Where Your Treasure Is

In her excellent book, Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey presents an approach to life from a Christian worldview. (Remember, a "worldview" is that framework by which you interpret all of life.) In her premise she argues that your worldview is determined by your god. If your god is God, then your worldview will start with Him. If your god is something else, that will determine your framework. A popular god, for instance, is naturalism, the affirmation that all things occur by purely natural means. That becomes a starting point by which all of life is evaluated.

Now, it's possible that you (like me) might want to disagree with Pearcey's initial premise that your god determines your worldview. I had to examine that notion. As it turns out, she didn't originate it. This one comes from Christ: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6:21). "No, no," you protest, "that's not the same thing." I disagree. Furthermore, when you consider the ramifications of the statement, it becomes quite expansive.

Jesus said that your heart would be there -- where your treasure was. There are many ways to reword it that expand on the idea. "You will only put your heart into that which you treasure." "You can determine what you treasure by where your heart is." "If you want to change your heart's direction, change what you treasure." "If your heart is not where it should be, it's almost certainly because you are treasuring something wrong." "You will tend to defend most ardently that which you treasure most deeply." You see, it gets some legs as you turn it over in your mind.

Consider a "light" example. You are arguing for the truth of the Gospel because you treasure the Gospel. Your heart is in it. Someone argues that you're an idiot for believing that load of garbage. You respond with something along the lines of "Your mother wears combat boots." I would suggest that it is possible that your treasure is not, in this case, the Gospel, but your self. You'll defend the Gospel just fine, but you will be respected in doing so or they will pay a price. You see? That's a faulty heart.

Here's one I've heard far too often -- one that breaks my heart to hear. "If God chooses whom He will save and whom He will not, that means that He is making some people for damnation. If that's what God is like, I don't want any part of Him." You might like to think, "That person has his heart in defending God," but the truth is that the sole purpose of that approach is to defend humans. Here's the premise: "No good God would relegate humans to damnation. Humans deserve better." Now, understand, I'm not making a case for the notion that God chooses to save some and not others or that God makes some people for damnation. That's not at issue here. What I'm addressing is the heart/treasure issue. "It would be wrong of God to do so. The Creator does not have that right." This is treasuring creature over Creator.

You see, that which you treasure will be that which you most ardently defend. That which you treasure will be the place you spend the most time. That which you treasure will be your primary focus. And ... if that which you treasure is not God, then there is a word for it: idolatry. Do you value your job over God? Idolatry. Do you value your spouse over God? Idolatry. Does God have to conform to your sense of right and wrong? Idolatry. Oh, here's an interesting test. In 1 Sam 15:1-3, the Lord commands Saul to "strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have." That includes "man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." If your response is "No, that cannot be," then I would suggest that your treasure is somewhere besides in God. Idolatry. If God cannot do with His creation whatever He wants to do, then you have something higher in your heart than God.

Humans tend toward idolatry. We tend to want to move God out of first place. We tend to want to put something, multiple things, anything in His place. If you are not aware of that tendency, you will miss the event. If you are not aware of what you treasure, you could easily put your heart into the wrong thing. If your god is not God Himself, I can assure you that this is not a place you want to stand. Check it out. I'm sure you, like me, will need at least some tweaking there.