Would you have sex for money? What if it were only once? What if it were a clean, healthy and
attractive person, and the money was 100 million dollars? And no one would ever find out about it?
If you said “no,” then consider how high we might have
to raise the price and how much privacy you’d need. Would you do it for $4 Billion?
Once you've said yes to this, congratulations: you are
a whore.
Now the only thing left is to negotiate your price.
It works this way with other things, too. For instance, if you would normally not
steal, but you and your whole family is starving, and you see a chance to steal
a million dollars without getting caught – you’re a thief. Your personal situation and the amount to be
stolen are just the price you’re willing to pay to become a thief.
Consider this from the Greek Philosopher Epictetus:
The other day I had an iron lamp
placed beside my household gods. I heard a noise at the
door and on hastening down found my lamp carried off. I
reflected that the culprit was in no very strange case. "Tomorrow, my friend," I said, "you will find an earthenware lamp;
for a man can only lose what he has."
The reason why I lost my lamp was that the thief was superior to me in vigilance.
The reason why I lost my lamp was that the thief was superior to me in vigilance.
He paid however this price for the
lamp:
I read an article about a brain-study on dishonesty. The author of the article about the study is
a young journalist. Her introduction was
interesting:
“What's
the price on your integrity? Tell the truth; everyone has a tipping point. We
all want to be honest, but at some point, we'll lie if the benefit is great
enough.”
This woman has not only confessed to being a liar
(which makes me wonder if I can believe her article) but she believes that everyone else is, too. What she calls a “tipping point” is the price
one is willing to pay to become a liar.
Does everyone have such a tipping point?
I don’t believe so.
Most of us do have a tipping point, but it’s usually
about different things. I can’t imagine
an event that would get me to deny Jesus, but Peter did it, and he had more
faith than I’ll ever have. As for
stealing, my tipping point used to be pretty low. But a man embarrassed me one day, and it
changed me. Stealing is no longer very
tempting to me. But I have other issues
now.
This principle presents us with two challenges:
First, we should reflect on
ourselves and our own weaknesses.
What will you sell cheaply? Are you so prone to loneliness that you’ll do
anything that pleases others just to avoid it?
Are you so prone to depression that you seek excuses or comfort or other
things to smooth it over? Maybe your
thing is greed, or power or image or physical appearance. Or maybe it’s pride, arrogance and
self-righteousness.
Examine yourself.
Test yourself. Find your
weaknesses and go to work on them until they are no longer your weakest area …
and then go to work on your new weakness.
Second, we should reflect on
others.
Many people are just like the lying author. They believe everyone lies, so it’s not that
big of a deal. We expect it of ourselves
and others. If you think about that, you
may be tempted to be judgmental. Or –
you may be tempted to be proud of yourself and your successes. This is where it becomes so vital to
understand our Father and His Son. They
are perfect, yet offer both justice and mercy – in just the right measure, and
at just the right time.
Can you be merciful to others who have traded their
identity for a price?
Can you be just with them?
Most of us tend to be one or the other. Either we forgive everything or we condemn
everything. But learning to be exactly
like Jesus – wow. That’s a
challenge.
When we are born again, we become new creatures. But sadly, we often carry a bit of Egypt with
us, and eventually we sell our birthright for a bowl of soup.
This first passage was written to tell a church of its
responsibility to one another:
Strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are
feeble, and…
Make straight paths for your feet, so that which is lame
may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
Pursue peace with all men [note: when the writer says “all men,” that’s a clue that
he intends this to include outsiders, i.e., non-disciples – k.m.], and the
sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
See to it that no one [back to a
church-specific command] comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that
there be no immoral or
godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a meal. For you
know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was
rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with
tears.
(Hebrews 12:12–17)
Note here Jesus was speaking specifically to his
disciples:
Jesus said to his
disciples,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must:
·
Deny himself, and
·
Take up his cross and
·
Follow me
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever
loses his life for my sake will find it.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and
forfeits his soul?
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
(Matthew 16:24–26)
