Stewardship and The City - Part 1

I have a bit of a penchant for trashy reality television - not Jerry Springer or even Oprah, but stuff like Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Hills and most recently, The City, a spin-off of the Hills with a focus on the character (real-life person?) Whitney.

Whitney is a twenty-something girl looking to forward her career in fashion in New York, whilst enjoying the lifestyle that a cashed up kid from LA is used to. Every shot of the program reveals the cosmopolitan nature of the city, the aesthetic brilliance of each outfit worn, and the drama of Whitney's life. I won't deny that I sometimes, whilst watching the show, have been drawn into the bright lights and independent, exciting lifestyle that only those with abundant money can afford.

I realised two things after isolating this thought. The first was, hang on, in the entire scheme of the world, in its true perspective, I DO live that lifestyle. I am in the lucky portion of the world that has four walls to shelter me. I have completed secondary studies, and am undertaking tertiary education. I have a disposable income at the point of my life which, in percentage terms, I probably won't have after I finish uni. I have parents that love me and support me, both financially and spiritually. I am in NO WAY in need, I own an iPod, a laptop, jewellery, musical instruments, shoes, hair straighteners, books, cds, abundant food, pay tv. I have clean running water. I live in a house with the same number of bedrooms as people living in it. There are SO many people in the world that do not even have sufficient food to live on. I heard a figure once that if you have four walls around you for a house, you are in the top ten percent of the rich people in the world. Let's face it, I am rich on the world's scale. I live a rich person's lifestyle. I'll explain myself further in Stewardship and the City Part II.

The second thing I realised was that a lifestyle of glamour, independence and money, whilst gratifying the needs of NOW, will never fully satiate my desire to live a meaningful life. In fact, nothing apart from having Jesus Christ as my Lord will ever satisfy me because I WAS MADE FOR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. Every human on this planet was. And we all find a cheaper alternative to weakly satisfy this desire we have to find meaning - family, friends, sex, work, drugs, music, relationships. But the problem is, that these things can never satisfy. They are weak gods that never fully satisfy. They were never meant to.

Jesus said, 'Seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be added to you.' God knows what we need. We need relationship with him. We need Jesus' sacrifice. We need His way of living. We can do nothing without Him.

My prayer for myself and for you is that we would never give in to the lie that we can find meaning apart from having a grace-secured relationship with our Maker and Creator. It is only then that we realise just how richly blessed we are.

Do you have this relationship with God?