Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, does money make family easier? This is prompted by an article I read on CNN's website about David and Victoria Beckham. David Beckham, famous for soccer prowess and being handsome, and Victoria Beckham, famous for being in the Spice Girls and being good looking. A really good looking, powerful family making a lot of money, well known that happens to be estranged from their son, Brooklyn. Tragically, very, very sadly, David and Victoria Beckham, recently both took to their social media accounts, both with, tons of followers, as you might imagine, sharing birthday messages to their son Brooklyn, who actually is no longer speaking to them. In January, Brooklyn went public with a lot of accusations about manipulation, disregard for his, his, his new wife, mistreatment of their family, even sharing some just really hard and real and normal stories about wedding conflict and regular conversations that went sideways. different people in the media have cast more light on the situation as they're in relationship with either Brooklyn or David and Victoria. I guess the point I'm making when I read this article is I was struck by this. One of the most common things I'm seeing as a pastor in 2026 is family estrangement. One in three Americans have a family member that they are no longer speaking to. One in that is a pretty high amount. In fact, that means most of you listening to this podcast either are estranged from a family member or have a friend who's estranged from a family member. This is everywhere. And I just want you to see, including in families that have a lot of fame and a lot of money. money doesn't fix the problem here because at a human level, families get broken when people start caring more about themselves than each other. That's the root of every family problem. Whether it's one person who just decides they're the only person that matters and then everyone else is collateral damage, or it's a group of people, all who are pointing the finger at the other person saying, well, if they would just stop doing this or if they would just start doing this and forgetting the fact that there's a finger pointing back at them and they have their own part to play. Wealthy families, poor families, white families, black families, Republican families, Democrat families, Families. Families in America are broken. So my guess is maybe that's where you find yourself. And if it is, money won't fix it. Fame won't fix it. Social media, God knows, won't fix it. It isn't fixing it for the Beckhams, it won't fix it for you. So how do we move forward through family estrangement? Well, I think Paul gives us a little bit of a roadmap in Philippians 2,3 when he says this. Do nothing but from selfish ambition or conceit. That verse, by the way, is in a passage about the humility and servant heartedness of Jesus. What Paul is saying is that if human relationships are going to work, I mean, if they're going to display the gospel of Jesus, but even also if they're just going to be functional, it's going to happen when each person goes to the relationship not looking to what they gain, but what they can give. Because as long as I'm looking to what I can gain, I'm treating other people as though they're a commodity, as though they're a resource for me and my agenda and how I can move forward as long as I'm looking to gain from other people. Forgiving them will never make sense. Showing mercy will never make sense. Serving them will never make sense. I'll always show up a selfish person waiting for everyone else that to make me happy. And no matter how many people are sitting at your thanksgiving table, if everybody's there to be made happy, no one is actually going to be happy. And this is where I think Christians have a real opportunity to shine, even in the mission field of their family. Because you can see Paul when he says, don't approach your relationships looking for what you can gain. Approach them looking for what you can give. We might say, well, well, that's not fair. How am m I ever going to gain anything? But his whole context of the passage is that Jesus Christ is how you gain something. It's Jesus who's laid down his life for you. It's Jesus who thought more of you than he thought of himself. It's Jesus who was happy to go to the cross so that you could be forgiven and be with him forever. I think sometimes we show up to our families believing that if we don't look out for, ourselves, no one else will. But Paul's point in Philippians is, for a Christian, that's never true because the Son of God is looking out for you, not just in eternity, but giving you even now, His Holy Spirit, washing you with the water of his word. Ephesians 5, making you holy, preparing you for the day that you're with him, understanding that Jesus sees us, loves us, and will take care of us means we don't have to place that burden on our family so we can show up and to love and care for them. And here's what happens at that Thanksgiving table where everyone's shown up saying, what can I give? Everyone is cared for, no one is selfish, no one is disappointed, and everyone is loved. Listen, I know it's tempting to think that if you could just take your family on a great vacation, buy a nicer house, give them stuff, maybe you could fix it. But the Beckhams are a living, breathing indicator that isn't true. I'll tell you what will work, though. Humble yourself, receive the love of Jesus that He has for you today, find in him everything you need, and then go towards others looking to give and not to gain. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!