𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗪𝗛𝗢𝗠 𝗪𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗘

𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. 𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. And that truth exposes something we tried to baptize instead of crucify.

𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆, “𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱.” 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲, 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, “𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲.” 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲.

May we see what we have been avoiding. What if the very thing we’re praying for
is the same thing slowly pulling your heart away from God?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗴𝗲? And what if no one is warning us
because it’s dressed in blessing language?

This is not about people in the streets. This is about people in church. Serving. Smiling. Posting verses. But 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻, 𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆.

𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆.

Here’s how it hides. 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲. 𝗪𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿.
𝗪𝗲 𝗼𝗯𝗲𝘆 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.

“𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒔.”
— 𝟏 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝟔:𝟏𝟎

Not just “mistakes.” Not just “bad decisions.” Pierced. Self-inflicted wounds…from something they thought would protect them.

“𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”
— 𝟏 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝟔:𝟗


A trap. Not a ladder. Not a blessing. A trap. Because 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝗳 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀. Jesus did not soften this.

“𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔… 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚.”
— 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒘 𝟔:𝟐𝟒

𝗡𝗼𝘁 “𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼.” 𝗡𝗼𝘁 “𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵.” 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁. 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐘.
𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑. 𝐈𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓,
𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄, 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄, 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐘.

And slowly… quietly…it starts asking for things only God deserves. This is where conviction hits.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱. 𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝘆, “𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵.”

𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿. 𝗪𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. 𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿. 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐘𝐋𝐄 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐈𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐅𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋.

Let’s be honest. Some prayers are not about God’s will. They’re about upgrading our idols.

Because the Gospel does not just expose sin it rescues sinners. Jesus didn’t avoid wealthy sinners. He confronted them. Loved them. Called them. Remember the rich young ruler?

“𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆… 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝑴𝒆.”
— 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝟏𝟎:𝟐𝟏

𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁. And the man walked away…not because Jesus was harsh but because his god was heavy.

𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡.

Because at the cross, something radical happened. 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.

“𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉, 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑯𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒚 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉.”
— 𝟐 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝟖:𝟗

𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲. 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲. 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.

This is the Gospel. 𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵. 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹. We don’t need to hoard…because in Christ, we already have everything.

𝐒𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 “𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆?” 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒, 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓?

If God asked us to give something up would we hesitate? If obedience cost us financially would we still say yes? If our identity was stripped of titles and income would we still know who we are?

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞. 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐋𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲. 𝐋𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 we 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐇𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬.

Even if money has been our master…
Jesus is still our Savior. He is calling us back. Not to poverty. But to freedom. 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘.