Purpose vs. Money

I was reading a book recently entitled Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us. It's an o.k. book that basically reiterates what most of us already know--we need a purpose greater than just making money and accumulating stuff. Duh. It also talks about how financial remuneration can be counter-productive. People driven by vision and purpose can actually be demotivated (is that a word?) when money is a offered.

We respond when challenged by a greater purpose, something that goes beyond simple economics. So much more I could write about this. We are so incredibly privileged to continually meet people, both Mexican and non-Mexican, who can see through the hype of a nice house, a nice car, a nicer car, a better house, two houses, two cars, a house at the beach, meals at really nice restaurants, three cars, really nice sound systems, etc...etc...etc...ad nauseam. So tempting to gain the world, and forfeit our souls. Reminds me of a sermon I heard from Francis Chan; he offered his audience $2 and no one jumped up to grab the bills, even though half the world lives on that a day or less. Who is rich? We are.

 Ok, where was I? Oh yeah...what the book pointed out was that what really motivates people, among other things, is purpose, freedom to pursue their own dreams and community. That should sound like a typical Christian ministry context, right? Right? One of the cool things about Ixtapaluca, and one of the reasons I think we are attracting people of all nationalities to work alongside us here, is this ambient of purpose, vision and community.

 I could give many examples of this working itself out, but the latest is a coffee shop ministry adventure that Tina Barham and cohort Tiffany Taylor are kicking off right now. Grand opening, today, Saturday. Come and join us for a cup of java. If you print out the graphic below, they'll even give you a free cup of coffee!