Listen to your dentist or mechanic
Acouple weeks ago I endured one of my least favourite activities. It took place while sitting in a dentist’s chair. It’s not that I don’t like dentists. It’s just that I don’t like them plying their trade in my mouth.
Anyway, I digress. After doing what needed to be done, the dentist placed some marking paper between my teeth and told me to bite down. The process was repeated several times.
The purpose? He wanted to ensure my teeth were in perfect alignment.
I found it interesting that when I last purchased tires, the mechanic used the same term.
“If your wheels are not properly aligned,” he said, “you’ll wear out your new tires in no time.”
In preparation for a series of talks with our congregation, I’ve been doing considerable reading in the New Testament book of James.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that James sounds very much like my dentist and mechanic.
The focus of James is on people who believe in Jesus, but leave large areas of their lives uninspected and unimpacted by His values.
To put it bluntly, James writes about people whose lives are out of alignment.
What makes his message piercing is that he doesn’t leave the concept abstract. He gets right in the face of his readers (you and me) and applies it to everyday events.
One of those areas of application was unquestionably written with the Okanagan in mind. I’ll phrase it in this question: “How do you view those who have more than you? How about those with less?”
This is one of James’ major themes and it is all about arrogance or insecurity based on economics.
He addresses an issue that has been problematic for humankind for as long as we’ve been keeping score. We base our security on financial accomplishment and then rank ourselves against everyone else using the same financial yardstick.
In my best translation of the Greek, James says that perspective is total baloney.
Life becomes badly maligned when judged by a financial scoresheet. James compares finances to wild flowers which spring up and then wilt within hours.
A far superior method is to skip dollar signs and look for the deep worth within people.
In trying to apply his wisdom, this exercise came to mind. You might want to engage in it with your whole family.
In the next little while, make a point of having coffee with some people who have considerably more than you. Get to know them as well as you can. Listen to their stories and discuss what makes them tick.
I believe you’ll discover two things. First, you’ll realize that money does not buy happiness; and second, you’ll discover that they have as many or more problems than you have.
After completing that part of the assignment, make a point of having coffee with some people who have considerably less than you. Get to know them. Listen to their stories and discuss what makes them tick.
I’ll be shocked if you don’t discover some pleasant surprises.
They are more like you than you ever imagined and probably more content that you would have thought possible.
So much of what we think about money is drastically out of alignment with the values we claim to hold. Probably worth checking it, since both my dentist and my mechanic know that bad alignment will lead to excessive wear and tear.
Tim Schroeder is a pastor at Trinity Baptist Church. Focus on Faith TIM