There are two things priests can talk about that are pretty much guaranteed to either get filtered out (ignored/missed) or opposed with varying levels of indignation: sex and money.
The problem is that our scriptures – and Christ Himself – spend a lot of time on that subject. This means that the Church and her priests have to teach it, as well. It’s not that we’re prudes or want your money. The only reason priests care about what you do with your money and your body is that we want you to live life in abundance.
Ironic isn’t it? That the reason so many people live promiscuous and avaricious lives is that they want that same thing: “life in abundance.” Sex is fun, so unfettered access to it must be part of the “good life”; stuff is fun, so getting more of it must also play an important role. Our culture is saturated with sex and stuff, so we come to think of this as “normal” and of those who preach against it as ridiculously old-fashioned and joyless. Are they right?
It’s a matter of commitment.
The Christian says that he has given his life to Christ. In fact, it is a commitment that is affirmed several times during the Christian Rite of Initiation (i.e. baptism). But the fact is that very few live up to that commitment. What would we think of a father who claimed to love his wife and kids but wasted his paycheck on drugs, fancy lunches, and prostitutes but refused to pay the mortgage? Who spent his evenings at bars and movies with his old friends rather than at his kids’ recitals and baseball games? Who spent every night hooking up with co-workers rather than in bed with his wife? Would we take his claims of love seriously? Not a chance. Love requires actions that are consistent with the commitment it assumes. Is there any wonder that the alleged “People of God” are so often compared to wayward spouses?
The Young Lawyer did not look like the wayward spouse: he had followed God’s commandments “from his youth up.” But that wasn’t enough; he lacked commitment. He was interested, but not committed. When it comes to making a ham omelet, the chicken is interested… but the pig is committed.
Back to the family. The committed husband puts the needs and joy of his marriage and his wife above his own. The committed father puts the needs and joy of his family above his own. Moreover, he doesn’t not see these needs and joys as burdens or crosses to be born, but the purpose and good of life itself. He offers the best he has to his wife and children because their lives are completely joined into a single life that moves continually onward and upward and from joy to joy. Every dollar he “sacrifices” for their care is an offering of thanksgiving for their life together. [And] every bit of self-restraint he shows avoiding adultery and profligate spending is another moment spent building up the pleasure of the life he shares with his family.
Did you catch that? Self-restraint is one of the foundations of living the good life, of having life in abundance. Another is surrendering everything to the one thing needful, the one thing required. We have to give everything up for love. But how can these things be considered “sacrifices” when the returns are so great?
But here I speak not [just] of husbands, wives, and children; but of the Church and our relationship with God.
The Bottom Line
Do you want to be saved? Do you want to have joy? Then fall in love with God and give your life and everything in it to Him. If you do this, every moment; whether it is the ecstasy of worship or the challenge of tithing; the rigors of the fast or the ease of the feast; the self-restraint of celibacy or the chaste intimacy of husband and wife; [every moment] will bring you into greater union with the source of all joy. As you are thus drawn closer to God (through Christ), your sense of peace, purpose, and abundance cannot help but grow.
But as with the wayward husband, everything you hold back from a more perfect union with His Glory – your money, your chastity, your time, whatever – will keep you from your goal. Whether you want to think of these things as anchors on the soaring soul or barriers between the self and all that it really needs, the truth is that the one who does not commit himself to God without reservation has given up a eternal lifetime of joy for something far less satisfying – no matter what the world and lust may say.
So am I a prude? Do I just want to ruin people’s fun? Or am I describing a way of life that is better than wasting money on things you don’t need and defiling your body with joy that cannot last? You have to make a choice. No man can serve two masters.
Me? I choose life. I choose joy. I commit myself to a life in Christ.
You?
