Spiritual Hiccups - Money and Spirituality

I have heard it said, and believe it true, that you can tell more about a person by looking at her checkbook and credit card bills than you can from anything she tells you.  That is because when you figure out where someone's money goes, you figure out where his passions lie. 

I think it is common in our day for people to think of spirituality as an add-on, another consumer item acquired to enhance the quality of life.  It means learning some techniques on meditation or prayer, and perhaps some sort of participation in a group or even in a religious organization.  It is somewhat akin to an exercise program for the interior life.  And unless one gets caught up in it, its financial implications are limited to the costs of the program.  Like joining a gym or buying some running shoes, a spiritual program may require purchasing some books, attending a class, or going on a retreat.

But Jesus makes an explicit link between spirituality and finances, between one's heart and one's checkbook.  "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Where your money goes, there goes your soul.

Given that we live in a consumer society, and that our religious culture has lived in a capitalist system for the entire life of America, it is hardly surprising that we tend to view faith and spirituality as one more thing to help life be good and full and complete.  But true spirituality aims to draw us into the divine mystery and, in so doing, to help us discover who it is we are truly meant to me.  This cannot happen by adding more or by acquiring something.  It can only happen when our lives, both inwardly and outwardly, are reshaped so that they conform more to the character of the divine.

And when this happens, our passions begin to look more like God's passions.  And the evidence will be found in checkbook registers and on MasterCard statements. 

Click to learn more about the Daily Lectionary.