Anyway having enjoyed this I thought I'd blog a bit on some of the ideas which had really struck me when listening to this album. The first of these comes from the little known song Emaline which never made it onto any of their albums. The lyrics which have always interested me in this song are these...
She's dear to me, and so expensive.
Now I'm not talking 'bout money.
Money talks,
I hate to listen,
but lately it's been screaming in my ear...
...Don't let me walk away from Emaline.
For stupid reasons,
now I'm talking 'bout money.
Money talks,
I hate to listen,
This seems to very effectively sum up my relationship with money. When money talks I hate to listen. I hate the control which money has over so much of my life. So the jobs I do, the things I do with my spare time, the places I see, even things like the people I am friends with or spend time with so many of these things seem so driven by money. I am friends with people who mainly earn comparable amounts. My social circles are dominated by people with similar access to money. The jobs I spend so much of my life doing are largely determined by the amount they pay. In so many ways money feels like the key determinant and limiting factor in my life.
Now Jesus is completely radical in his approach to money. He doesn't seem to allow it any sort of hold over him. He mixes with all different types, rich and poor regardless. He doesn't seem obsessed by the acquisition of money or the use of money and so when money talks he is capable of not listening. Now this is key to understanding Jesus' teaching about money. Jesus teaches that as Christians we should be generous with our money. Jesus teaches that those who follow him should not love money. All of this is not Jesus trying to ruin our lives but actually encouraging us to not listen to the voice of money. Jesus says our lives should not be controlled by money but by relationships (with God and other people) and therefore the good news he brings is the good news of relationships which help us to listen less to money. Jesus' teaching on money is to bring freedom not ruin our lives.
I know this and I believe it. I see the way people's lives get taken over by appraisals at work and the thought of more money. I see the way people spend their lives complaining about how much money they get or trying to get more. I see lives ruined by gambling due to this love of money. I like Ben Folds hate it when I find myself listening to and being controlled by money but I have the same problem so often it feels like it's screaming in my ears. I don't want to be controlled by money but when appraisal time comes round I find myself obsessed by how much I might earn and the bonus I might get. When money is tight for a month I feel money screaming at me 'you need more, you deserve more'. When I have to say no to something cause we don't have the cash I feel money screaming in my ear 'just work harder, or give less then you could do more of the stuff you want'. I hate to listen but there are times it is screaming in my ears.
There is no easy solution to this (at least none I have found) but there is one key thing which will make it easier to not listen to the screams and that is to find something you value more highly.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in afield, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." - Matthew 13v44
The way to quieten the voice of money is simply to see it as less valuable and the way to see it as less valuable is to find something of greater value. Jesus does not call on us to give up something we love as a form of self denial he instead calls on us to experience more and more of something better as we experience the forgiveness he offers through his death and the new life of knowing and loving God and people.
You see money will always talk but when you see the life offered through Jesus' death and resurrection the screams will seem quieter.
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