crowns ($29,411 each). My eye is having trouble catching the perspective here.

The Bible speaks early and often about money and how it is to be used to further the Kingdom of God. So many of God's people sacrifice to tithe and God is faithful to meet their needs. Jesus spoke of the woman who dropped just 2 copper coins into the offering plate one day and He told the Pharisees that she had gave more than anyone that day. Not in monetary amount, but because she gave out of her poverty, not her excess (Lk 21:1-4). Back in the older testament, the prophet Elijah visited the widow who lived at Zeraphath and told her that before she made a cake with the handful of flour she had left, she had to make one for him. The promise from God was, as long as they did what God said with the resources they had, she and her son would always have their needs met. God is faithful to His promises and what Elijah said came true (I Kings 17:8-16).

The Bible encourages us to be faithful with the "stuff" of this life, so we can be entrusted with real riches (Lk 16:11). Jesus said in Matthew 6 that our treasures should be stored up in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves don't break in and steal. It's not that we can't own or control stuff, it's just that as humans, we have a tendency to allow the stuff to own and control us. We worry about not having enough (I'm talking to me too!!) and as my dad used to say "get our bowels in an uproar" over it, but Jesus said that we're to NOT worry about that stuff, cause God's got it under control. We're to seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness. Then, the stuff we worry so much about and allow to control our lives will be given to us, as God sees fit...as we have need (6:33).

A reminder to us all...if you have lots of money and stuff, ask God how you should distribute it before you exit this life. This will benefit God's kingdom and minister to many people and save a fight over it by your children when you die. If you have a spare $500,000, God's probably got a bunch of good alternatives for it, other than your teeth!!!! For those of us who currently don't have much, we still need to ask God how we should distribute it, in order to maximize its effectiveness for building the Kingdom of God. I'm learning more and more, it's about building His Kingdom and not my own. May we all be found faithful and obedient in our handling of the stuff on loan to us by God.

Ok, whine over.

4 Comments:

At 9:24 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I could $500,000 if he wants to give me what he spent on his teeth.... ack!!

 
At 11:14 PM, Blogger Monique said...

Yeah, I have a hard time with this one too! Have you ever read "Rich Christians In an Age of Hunger", by Ronald J. Sider? I like it. It was revised in the mid-90's and I'm sure it could be revised again. Not only does the author outline succinctly our responsibilities towards resources (& yes, some have more than others), but he also offers creative ways to spend less and give more. Oh and then there is the quintessential Mennonite read "More with Less" - love it. (ha ha, I originally typed "less with more" hmmmm.....)

Many moons ago I was a slave, I mean personal assistant, to a very wealthy woman. One day I signed for a delivery. What was it? A $300,000 rug........ the size of a placemat! Sheesh.

What laffy said: ack!

 
At 8:06 AM, Blogger marybeth said...

...now, tie this in to your previous post...SO WHAT??????

i mean, really. and this is benefitting himself or others...how????????

(sail shakes her head and flips her fins, and swims off in a sea of disgust).

 
At 10:52 AM, Blogger Bruce said...

That makes him very attractive to thugs who would bump him off and pull out his teeth.

Or worse, just, pull out his teeth.

 

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