Every time our worries and our wealth expose that we are seeking earthly treasure as opposed to heavenly treasure, we show that our true allegiance in that moment of sinful-madness is satanic not heavenly

I am still reading Running Scared by Ed Welch. This morning he opened my eyes to the subject of, what he terms, covert alliances with the devil. Very thought provoking. In a nutshell, here is his argument.

Our worries point us to the “treasures we hold most dear.” In a fallen world these treasures are neither certain nor secure (we cannot be sure that our earthly ‘treasures’ will be here tomorrow. NB these treasures can be people, pleasures, things, health, etc.). We have little real control over their future, so we worry.

Another telling pointer to our treasure comes when we observe our cash flow. Our money always follows our treasure. We use our money either to purchase our treasures, to protect them, or to please them.

Once we isolate what it is that we treasure. We need to ask ourselves the question: Are these treasures “me” centered or God-centered. Usually the worrier’s treasure is “me” centered. After all, the truly God-centered individual never really has cause to worry, does he?

Here is Ed Welch’s point about covert alliances. Every time our worries and our wealth expose that we are seeking earthly treasure as opposed to heavenly treasure, we show that our true allegiance in that moment of sinful-madness is satanic not heavenly.

“Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. ” (James 3:13–18, NASB95)

Jesus makes the same point in the Sermon on the Mount:

““Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. ” (Matthew 6:19–24, NASB95)

The mental picture I have in all this is Iran’s surreptitious involvement in Iraq. To the casual observer, what was really going on was not entirely obvious. Many of us had no idea that Iran was behind the insurgency training and equipping their forces. Could it also be like that with us? When we are worrying about earthly treasure, could it be that we don’t realize that behind these worries the dark hand of the devil is at work, stoking our fears, feeding our anxiety, encouraging us to serve Him earthly, passing Kingdom?
In such times of unwitting madness, we need to hear Jesus say to us what he said to Peter, “Get thee behind me Satan!”

“From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” ” (Matthew 16:21–23, NASB95)

Of course, Peter didn’t realize it, but his worries revealed his covert alliance to the enemy’s Kingdom. He was, I am sure, shocked by this revelation, and so should we.

Neil Stewart is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He serves as Pastor of the Kirk O’ The Aisles Church in Savannah, Georgia. This article is taken, with his permission, from the church’s Pastor’s Blog. http://pastorsblog.kirkpca.org/ [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]