The Official Drink of Jesus

I went to a convention this past weekend in Atlanta, GA and have been wanting to write a blog about it.

The convention was for a health drink I promote called MonaVie. Let me just say at the very beginning of this, MonaVie is great! I completely back it and would agree it's pretty much the healthiest food you can put in your body. Good stuff. None of my problems stem from the validity of this product.

So I go to this MonaVie conference put on by it's top earner in the MonaVie network marketing company, Brig Hart. I expected to learn a lot more about the science of the drink and its components, maybe hear some testimonies, and of course get some info on how people have promoted it themselves. What I did not expect was Christian Prosperity Fest '08. I knew that Brig Hart was a Christian, but I've been to Christian conferences that talked less about God.

Now I'm certainly not against preaching the Gospel or anything like that, but when someone comes for a business conference and is preached to 85% of the time, paying a decent chunk of change to go, I'd be a little peeved. And I'd probably hold Christianity responsible. As my aunt and I were on our way there, I was asking if certain people would be there. She responded "no" a lot because of the religious aspect of the message. I didn't expect so much though.

Much of it was motivation from Christian speakers, authors, and pastors. A lot of the points I agreed with, but generally I disagreed with the direction each talk pointed the listener toward. Brig would have the crowd of nearly 5,000 cheering "Black Diamond, Black Diamond, Black Diamond," claiming that they will achieve the high and lucrative rank of Black Diamond. This was shown as an opportunity for freedom. No longer do you have to be a slave under a boss, no longer do you need to work 80 hours a week to provide for you family, no longer do you even need to "work." MonaVie has all the answers. Lots of money will little effort.

The "Christian" Prosperity message is one that makes my stomach turn. When someone tells me that God wants me to have lots of money, I know that they don't know that. I may be "blessed" with lots of money, but that blessing could be a huge curse. What good is it for a man to gain the world but lose his soul? Jesus taught living with less... even less than what most would deem adequate, but it was adequate.

When I have preachers on stage and family members in my ear telling me that I can do much good with wealth, I know there is a truth to that, but there is also a deception, a temptation. Jesus even tempts his disciples in this manner. He exposes to them what they will really do with wealth, or more than they need. If you keep reading in Luke 22, you see that Jesus tells his disciples to get all the things they just said they don't need, including swords. A few verses later you see his disciples relying on one of these items instead of on the Word of the Lord. As Peter pulls out his sword and cuts a man's ear off, Jesus rebukes him and shows him the error of believing in possessions, as well as how easy it is to lose focus.

I truly do find myself in the same situation. There is a voice in my head or sometimes standing right in front of me, saying that it's ok to have all this stuff. God wants me to be blessed and to be a blessing to others, money helps God do that. Words like this will lead me away. Money isn't evil, but a man's heart is easily swayed when money is present. I can bless others with my life. I can inspire the multitudes to give small amounts, rather than having a few wealthy give large amounts. Simplicity, relying on God, keeping my priorities straight; these are all blessings greater than money. And work should be a blessing too. Not working for the rest of my life is not something that appeals to me. Not toiling in a job is something that appeals to me. If you love your work, why wouldn't you want to work for life. Whether it's in a job, your community, your church, your family, someone else's family, or whatever, you have a purpose and you must work at that purpose.

I think it's wrong to correlate business and Christianity in such a way, even though I think Jesus should be in your workplace. If anything Jesus would probably call you to less "work" and more life. He wouldn't be as concerned with productivity, as he would enjoying what you're doing and staying focused on the cause. And I don't know if Jesus would be selling Joel Osteen books like crazy at his business convention.

After this past weekend I decided that MonaVie isn't about the money. It's about trying to help people with health. It's a stepping stone to a better lifestyle and diet. MonaVie is not the answer, but it can help a lot. I'm not opposed to making a little money with MonaVie, but I need to stay strict on giving away anything I don't need before I become bound by it. This is hard, and I'm not there; however, I have made great strides and I'm going to continue chugging along.

I was going to mention network marketing in our economic hardship and question whether it's really a good thing. Does having people quit their jobs to sell juice really help our consumer-based economy? Shouldn't we be moving towards jobs that provide products, rather than gaining quick wealth through another (in some manner) service industry. There's a product there, but these people are all selling something they don't manufacture. Also, if our economy dips pretty bad, MonaVie will be one of the first things people drop to save money. I in no way would put my heart and soul into the security of MonaVie. But like I said, it's an incredible product and I'd recommend everyone give it a shot.

If you want more info on MonaVie let me know.