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Price vs. Value
Canon Theologian at London’s Westminster Abbey. PRICE VS. VALUE People often quote Osar Wilde’s dictum, that a cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. We live in an age of cynics, where "worth" means "price" and "price" means money and money means power. But the gospel of Jesus Christ puts worth back into the world, worth beyond price, worth beyond worldly power; for the gospel of Jesus Christ summons us to worship, to worthship, to lay our lives before the one true and living God, to worship him for all he’s worth. Give to this great and loving God the honour, the worship, the love, due to him; celebrate the goodness, the worth, the true value, of the created order, as his gift, his handiwork; and allow that celebration to lift your eyes once more to God himself, to his glory and beauty. — N. T. Wright, FOR ALL GOD’S WORTH: TRUE WORSHIP AND THE CALLING OF THE CHURCH. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997, p. 13. ISBN 0-8028-4319-0 ["Were the whole realm of nature mine . . ." Isn’t it interesting how we often put so much stock in a church’s music/worship budget, or the size of our programs? Yet, the true value of God-honoring worship comes not in how much we spend, but in how much we remember the great price that has already been paid in full. "Hallelujah, What a Savior!"] Have a great week, Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Music and Worship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky www.carlstam.org www.sbts.edu |