Walking Among Tulips
/“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
— Matthew 13:44
In the Dutch 1600s, Tulipmania created what would be the legendary first market bubble and bust of note. A single tulip bulb, which you could buy today for less than a dollar, could easily be sold on contract for $50,000-$150,000. Some of the more rare bulbs sold on contract for as much as it would cost to buy a mansion. All for a plant that bloomed once a year and, at the time, for approximately one week. When the market went bust in 1637, several wealthy Dutch merchants found themselves bankrupt and destitute when the contracts came due. The market and mania wilted away, much like the flower, in very short duration.
Tulipmania has been taught and exaggerated for centuries as a cautionary tale about speculation in markets. However, while the history might have been exaggerated, the real problem is as true today as it has been since mankind began assigning value to things. The tulip did what a tulip does. The problem was the value mankind assigned to it.
We continue to do the same today. We assign value to everything: currency, time, gold, precious metals, rare earth minerals, etc. We even assign value to a dollar bill (which by the way is not a dollar; as of the moment I’m writing this it is 99.783 USD). However, as Tulipmania and other bubbles have shown, we are often not very reliable in seeing values correctly.
Let me put it to you another way: what do you worship? I hope your answer is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But have you ever thought about what it means to truly worship Christ?
The word worship comes from the Middle English and is the combination of “worth” + “-ship.” It literally means “the state of showing worth.” However, I like to think of it more like an actual ship. We all have many ships (states of being) in our life. I’m a husband, father, employee, speaker, minister, artist, writer and many more. I’m also a follower of Christ.
Imagine each of those “states of being” actually being a ship. Sometimes sailing in a flotilla towards a common destination, and sometimes floating aimlessly or even at odds with each other. Whatever the case, into which ship do you put most of your worth (money, time, energy, effort, love, etc.)? That is what you truly worship.
Worship is not the three songs you sing before the sermon. We worship that to which we assign the most worth.
Today, we look at Tulipmania and wonder what in the world were those people thinking? Why would you risk everything for a flower that wilted in a week? Yet, are we any better today?
What would you risk for fortune? What about pride or reputation? Respect? Acclaim? Praise? Affection? And the list goes on.
Truly we all still walk among the tulips. We overvalue the worth of the things of this earth that will fade just as surely as a tulip.
Don’t get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with many of the things we value. What we often get wrong is the worth we assign to them. We are called to worship Christ. We are called to give Him more worth than we give anything else. When we do, all else is seen in its proper perspective. When we worship our Lord we do not give up our relationships, time, money, possessions and all those other things, but they are placed in Christ and under His direction. They are put in His ship to be sailed at His pleasure.
There is only one ship which merits our worth and that is Christ. All is to be placed in His hold. All is to be captained by His Word. That is why worship is not an act we perform. It is a state of being or it is nothing at all. I am not writing to you today. I am being challenged myself. But we must all personally answer the same question in the end:
What, or rather, whom do I worship?
© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.
