day no. 17,248: more the images of Caesar or more images of God?

“Fellow citizens, why do you turn and scrape every stone to gather wealth and take so little care of your children to whom you must one day relinquish it all?” — Socrates

Most Christians know that children are a blessing and that money is a trap, yet most Christians also have more imagination for more money than they do for more kids. If you asked a random Christian man or woman what they would do with a million dollars, they could immediately begin naming off things they would do. They would find the exercise invigorating. While the whole thing remained hypothetical, they would find themselves listing off ideas and then revising them as they developed a full scale chronology and prioritization of what those dollars would do for them. Those same people, however, if asked, "What would you do with a million descendants?" would not have a clue. They would likely not even understand the question or the premise behind it. It would probably be the first (and last) time they ever considered the notion. 

All that to say, most Christians who confess that children are a blessing would still choose a thousand dollars over a thousand descendants. They would probably take $5 over five children. A joke about making five bucks instead of paying $5 million to raise them all would likely be made. The problem is that most Christians see people as a consumer instead of a producer. The more people, the more mouths to feed. And as far as the observation goes, well enough. Point granted. But they do not see image bearers as a force multiplier. They children and grandchildren as compound interest that is working against them instead of compound interest that is working for them. Children are good stock that returns more on investment than vacations and fast cars. Children are a better and more faithful retirement plan than your 401k. You can either save up enough $ to pay someone else's kid to take care of you when you are older or you can invest in your own children so that they are there to take care of you as you were there to take care of them.

The image of God is worth more than the image of Caesar, but most people, including Christians, get more excited about the idea of more coins in their pockets than they do about more children in their homes.