As an immigrant, I truly admire all the parents that were gutsy enough to move their young family halfway across the globe. Somehow this pioneering, adventurous spirit didn’t always get passed down to the next generation. We literally panic at any slight change in living standards or conditions! If I think I am spoiled…I don’t know what kind of children we are raising up.
“Mom, what do you mean? You are changing the recipe of the corn soup I love?” My son was beside himself.
“No, I do not want to share the lane with a stranger.” My older daughter protested in the pool.
And my youngest would tear up whenever I make a correction on her arithmetic paper. “Mom, please do not use red ink. It makes my paper look really terrible.”
I am concerned about the next generation. Many live their lives in the “safety” of online games and take risks only through their virtual identities. They have yet to learn what it means to give up something real in order to gain a greater reward.
Sheila is a 20-something art teacher at a community college and has a small art collection purchased from her limited salary. She decided to spend her summer in Europe. While in a small village of southern France well off the beaten path, Sheila went to an auction where the locals had donated family art to be sold to help finance the construction of a much-needed school. One painting topped the list and was said to be a rare but highly valuable copy of Picasso’s work. It was deemed as a non-original because the signature at the bottom was different from all of his other work. Sheila, however, wrote her master’s thesis on Picasso and was aware that in the first year of his work he didn’t sign his name but only put his initials there. She looked and studied the painting carefully and came to the conclusion that she was actually in the presence of a priceless piece of art. It was believed there were only two or three of these paintings in existence anywhere in the world. If this was so, Sheila was standing before something worth a great deal of money. The $25,000 asking price was a joke with regard to what it was worth, but it was a bigger joke in regard to her income. Sheila would have to sell her Volkswagen Jetta and her entire art collection and withdraw her entire savings of $600 just to afford this piece of Picasso…or not. What was Sheila to do?
Pastor and author Chip Ingram once said in a sermon that to make a big, life-altering decision, you need to have three things – truth, knowledge, and faith.
Was this Picasso painting real? Sheila had in-depth knowledge that it must be real. Yet, in order for her to act upon this piece of information, she would have to sell all that she had. A decision of this magnitude would make anyone lose sleep. But for Sheila…she was gutsy. She sold her Jetta, her art collection, and emptied her bank account to come up with $25,000. With that, she bought the painting.
As it turned out, this piece of art was authentic and it was valued at 100 million dollars!
Would anyone say, “Poor Sheila. She lost her Volkswagen, her entire art collection, and savings.”
By now all eyes would be on her $100,000,000. No one would ever remember what Sheila had to give up in order to gain her fortune.
Sheila’s story has a familiar ring to it, doesn’t it?
“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46)
When I was thirteen years old, my mom asked me to go to church with her. I was very reluctant. I had no problem with the church and the Christian belief – I just didn’t want to give up my Sunday. “I need time to hang out with my friends, Mom. I already go to school six days a week.” That was the education system in Taiwan. A 7th grader had so much school work and had to study so hard just to keep up; there was barely any time left to play.
But people were nice in church, and I didn’t want to disappoint them. I went whenever I had no other plans.
Then I noticed something. Whenever I went to church, I did better on my tests the following week. On the other hand, whenever I skipped church, I did poorly on my tests. Not believing in this sort of thing, I decided to keep a chart of test scores vs. church attendance. After a few weeks, I knew I was not going to miss church again. My good grade was dependent on my church attendance!
You might laugh it off and explain it away. But perhaps that’s what I needed in order to build my new faith.
It’s easy for Christians to lose sight and focus more on what they have “sacrificed” because of their faith. They think about the time, money, and emotional energy they have spent. Yet, would Sheila lament over the loss of her Volkswagen and a few cheap pieces of art while sitting on her 9-digit bank account?
If we have indeed found the grandest prize, we will be filled with only one emotion – ecstatic, inexplicable joy. We will not lament what we have given up. As I think about what I have found and gained from knowing Jesus Christ, I begin to comprehend what Apostle Paul meant when he wrote the following,
“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)
It will take a modern-day, parable-like story of Sheila to awaken joyless Christians who have forgotten the worth of knowing Christ. Many of us have given up something in order to gain this treasure that we deem as true. We should be awestruck and giddy over our 100 million…and not sulk because of the Jetta that had to be sold.