Take a dollar bill out of your wallet and examine it closely.

Buck . . . Greenback . . . Clam
 . . . Simoleon . . . George Washington. It’s known by many names. But, in the final analysis, it’s “One Dollar,” backed by the Federal Reserve, to be used as “legal tender.”

Technically, a dollar bill is “paper money.” But as we all know, it’s actually made from fabric. You can wash it and it won’t disintegrate. Perhaps that explains why you can’t actually stretch a dollar (contrary to common fantasies).

Did you know it costs three cents to make a dollar bill? (A bargain, actually, when you consider that it takes 1.6 cents to make a penny. Go figure!)

Now, turn your dollar bill over. Look on the backside (the one with the pyramid and the spooky eyeball). There it is . . . right above the big ONE. “In God We Trust.” Since 1957, that phrase has been printed on all our dollar bills.

That’s ironic, don’t you think? On the one thing we are tempted to trust in more than God, there is a printed reminder to trust in God. On the most dominant competitor for our affections and pursuits and confidence and reliance, there is this admonition to remember where our trust should reside. “In God.” Not in “One Dollar.”

Stained Christians?

When you swim in ink, don’t be surprised at the stains.

When we swim in the world as Christians, we cannot avoid a certain amount of discoloration. Meaningful connection with a lost culture affects us, whatever our intentions. The world—with all its sin and broken thinking and misplaced priorities—will rub off.

The trick for us is not to avoid this or run screaming from it, but to be watchful, to be aware and alert, to recognize the world’s influence on us and address it thoughtfully.

Money (our attitudes toward it and our use of it) is one of those areas where the world colors our thinking as Christians. Advertising creates hunger in us. Our neighbors sway us. A higher standard of living beckons to us. We covet. We crave.

Admit it. Even Christians are awfully fond of those dollar bills and the stuff they can buy. When we’re honest, we recognize the fundamental tension between our professions of trust in God and our attitudes and practices when it comes to money. When Jesus says even “the pagans run after all these things” (Matthew 6:32), it makes us wonder if we’re any different.

Money Talk

Jesus talked about money a lot. I count some 75 different, distinct statements in the Gospels directly related to money, possessions, and material goods. Jesus talked about how money reveals our hearts. He talked about how money reflects our priorities. He talked about how money relates to faith and contentment and values and souls.

Most of all, he talked about how kingdom people are influenced by the world to think in certain ways about money. He talked about a fundamental tension between godly and worldly perspectives.

God doesn’t think like we do. His values are different. What is important to him isn’t always important to us. What we emphasize, he often greets with a shrug and a yawn.

To be honest, money represents important things for us: opportunity, freedom, security, provision, control, even power. It allows us a standard of living, transportation, Internet access, retirement savings, and the occasional Starbucks. It lets us put our kids through college, feed and clothe our families. Those who have money (and have it abundantly) enjoy all manner of prospects and privileges.

The truth is we dearly love the things money permits us. We love how money makes us feel: safe, full, empowered, secure. And as a consequence, much of our time is spent making money, accumulating and amassing it, saving it up, storing it away, spending it on the things we want or need, making sure no one steals it from us. Money—and the things it permits—is a consuming priority for us.

God sees money differently. It is a resource—no more. Like health, time, and IQ, money is a means by which we pursue the “important.” Used in godly ways—in acts of mercy, for ministry, in support of kingdom matters, generously—money is a blessing. But used in ungodly ways—selfishly, flippantly, greedily, ungratefully—money can be a curse.

The greatest danger with money, though, is when we depend on it to do for us, to make us feel—things God reserves to himself. Our security, provision, empowerment, freedom, and worth are found in him, not it.

The world would tell us differently. We cannot afford to listen. |L

I’ll devote the next few articles to thinking about money. For sermons on the subject, go to www.ottercreek.org, click on “Download a sermon,” and locate the series “In God We Trust.”

Dr. Tim Woodroof is senior minister of Otter Creek Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee.

OTHER COLUMNS:
November 8, 2009 - Why I believe in God
October 25, 2009 - Commuting in days of evil
October 11, 2009 - Poets and don’t know it
September 27, 2009 - How Hollywood proves abortion is wrong
September 13, 2009 - Significance
August 30, 2009 - Dance alternatives
August 16, 2009 - Gluttons for gossip
August 2, 2009 - Truth from Twilight
July 19, 2009 - Visitor-friendly churches
July 5, 2009 - The Shack
June 21, 2009 - When forgiveness fails
June 7, 2009 - Re-imagining Education (Part Six)
May 24, 2009 - We are not alone
May 3, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part five)
April 26, 2009 - Conviction
April 12, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part four)
March 29, 2009 - An evangelistic proposal
March 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part three)
March 1, 2009 - He makes me sick
February 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (Part Two)
February 1, 2009 - Spiritual insecurity
January 18, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part one)
January 4, 2009 - Church and politics
December 21, 2008 - Heaven’s music
December 7, 2008 - The church and marriage
November 23, 2008 - God and the president
November 9, 2008 - A time for courage
October 26, 2008 - Likes and dislikes: the Prince Caspian movie
October 12, 2008 - What’s that noise?
September 28, 2008 - Modesty matters (part two)
September 14, 2008 - All it takes is some TLC
August 31, 2008 - Modesty matters (part one)
August 17, 2008 - What would you fight for?
August 3, 2008 - Staying through the credits
July 20, 2008 - Honor to whom honor
July 6, 2008 - Tyler Perry and the movies you’re missing
June 22, 2008 - The peaceable kingdom
May 25, 2008 - Another generation grew up
May 25, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part two)
May 11, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part one)
April 27, 2008 - What is truth?
April 13, 2008 - And the geek shall inherit the earth
March 30, 2008 - A charactered God
March 16, 2008 - The college choice (part two)
March 2, 2008 - Good news can be hard to hear
February 17, 2008 - The college choice (part one)
February 5, 2008 - Ten suggestions for a godly standard of living
January 20, 2008 - Expelled: that “Bueller” guy’s pro-God movie
January 6, 2008 - Choosing a lifestyle
December 23, 2007 - Teachable TV?
December 9, 2007 - Owners or stewards?
November 25, 2007 - Christians teaching Christians to change TV and film
November 11, 2007 - My money is God’s business
October 28, 2007 - Navigating under the radar
October 14, 2007 - The things God values
September 30, 2007 - Movie moments
September 2, 2007 - The best books to read
August 19, 2007 - There’s a rat in ‘separate’
August 5, 2007 - The art of reading
July 22, 2007 - Atheist chic
July 8, 2007 - Why books matter: the sequel
June 10, 2007 - Books: why they matter
June 3, 2007 - The non-impact of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
May 27, 2007 - The universal gospel
May 13, 2007 - Loving Muslims through culture
April 29, 2007 - Hope
April 15, 2007 - God in the dark
April 1, 2007 - The gospel goes to the movies
March 18, 2007 - What the Bible movies can teach us
March 4, 2007 - What will you hurt for?
February 18, 2007 - Why Heroes . . .
February 4, 2007 - Give peace a chance
January 21, 2007 - When fairy tales are true
January 7, 2007 - WYSIWYG lives
December 31, 2006 - What’s coming next?
December 17, 2006 - Mercy, mercy
December 3, 2006 - Proof of evolution!
November 19, 2006 - Hungering for God
November 5, 2006 - Violence and government, war and peace
October 22, 2006 - The mighty meek
October 8, 2006 - The Battlestar and the Bible
September 24, 2006 - Soap for the soul
September 10, 2006 - Right vs. cool
August 27, 2006 - The painful truth
August 13, 2006 - More Lies Hollywood Tells
July 30, 2006 - Christian counter culture
July 16, 2006 - The lies Hollywood tells