It seems we have some money coming our way. I don't want to take the time and space here to critique the effectiveness of the stimulus package. Others have done it better, and I have bigger fish to fry (at least from a Christian perspective). At the risk of seeming impractical or unpatriotic, I believe this is one of those points where the "city of God" can distinguish itself from the "city of man."
I should stop for a moment to say that the $1,800 or $2,400 or whatever it happens to be that the Federal government seems intent on giving to my family could prove very useful around our home. I am currently a graduate student with a family and, as you might be able to imagine, it would be nice to budget in a little more meat and a little less starch into our diet, or perhaps get an inexpensive used car so that one persons absence doesnt bind the rest of the family at home. We could even significantly reduce our debt (especially tempting in the current economy), but we're re-thinking these "needs" and I'm inclined to encourage others to re-evaluate as well.
Think back to the weeks following September 11, 2001. Do you recall how we were challenged to defeat terror? In case youve forgotten, Ill give you a hint. It didnt involve humility or sacrifice; instead, we were supposed to fight by continuing to buy and fly. (Never mind that encouraging Americans to be good consumers is a bit like encouraging bricks to be hard; I have a feeling we would have gotten back on our spending feet with or without an executive pronouncement.) Anyway, at least on a superficial level, the tactic seemed to policymakers to have averted one potential disaster, so its time once again to love our country by loving ourselves.
My question is, isnt the church supposed to be different? Christ warns us that we cannot serve both God and material things, yet how many of us find ourselves reflecting a decadent culture rather than refracting Christ? We don't live in Jerusalem, or even Samaria. We are in the middle of Babylon but have, through wealth and access to power, grown nearly indistinguishable from the Babylonians.
Once again, we are hearing that being a good American seems to involve shopping or taking a vacation or eating out, and Christians have an opportunity to stand in a meaningful way against the spirit of the age. Why should we buy more stuff (to use a nice word) with our money to fight our culture's battles with our culture's strategies? Instead, shouldn't we find signfigicant needs and meet those instead? Maybe - I don't know - directing it to people for whom poverty is a much harsher reality than we will ever know, even with the specter of a recession seeming to haunt our near future.
I firmly believe that God uses physical realities to communicate spiritual truths to us, so that when, for example, the Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians of one churchs wealth meeting anothers need, it was a reminder of what a dramatic repudiation of this worlds commercial paradigm a gospel of grace represents. Earlier in the Scriptures, God even addresses Israel using the language of commerce to emphasize just how seismic this shift is:
Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Isaiah 55:1
we all know that the best store was the one where we could afford nothing but walked out with more than we could ever carry. Maybe that's a sign that we can show grace and hand some of our bags off to someone else. I find that way more stimulating!
Just a thought.
I should stop for a moment to say that the $1,800 or $2,400 or whatever it happens to be that the Federal government seems intent on giving to my family could prove very useful around our home. I am currently a graduate student with a family and, as you might be able to imagine, it would be nice to budget in a little more meat and a little less starch into our diet, or perhaps get an inexpensive used car so that one persons absence doesnt bind the rest of the family at home. We could even significantly reduce our debt (especially tempting in the current economy), but we're re-thinking these "needs" and I'm inclined to encourage others to re-evaluate as well.
Think back to the weeks following September 11, 2001. Do you recall how we were challenged to defeat terror? In case youve forgotten, Ill give you a hint. It didnt involve humility or sacrifice; instead, we were supposed to fight by continuing to buy and fly. (Never mind that encouraging Americans to be good consumers is a bit like encouraging bricks to be hard; I have a feeling we would have gotten back on our spending feet with or without an executive pronouncement.) Anyway, at least on a superficial level, the tactic seemed to policymakers to have averted one potential disaster, so its time once again to love our country by loving ourselves.
My question is, isnt the church supposed to be different? Christ warns us that we cannot serve both God and material things, yet how many of us find ourselves reflecting a decadent culture rather than refracting Christ? We don't live in Jerusalem, or even Samaria. We are in the middle of Babylon but have, through wealth and access to power, grown nearly indistinguishable from the Babylonians.
Once again, we are hearing that being a good American seems to involve shopping or taking a vacation or eating out, and Christians have an opportunity to stand in a meaningful way against the spirit of the age. Why should we buy more stuff (to use a nice word) with our money to fight our culture's battles with our culture's strategies? Instead, shouldn't we find signfigicant needs and meet those instead? Maybe - I don't know - directing it to people for whom poverty is a much harsher reality than we will ever know, even with the specter of a recession seeming to haunt our near future.
I firmly believe that God uses physical realities to communicate spiritual truths to us, so that when, for example, the Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians of one churchs wealth meeting anothers need, it was a reminder of what a dramatic repudiation of this worlds commercial paradigm a gospel of grace represents. Earlier in the Scriptures, God even addresses Israel using the language of commerce to emphasize just how seismic this shift is:
Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Isaiah 55:1
we all know that the best store was the one where we could afford nothing but walked out with more than we could ever carry. Maybe that's a sign that we can show grace and hand some of our bags off to someone else. I find that way more stimulating!
Just a thought.
