Monopoly of the Heart
by David Souther

When I was seven years old, I received one of my favorite birthday gifts of all time. It was a Monopoly Game. It wasn’t just any Monopoly game; it was the Deluxe edition with a faux leather case, built-in compartments to hold the money and pieces, gold plated tokens, and real wooden houses. Playing the normal edition at someone else’s house felt like “second-class” Monopoly.

The object of the game is simple: make money to buy stuff. When you get enough stuff, you can then make more money and buy more stuff to use with your original stuff. Then you use all of your stuff to get more money to get more stuff. Do you see a pattern here? The person with the most money and stuff at the end wins.

Now there is nothing wrong with this game per se. However, we get into trouble when we confuse the Monopoly world with the real world. We know the world of Monopoly isn’t real. You would be foolish or deluded to try to pay your bills with Monopoly money. However, if we are not careful, the goal of Monopoly, to get more and more stuff, can become our goal in life.

That was me. My goal in life was to get more money to buy more stuff. But it wasn’t just about the money and stuff, it is what the money and stuff gave me: comfort, ease, pleasure, peace, and security. I felt if I had enough stuff, I would be content. If I could just make this next purchase of a stereo, computer, car, whatever, I would be happy.

It was as though I felt a hole in my heart and was trying to fill it with possessions. So I built my life around money and stuff, going from deposit to deposit, purchase to purchase. Stuff became a type of drug for me. That uneasy feeling in my being, “Hey, let’s go buy something.” Have you ever felt that sense of emptiness? “I have the cure. Let’s plan a new major purchase.” I found temporary happiness in researching the purchase, looking at the options, making the purchase, then repeating the cycle.

The bottom line was I didn’t own possessions; possessions owned me. I didn’t control my money; it controlled me.

This is more common than you think. Some men may agree, “Yes it is. Just look at my wife and her shopping habits!” However, men can fall into this trap too. We may not buy as much stuff as some women, but the stuff we buy costs a whole lot more. It is also an issue that can affect every income level and every tax bracket, not just the upper “1 percent” of people who have the most money. The reason is that it is not a matter of the size of your bank account, but the condition of your heart.

Slowly I began to realize two things. First, no matter how much money or stuff I had, it was never enough. I would make a purchase, but the emptiness soon returned. For example, I decided it was time for me to get a new vehicle. The old one was just fine, but I thought it would be awesome to get a new one. The search for just the right one consumed me. I remember the day I bought the vehicle, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and getting into the car to drive it off the lot. There it was, the smell of a brand new car! I was overjoyed, at least for a few weeks. Then the wax job started to dull, the tires began to wear, and the inside was not as clean and fresh as before. The new car smell gradually dissipated. Before I knew it, I was driving a used car again. More than that, the emptiness and hunger I felt in my heart to drive me to that purchase returned.

You see, I was looking for stuff to do what it was incapable of doing, providing lasting joy and satisfaction. It was like trying to drink seawater to satisfy a physical thirst. It gives temporary relief, but then you are worse off than you were before, even more thirsty because of the salt content. I was striving for contentment, trying to counteract the empty feelings I had deep down; but no matter how much I bought or had, it was never enough. It just made me thirsty for more.

The second thing I realized is that life mirrors Monopoly in at least one respect. At the end of the game, what happens? All the money and stuff you worked so hard to accumulate goes back in the box. You don’t take it with you. You may have earned a ton of money, own all the property, and have all the stuff, but when the game is over, it is over. The stuff goes back in the box. It is the same in life.

At the end you keep nothing.

This really hit home for me when I was having some remodeling done on my house. The carpet installer was there and I began to ask him about himself. I’ll never forget what he said, “Laying carpet doesn’t pay all that much, but I enjoy it. Besides, my goal is not to be the richest man in the graveyard.”

The second sentence stunned me. You see, my goal up to that point had been to make as much money as possible. I justified it by telling myself, “I’ll make as much money as I can, then give a lot away to the church. I’ll do many good things with it.” There is nothing wrong with that motive, but when it becomes your main passion and priority in life, you have a problem. And I had a problem big-time because the main reason I wanted money was because of the stuff it bought and the comfort, ease, and privilege it provided.

After hearing what the man said, I began to think, “What am I living for? Is this the main purpose of life, to accumulate stuff just to have it rot in a landfill 100 years from now?” I knew deep down that it wasn’t, but my actions and behavior indicated otherwise.

I also started thinking about what is going to last. And I began to consider Jesus Christ. I had gone to church my entire life and experienced good as well as bad. But I began to focus on Christ Himself. You may say, “Jesus lived 2000 years ago; what does He have to do with this?” That is a valid question, but here are three key facts, relevant to what I was experiencing. First, Jesus had very little in terms of earthly possessions, but was one of the most significant people in history. Second, although he was not rich, He was content, a contentment I longed for. Lastly, He was never preoccupied by possessions, but committed Himself to people, loving and serving them.

I saw great power in that. Now here is someone worth listening to.

I also considered some of the statements Jesus made that are recorded in the Bible, especially this one: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (John 7:37). He is not talking about physical thirst, but that deep down thirst of the soul for contentment, peace, and significance, things I was searching for.

I was convinced Jesus is the one who could satisfy the longings of my heart. The Bible refers to Jesus when it says, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3 ESV). Who knows better how to fulfill the longings and desires of the heart than the One who made our hearts in the first place?

It also dawned on me I was seeking to meet the longings of my heart through money and stuff instead of Him. It was like I was trying to fill my physical hunger with donuts rather than a nutritious meal. I was so full of junk, the fleeting satisfaction that money and possessions bring, that I had left no room for God. However, I was so used to this way of living, I felt trapped by it.

I was certain that only Jesus had the power to deliver me from my obsession and dependence on stuff, the stuff I so wanted to fill the emptiness I felt in my heart. Only He had the power to deliver me because Jesus is not only a man, He is God Almighty. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Nothing is too difficult for Him, not even my selfish addiction to stuff!

After years of living for “stuff,” I turned to Jesus to satisfy the hunger in my heart and restlessness in my spirit and to give me true peace and contentment. I also turned to Him to rescue me from my obsession with money and stuff. And He did. And I continue to find my satisfaction in Him each day, not based on how much money or stuff I have, but in the satisfaction of knowing and following Him.

Here are three things I have also come to know. First, because of Jesus, God loves me regardless of how much money or stuff I have. Secondly, I have found true contentment in God. He has supplied the joy, security, and significance I craved. I no longer am enslaved to stuff. Jesus has freed me from that bondage. He has allowed me to stop focusing on money and possessions to satisfy. Third, when it is all said and done, my relationship with God is the only thing that matters, because it is the only thing I am taking with me when this life is over. Everything else is going back in the box.

David Souther is the President of EvanTell, a ministry serving the church with evangelism outreach and training. David’s calling and passion is that more people hear the gospel in more places every day. A native Tennessean, he is married to Donna. They have three daughters and live in Dallas, Texas