The Test for Things of the World

Hugh Nibley in his classic talk Leaders and Managers said this about recognizing the things of the world: “Moroni scolded the management for their ‘love of glory and the vain things of the world’ (Alma 60:32), and we have been warned against the things of this world….  But exactly what are the things of the world? An easy and infallible test has been given us in the well-known maxim ‘You can have anything in this world for money.’  If a thing is of this world, you can have it for money; if you cannot have it for money, it does not belong to this world.”  If we think about those things that we cannot have in the next life, they are exactly those things that we buy with money.  Our clothes, jewelry, houses, cars, phones, computers, etc. are all bought for money and we cannot take them with us.  This is the message the Savior gave in His parable of the rich man who built bigger barns to hold all of his goods: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20).  The things that the world values are those that it can put a price tag on—we even value people because they have lots of money and associate their worth with the money they have.  This reminds me of a paragraph from Le Petit Prince: “If you were to say to the grown-ups: ‘I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof,’ they would not be able to get any idea of that house at all.  You would have to say to them: ‘I saw a house that cost $20,000.’  Then they would exclaim: ‘Oh, what a pretty house that is!’”  The world, as Saint-Exupery understood, is mostly concerned with the monetary worth of things—not real value. 

                Just as the things of the world are bought with money, the Lord is also very clear that the things of God require no money to be obtained.  Isaiah invited us, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1).  In the Book of Mormon this phrase “without money and without price” is repeated three times.  The righteous in the days of Alma “did impart the word of God, one with another, without money and without price” (Alma 1:20).  Nephi wrote that the Lord “saith:  Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price” (2 Nephi 26:25).  And Jacob invited his people: “Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price” (2 Nephi 9:50).  Clearly the Lord wants us to know that salvation is not purchased with money—all are alike unto God and can come unto Him no matter their economic status.  Righteousness and faith and love cannot be purchased but must be developed with the help of God.  Brother Nibley asked, “Do you see anything that cannot be had for money? Is there anything here you couldn’t have if you were rich enough?  Well, for one thing you may think you detect intelligence, integrity, sobriety, zeal, character, and other such noble qualities.”  Those things of most worth in life cannot be bought, and anything that we can buy with money really is not worth anything.