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Written by Jim Stern
In January this year, Tesla announced a change in its core mission. Formerly, their mission was to build a world of sustainable abundance. Wanting a phrase that evoked more joy, Elon changed Tesla’s mission statement to, “Our mission is to build a world of amazing abundance.”
Elon wants Tesla to provide every global citizen access to amazing abundance.
On one hand, Elon seems to be able to do some phenomenal things. Watching SpaceX build “pinchers” that can catch a returning rocket is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. Who knows what kind of material conveniences and gadgetry Tesla will manufacture. Certainly, household robots are on the way!
HOWEVER… electronic whizbangs and technological breakthroughs have never been able to deliver true, internal, amazing abundance.
Jesus is the sole provider of abundant life.
One thousand years before Jesus promised a beyond measure way of life in John 10:10, David wrote this in Psalm 16:11, “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Even in all the riches afforded him as King, David knew that true fullness could only be found in the presence of God.
Nothing, and no one, can fill you like the One who created you. Like an empty pitcher that holds volume, you have internal capacity. The question is not whether you can be filled; the question is who or what is filling you?
Goodness, the bling of this world is deceptively shiny. Elon’s allure and the pull of worldly abundance can be gravitationally strong. In Trexo’s recipe for Overflow living, we identify three enemies warring against our souls – sin, the world, and Satan. Consider the strength of the following verses:
“But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26).
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).
Biblical figures seeking to live by faith and authors writing Scripture under the Holy Spirit’s leading knew the glittering danger of the world’s promise of amazing abundance. The Christian’s reaction is to be swift and decisive.
Only Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can truly satisfy the heart of a person. But to enjoy Their fullness one must crucify the world—its ways, definitions, and priorities. In wisdom we can see with increasing clarity that not only do the world’s goods not satisfy, but there is one behind the scenes polishing the gold and silver for our eyes.
Satan is the master manipulator of worldly messages. Beautiful slogans like “amazing abundance,” the Army’s “Be All You Can Be,” or Burger King’s, “Have it your way,” just don’t appear out of nowhere. Each of them is strategically developed by marketing experts to offer “incredible” lives that everyone deserves. Yet, these slogans, and others like them, lure people away from enjoying intimacy with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and saying with David, “You will make known to me the path of life…”
Satan wins every time someone embraces these slogans.
Satan wins when Christians try to walk in two worlds – wanting all that God has AND the world provides. As Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). For the Christian who tries they will be bound in the baby pool of the Kingdom wondering why God never moves in their lives.
So, is Elon Musk demonic? I don’t think he is intentionally pursuing Satan’s agenda. Nevertheless, Satan is absolutely using him in a cosmological war that he chooses to ignore.
Abundance and fullness are the exclusive work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
As Christians, let us renounce the world, let us be on the alert for the way Satan uses slogans to water down our faith, and let us open our hearts and minds wide to be filled by the love and faithfulness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
This is life in the Overflow.
