I noticed there was a "50 reasons Christians should be preppers" thread already, but I thought a few points were missing here and there. I'm new on the block, but definitely not new to the prepper world. In fact, I grew up in a prepper household and came to know the Lord in my early twenties. Early in my Christian experience I was warned by the Lord about listening to other people and it's dangers, for instance from passages like Proverbs 14:15 and Isaiah 8:20. So I've had a tendency to study the Bible for myself instead of letting others spoon feed me.
I've run into attitudes that are negative toward prepping since entering the Church. For instance, a brother I attend church with once claimed that preppers will not be saved. He cited Revelation 21:8, dropped a comment about "trusting in your sidearm or your food storage" in the last days, and claimed that the word "fearful" in the verse means you don't trust God. I've seen articles written from my particular denomination attacking preppers as "crazy", and claiming that it is wrong because "you will hide in your bunker and lose all desire to share." Another was talking about witnessing to a Mormon who had 1-2 years of food on hand for the last days, and he almost said to him "The Bible says our bread and water will be sure" but apparently didn't have time to drop that. While I don't necessarily advocate physical preparation for the end of time specifically, it felt like the individual would apply the same reasoning to preparation for an earthquake. It's a kind of "you don't need it because God will take care of you" sort of reasoning. In my mind, this is actually really sad. Prudence and intelligence are seemingly condemned in the Church and pushed aside as unnecessary.
In any case, I've come up with a series of arguments in defense of prepping from Scripture. Some of them have already been made and I'm actually expanding upon them, while others are actually somewhat new.
"And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." - Matthew 4:6-7
In the above text, Jesus was taken to the top of the temple and told to "cast thyself down." Satan told Christ to throw himself off the top of a building, and a promise was cited by the devil in support of taking such action. Folks I attend church with refer to the concept surrounding this particular temptation as "presumption", which is the devil's counterfeit for faith. When some one comes to you and claims you don't need to be prepared for natural disasters before hand because of Bible promises, their actions are actually stupid, irresponsible, and presumptuous. It's like going backpacking with just the clothes on your back and saying, "God will provide." The stupidity of going on such a trip without provisions is mind boggling, and nobody in the right mind would attempt to justify such a thing.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
"The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy." - Psalm 145:8
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." - 1 Peter 5:6-7
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." - Psalm 84:11
You might be wondering, "what do these texts have to do with prepping?" Note these descriptions of God's character. It is quite plain from Scripture that he loves you, he is compassionate, and he cares for you individually. Elsewhere the Bible even states he numbers the hairs of your head. I'm supposed to believe God will deny/forbid me from exercising prudence and foresight in view of danger that could potentially be around the corner, and not only this but condemn me for attempting to provide for myself or those I care about? Perhaps when somebody decided to fight against the idea of being prepared they neglected to consider the character of God. Reality check: the idea that God will forbid you from being prepared for disasters implies that God is a fiend who does not care about or love you like he claims to.
Notice the last verse says, "no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Are Christians who oppose prepping prepared to argue that having supplies on hand in case of an emergency is "not good" or that God will withhold that from us? Perhaps they need another reality check on his character.
"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." - 1 Timothy 5:8.
Everybody here is probably familiar with this argument, but has anyone checked the Greek on the word "provide" lately? While I'm not necessarily a Greek and Hebrew scholar, perhaps ol' James Strong's comment on the subject is a bit of a help.
G4306
προνοέω
pronoeō
pron-o-eh'-o
From G4253 and G3539; to consider in advance, that is, look out for beforehand (active voice by way of maintenance for others; middle voice by way of circumspection for oneself): - provide (for).
"For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." - Proverbs 2:6
Has anyone ever considered that it is God who gave us the wisdom, the prudence, and the foresight to prepare in the first place?
These are just a few points I thought I might leave to add to the concepts already presented.
I've run into attitudes that are negative toward prepping since entering the Church. For instance, a brother I attend church with once claimed that preppers will not be saved. He cited Revelation 21:8, dropped a comment about "trusting in your sidearm or your food storage" in the last days, and claimed that the word "fearful" in the verse means you don't trust God. I've seen articles written from my particular denomination attacking preppers as "crazy", and claiming that it is wrong because "you will hide in your bunker and lose all desire to share." Another was talking about witnessing to a Mormon who had 1-2 years of food on hand for the last days, and he almost said to him "The Bible says our bread and water will be sure" but apparently didn't have time to drop that. While I don't necessarily advocate physical preparation for the end of time specifically, it felt like the individual would apply the same reasoning to preparation for an earthquake. It's a kind of "you don't need it because God will take care of you" sort of reasoning. In my mind, this is actually really sad. Prudence and intelligence are seemingly condemned in the Church and pushed aside as unnecessary.
In any case, I've come up with a series of arguments in defense of prepping from Scripture. Some of them have already been made and I'm actually expanding upon them, while others are actually somewhat new.
"And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." - Matthew 4:6-7
In the above text, Jesus was taken to the top of the temple and told to "cast thyself down." Satan told Christ to throw himself off the top of a building, and a promise was cited by the devil in support of taking such action. Folks I attend church with refer to the concept surrounding this particular temptation as "presumption", which is the devil's counterfeit for faith. When some one comes to you and claims you don't need to be prepared for natural disasters before hand because of Bible promises, their actions are actually stupid, irresponsible, and presumptuous. It's like going backpacking with just the clothes on your back and saying, "God will provide." The stupidity of going on such a trip without provisions is mind boggling, and nobody in the right mind would attempt to justify such a thing.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
"The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy." - Psalm 145:8
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." - 1 Peter 5:6-7
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." - Psalm 84:11
You might be wondering, "what do these texts have to do with prepping?" Note these descriptions of God's character. It is quite plain from Scripture that he loves you, he is compassionate, and he cares for you individually. Elsewhere the Bible even states he numbers the hairs of your head. I'm supposed to believe God will deny/forbid me from exercising prudence and foresight in view of danger that could potentially be around the corner, and not only this but condemn me for attempting to provide for myself or those I care about? Perhaps when somebody decided to fight against the idea of being prepared they neglected to consider the character of God. Reality check: the idea that God will forbid you from being prepared for disasters implies that God is a fiend who does not care about or love you like he claims to.
Notice the last verse says, "no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Are Christians who oppose prepping prepared to argue that having supplies on hand in case of an emergency is "not good" or that God will withhold that from us? Perhaps they need another reality check on his character.
"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." - 1 Timothy 5:8.
Everybody here is probably familiar with this argument, but has anyone checked the Greek on the word "provide" lately? While I'm not necessarily a Greek and Hebrew scholar, perhaps ol' James Strong's comment on the subject is a bit of a help.
G4306
προνοέω
pronoeō
pron-o-eh'-o
From G4253 and G3539; to consider in advance, that is, look out for beforehand (active voice by way of maintenance for others; middle voice by way of circumspection for oneself): - provide (for).
"For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." - Proverbs 2:6
Has anyone ever considered that it is God who gave us the wisdom, the prudence, and the foresight to prepare in the first place?
These are just a few points I thought I might leave to add to the concepts already presented.
