Most Christians who lived before the days of John Calvin recognized the fact that we cannot percieve God on our own. He has revealed Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is up to us to approach Him on these terms. The great Orthodox Christian theologian, Alexander Schmemann , saw this problem. Western Civilization has had about 400 years of believing man has the ability to reach religious, ethical and philosophical truth by his own ability to reason.
Money is equated with happiness.
Division after division within the Protestant churches have resulted because one person or another reasons differently than the rest of his church. The rise of the Reformation's bastard philosophical children, socialism and secularism, are the direct result of these beliefs. So we have liberals and conservatives who have reached their conclusions through reason, which is using the same wrong presupposition. The real concern of all of us should be whether we have allowed ourselves to be challenged by God, and if we accept His revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ or choose to pursue self-willed deception. In life, there are certain things that I love and enjoy.