You Become What You Worship

I’m going to come clean today. I have a guilty pleasure. I’m a pro wrestling fan. There. I said it. Now that it’s out in the open, I feel much better. I’ve been watching pro wrestling since I was a kid. I remember going to live events to watch the Junkyard Dog wrestle George “The Animal” Steele. I cheered for Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. against Rowdy Roddy Piper and Cowboy Bob Orton in WrestleMania 1. In college, I cheered for the NWO as they took over wrestling. Even today, I’m cheering for Cody Rhodes as he lives out the dream his father never got as a world champion. I know you may be shaking your head, wondering, “What is wrong with this guy?” It’s ok. My wife wonders the same thing. 

For me, I’ve always been intrigued by the story of the good guy versus the bad guy. In wrestling, they call it the face versus the heel. For every Hulk Hogan, there was a Roddy Piper. For every Brett Hart, there was a Shawn Michaels. For every Sting, there was a Ric Flair. In order for a story in wrestling to really get over, you have to have a strong “bad guy” presence, and these heels all had one thing in common. They wanted to take everything from the face. It’s never good enough to simply win a match. They want to ruin the lives of the good guys and put all the attention on themselves. They want money. They want power. They want recognition, and they don’t care who they have to run over to get it.

A common storyline you’ll see in wrestling is the story of the faction. A faction is a group of wrestlers who form a team. They use their own form of gang violence to get what they want by beating down anyone who gets in their way. They always start off unified, but they always end in dissension. That dissension is usually due to a faction leader who abuses the other members. The leader is usually the one who wins championships, is the voice for the unit, and, as they gain more power, they treat the others in the group as lesser members. Their power and popularity cause them to believe their own press to the point where they lose everything. 

This is obviously not just a wrestling thing. This is art imitating real life. I’m sure we’ve all seen it before or heard stories of people who had it all, but lost it due to their greed for more. I can’t tell you the number of great, local restaurants that I’ve fallen in love with over the years who tried to expand and failed. They wanted to build out their business for more profit, but let the original restaurant fall apart while putting all their attention on the new place. When the desire for more causes us to let people become tools or simply cogs in the machine, we are dealing with greed.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
Mark 8:36

If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you know this verse, but have you taken the time to read the verses around it? When we take the time to read the rest of what Christ is saying here, we realize just how dangerous of a mindset greed is, not only for life here on earth but also for eternity.

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:34–38

To take up the cross of Christ is to abandon the desires of the world. Sharing the Gospel must become our number one priority. When all of our attention is on making our bank account larger, we put on blinders when it comes to the souls of other people. When ultimate wealth is our goal, we ultimately lose our humanity. People become assets. We use them to further our personal agendas and don’t think twice about tossing to the side when that asset loses its worth. In essence, greed dehumanizes people and abandons our souls. Instead of being led by the Creator of the universe, we are led by a faceless, soulless, and lifeless being. 

Greed, at its base level, is the worship of possessions. Many times, it’s the worship of money. Money becomes an idol. It doesn’t care about you. It doesn’t desire to make your life better. It simply exists. You’ve probably heard, “You are what you eat.” I’d take it a step further and say, “You become what you worship.” The worship of money leads to lifelessness, soullessness, and only caring about yourself, while the worship of God brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Which one sounds better to you?

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 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 6:6–10

Everything we see in this world, we see through a lens. When that lens is greed, we see everything and everyone as a tool to use to get us somewhere. When that lens is the Holy Spirit, we see souls, and we can help those souls go somewhere incredible alongside of us. Greed says, “Me.” The Spirit says, “We.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t like loneliness enough to be greedy. I’d rather walk alongside others and truly enjoy life the way God designed it.