Anyone who knows me fairly well knows how very passionate I am about the St. Louis Cardinals. And anyone who knows anything about the Cardinals knows that their best player is Albert Pujols. Ten years into his career,
Pujols' statistics are breathtaking. Three times he has been named the National League's Most Valuable Player, finishing second four other times. He is universally considered to be in select company as one of the greatest hitters that baseball has ever seen.
My household is populated by Albert Pujols fans. We love the fact that the best player plays for
our team, but we also enjoy the fact that he has by all accounts been a pretty stand-up guy character-wise. But now Pujols is in the final year of a contract and negotiations for an extension with the Cardinals have broken off until after the season.
Some have been critical of the fact that Pujols (a professing Christian) has turned down the Cardinals' initial offers. Exact specifics are unavailable, but the Cardinals' proposals would (continue to) make Albert very wealthy, though not one of the highest paid players in the game. "How can a Christian be so greedy?" they ask.
My friend and fellow pastor
Kevin Golden had
a great post the other day in which he challenged us not to be quite so quick to point out the speck in Albert's eye. His whole post is well worth reading, and I suggest that you
click here and do just that. But he sums things up quite well in his very helpful conclusion:
All of this is to say: yes, Pujols should contemplate how he can use his financial resources in a Godly way and that he not give offense by appearing greedy. And we should all do the same. One means by which my priorities in life are made evident is my checkbook. How I spend money reveals much about my truest and deepest allegiances, even betraying the false gods which I worship. Thus, rather than using Pujols contract negotiations as an opportunity to scrutinize him, let me first scrutinize myself.
Then, having faced my own sinful nature and being led to repentance by Christ, I will rejoice in Christ’s forgiveness, purchased at the cost not of gold or silver but His own precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. And so Christ’s priority becomes clear - He has done all this that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. That is Christian witness, not my use of financial resources, but Christ’s giving of His very self for the salvation of the world.
"The solution to stinginess is a reorientation to the generosity of Christ in the Gospel, how he poured out his wealth for you. Now you don't have to worry about money -- the Cross proves God's care for you and gives you the security...What breaks the power of money over us is not just the redoubled effort to follow the example of Christ. Rather, it is deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ, what you have in him, and then living out the changes that the understanding makes in your heart – the seat of your mind, will, and emotions. Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding and identity, our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without a complete change of heart will be superficial and fleeting.”
