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I was using my gifts to encourage people to make money rather than inspire them to a closer walk with Jesus.
The envelope with its blue and gold lettering was in my hand. With my heart pounding in anticipation, I waved it at my husband, Chuck.
"How much do you think it is this month?" I asked.
He gazed up into the air as if sighting an object far out of reach. "Hmmm … I'll bet it's $18,000!"
As I slowly pulled my paycheck out of the envelope, I saw the figure: $21,000 for the month!
Now, I thought as I looked around contentedly, we're finally cashing in on all our hard work!
Our entire family of six was going on a week-long Caribbean cruise. We'd just moved into a brand-new 3,500-square-foot house with all new furniture and a 180-degree view of Puget Sound. It felt so good.
Yet just that morning, I had read in Mark 8:36: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" My eyes may have registered the words on the page, but they hadn't made it to my heart. For months my religious routine had been on automatic pilot—a quick prayer and a few minutes glancing at a psalm. I couldn't remember the last time I'd heard God's voice.
This financial dream-come-true had begun in August, 1991, when a woman at church "felt led" to give me a bottle of herbs to help me lose weight without diet or exercise. She let me know that if I liked the product and wanted to it, she'd help me. Since I was in full-time ministry with Chuck, who was executive director of Point Man International, a ministry for Vietnam veterans, she offered to pay for me to sign up as a distributor in her multi-level marketing business.
I tried the product and lost weight effortlessly. I was sold! I didn't pray about it, I didn't ask God if I should get involved, it just seemed right. After five years in the ministry with limited funds, I was ready to make some money.
I began looking around at church, scouting out the type of person who'd do well in multi-level marketing (MLM)—a business based on a network of people (your "downline") who join to sell the company's products and recruit new distributors. Then I noticed someone else struggling with a weight problem. Before long, everyone in church was a prospective distributor or consumer. I loved going to retreats and Bible studies because someone would always ask me what I did, and that would open the door for me to sell or recruit them.
I began running ads for the product on a local Christian radio station. I figured my credibility in ministry would attract honest, hard-working Christians into my business. My ads planted the idea that working in my business would allow you to get out of debt, send your children to Christian schools, or even fund ministry projects or missionaries. Filled with zeal to help others become "financially independent," I wanted to make a ton of money so I could support Chuck in full-time Christian service. We worked feverishly, rushing our kids from school to babysitters to home, believing the sacrifice would eventually be worth it.
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