Going straight to the Cross
 

Upside Down

by Tim Hall

(Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday . . .)

Across my desk each week flow several different bulletins from churches across the country. I occasionally get good ideas or information from them, so I take a moment or two to scan each of them. Some time back, I opened one to find that the inside had been copied upside down. It was really a minor thing, and easily corrected.

A few days before that, another item came to my attention that I would also call upside down. This one will not be so easily corrected. The quote: "Farmers who grow the wheat used in Wheaties cereal get only half as much money as Tiger Woods receives from the boxes that carry his picture" (Current Thoughts and Trends, June 2001). Let me get this straight: General Mills pays more to have a photo on the Wheaties cereal boxes than for all the wheat that goes into the boxes' contents? Incredible!

It's all about marketing, of course. You may have a superior product, but if no one knows about it, you'll never get rich. One way to get people's attention is by using celebrities to advertise your product. Wheaties has done this with sports heroes for decades.

But this quote also says something about the values of Americans. One man who plays a game better than anyone else can make more money than hundreds of men and women who provide much more fundamental service to our country. And it's not just farmers. There are many professions that are significantly undervalued: Police officers, teachers, firefighters, nurses, (preachers?), etc. Yet where would our society be without any one of these groups?

Do we value the things that matter most? That's a good question for Christians to think about. In our society, there are so many things that call out for our attention. Many of those things are not evil -- they're good in and of themselves. But have we neglected the things that are most important by fixing our attention on things of lesser value?

"For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13, New King James Version). Nothing -- absolutely nothing -- is more important than our relationship with God. We must make sure we never neglect time with Him because we are too busy with more trivial pursuits. Being right with our Lord will keep life from becoming upside down!

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