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It is fascinating to watch God weave the events of our lives so that “coincidences” pop up all over the place. Mind you, I don’t believe in coincidences because, in my mind, our omnipresent Creator already knows every thought before we think it and every action before we move.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord .
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
–from Psalm 139
Lately I’ve been wrestling in my mind over how to live out my faith. I alternate between being disgusted with my materialistic Lexus and praising God for his provision. My husband and I have had discussions about what constitutes a tithe — does it have to go to the church, or are all charitable donations considered tithes in the Lord’s eyes? Why is it that so many in America who claim to be Christians don’t attend church? Somehow something about my bubble life doesn’t seem to resonate with Jesus’ commandments to love my neighbors. I love my family, yes. If I learned of a neighbor in need, I would reach out to help — but that’s kinda difficult when my neighbors and I don’t see each other except to wave as we drive by on our way to another destination or errand.
The Blue Parakeet is a newish book about reading the Bible that my church book club is currently reading. I’m more of a fiction kind of gal, but with an intriguing title like that, I decided to get the book, dig in, and see what all the fuss was about.
And I discovered pretty quickly that the one fussing is me.
This book is going to be difficult to read. It is also going to be intriguing because it addresses so many of the questions I’ve been wrestling with. I am deeply concerned about its premises on several levels.
For starters, the author writes that it is impossible for modern-day Christians to fully literally obey the Bible in today’s world. He writes that we all pick and choose what we focus on. He’s right — at least in my church, we skip over the part where Paul writes that women should have their hair covered and think of that as a “that was then, this was now” kind of thing. Well, some homosexual believers say the same thing about the teachings about them. Isn’t it hypocritical of me to hold up one thing as TRUE while dismissing the other as something that doesn’t apply anymore?
In fact, if I’m honest here, I have to say that I have always had a tendency to “weigh” the words of Jesus more heavily than those of Paul or Peter or John or Luke. Many times Paul wrote commands such as this one, in 1 Timothy 2,
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
And yet we have Jesus doing the exact opposite of what Paul “permits.” He appeared directly to Mary Magdalene and then commanded her to go and TELL his brothers a message from him, the Lord, in John 20:
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
In that instance, Mary provided information to the disciples. Isn’t that teaching?
It’s safe to say that reading this Blue Parakeet book is opening up many skeletons that I have firmly shoved into the dark closets of my mind, the ones labeled “DANGER! Don’t Open!” There are some topics that feel scary to tackle, such as apparent contradictions. If I question these things openly, does that mean I question the bedrock of my faith, that Jesus is the Son of God, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross for my sins and rose again on the third day, ascended to heaven? No, I still believe that truth.
The way I reconcile in my own mind the apparent difference between Paul’s teaching and Jesus’ teaching is that Paul was a man, and Jesus is God. Of course I will believe Jesus over Paul. But when I do this, I am, as the author asserts, picking and choosing what to believe.
How about the one about the rich young man who wanted to get into heaven? Apparently this was an outstanding young man who had followed all the commandments. He wanted to know what else he needed to do in order to receive eternal life. Jesus told him:
Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19)
Notice the order of the steps he had to take. Before he could follow Jesus, he had to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor.
That is not the way we do things in our church. Most of us are not homeless, and if we are, it is not by choice. Why do we Christians not live our lives in this way? Why do we increase our standard of living to match (or exceed) our income? I’m including myself in this question because that’s definitely the story of my life. When we moved to Texas, we found that for the exact same amount of money as our Florida house sold for, we could buy nearly double the house here. We COULD have bought the same sized home for nearly half the amount, but chose the bigger house instead. Why did I do that? It’s clear that at that moment in time, I had three choices:
- Purchase a smaller home, giving ourselves an almost-paid-for-house
- Give all our proceeds to the poor
- Purchase a larger home, giving ourselves as much debt as we started with
Now, if we had chosen door number 2, where would we be today? Where would we be living? I don’t know. It would be a scary proposition to find myself homeless and without STUFF, by choice.
Suffice it to say, this is one of those passages that we Americans tend to gloss over. We don’t strive to be perfect, do we? In fact, in The Blue Parakeet, the author goes so far as to say it is impossible to do such a thing in a modern world.
But just think about it. What if fifty Christian families sold everything and gave it all to the poor in YOUR community. What would happen next? How then would they follow Jesus when He himself is bodily in heaven? Would they begin a walking tour, telling everyone the good news, just as Jesus did? How would such a tour be financed? What would the impact be on our world today if we did indeed step into the past and do just as Jesus said we needed to do in order to be perfect? The author says it is impossible. I disagree. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”
Who said anything about being perfect?
Um, our King did. Look at what he commands in Matthew 5:
If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Maybe we can wiggle out of this by focusing on the word perfect. In the above verses, the Greek word is teleios, which means the utmost of human integrity and virtue; being brought to its end without needing anything else to achieve its completion. We are to be finished. Sort of like sending a young woman off to finishing school for some polishing…only much more. Jesus used the same word teleios when he spoke to the young man. And when the young man who had many possessions walked away, shaking his head in defeat, Jesus told his disciples that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Apparently the rich young man just gave up. He was on his way, but he wasn’t teleios.
Does the fact that I have not sold all my possessions and given them to the poor mean that I am not entering into the Kingdom of Heaven? Is Christianity as we know it totally messed up?
The author of The Blue Parakeet wrote about our differing interpretations of the Bible, and about what we pick and choose to focus on as:
What we decide is our way for our day.
My warning antennae just went up on high alert. I have been reading in Judges and have been seeing what happens when a group of people begin to do what seems right in their own eyes.
Rape. Murder. Demolishing entire villages in order to capture the virgins. Forcefully giving the virgins as wives to a tribe so they can be made to have children that will continue on the tribe. Stealing young women from another village to take away as wives.
Holy Spirit, I pray for wisdom to know what it is that you want me to do in my lifelong quest to follow Jesus. Do I take Jesus’ words literally? Do I pick and choose?
Paul Coleman has written a song that beautifully captures my angst about these matters. It’s called Last Night In America. These lyrics capture my heart:
I’m afraid to turn my TV on
And I’m hoping what they said is wrong
Can I just live my lifetime here and then move on?
I’ve had a million conversations about
Who is right and who is wrong
And how would Jesus want for us to carry on
I’m praying for God’s will but secretly wanting
Riches and blessings to pour in my hands
Is this my last night in America?My tendency is to run away
And try to keep my family safe
But tell me how to hide away from all this hate?
The dominos that we see fall
Were set in motion long ago
Fear became a flower and the garden grows
I’m seeing the irony, the battle inside of me
You brought me peace now I’m at war with the world
Tell me is there some way out
Tell me that I’m not alone
Show me the mystery oh cornerstone
Is this my last night in America?Is this my last night in America?
Or is it my last moment anywhere?
Our breath is a vapor that’s lost in the air
Is this my last night in America?Well I’ve read about a God of war
And painted blood from door to door
Canonized in scripture and in black and white
And I’ve read about my Jesus Christ
And I’ve received His sacrifice
But is it turn the other cheek or is it stand and fight?
‘Cause I’m just a simple pilgrim I’m not a man with wisdom
What do I do when there’s a thief at my door?
Do I resist him or in silence assist him?What seemed right isn’t clear anymore
Is it the fall of a nation or the great tribulation
The eve of invasion or the book of revelation
Well I’ll wear my freedom as an invitation
To the God of creation who’s keeping the score
Is this my last night in America?
This graphic appeared today on FoxNews.com:
May the Lord please grant us mercy! We reap what we sow (as we learn in Proverbs), and the borrower is servant to the lender. With so many restrictions on religious freedom in China, our country’s lender, I pray our lawmakers will not spend us into slavery.
But the only One who owns me personally…my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength…is Jesus Christ.
I live in a small town of barely more than 10,000 people. There are, however, not one but two self-storage businesses within a five mile radius. Imagine my surprise to see red earth and bulldozers in a field less than two miles away from my home with a “Coming Soon: Self Storage” sign affixed to a newly erected construction fence. Soon there will be three self-storage businesses that will be happy to hold on to my stuff.
I guess my mind is on storage “crap” today because I am getting up the nerve to clean out the dreaded CLOSET UNDER THE STAIRS. I could probably have my daughter film a horror movie out of that one. The closet, I’m afraid to say, is so packed and jumbled that a person has to bend over and climb over mountains of junk just to get to the back. What is supposed to be a coat closet for guests has become a catch-all of all the stuff I don’t know what to do with. There’s a Dora the Explorer game my daughter played with six years ago…it’s missing about half its pieces, but for some odd reason it moved to Texas with us. We have a solid brass bar sink in there somewhere. Yes…you read that correctly. There is even a SINK in the closet! My in-laws gave it to us when they moved. The original intent was to “one day when we win the lottery” put in a bar upstairs and use the brass sink. Other goodies include a baby gate, tupperware plastic bins filled with half-completed photo albums, assorted pillows, black widow spiders (probably), and a set of doggie pooper-picker-upper baggies that we’ve never used. When I get off this chair and pull everything out, I’ll probably have more interesting things to report.
What I refuse to do, however, is to buy storage for my junk.
I think Americans (including myself!) have enjoyed so many blessings that when hard times hit, we have a whole generation (mine) that does not know how to do without. My parents’ generation knew all about pulling up those bootstraps and “making do” with what you have — and being grateful for it. People saved and re-used aluminum foil. They grew their own vegetables and froze or canned what they couldn’t eat right away so they’d have food in the winter. They bought modest houses and made the children share bedrooms and even (gasp) sometimes made sisters share a bed.
Fast forward to my generation. When my husband and I bought our first home with an FHA loan, we had to jump through many hoops to be approved. My husband had to provide letters and other documentation about his overtime pay. I had to provide proof that I would indeed be a teacher again the following year. We did not know for sure if we were qualified until the day they called us to sign the papers. As frustrating as it was for us to keep providing “one more thing” to the loan company, I understood why they were being so cautious. We were first-time home buyers. We did not have established credit, and it would have been irresponsible of them to provide a loan to someone who they knew could not — or would not — pay it back.
Since that time, we have sold and bought four more houses. (Lots of cross country moves, you see.) Each time, it got easier and easier. I thought at the time this was because we’d established credit — and that’s probably part of it — but I know in retrospect that lenders were purposefully relaxing the rules and making risky loans. For example, before we even looked for a home, we called our lender to see how much of a loan we could afford. By our third house, they told me to first find a home and then come to them with the amount!
No wonder the housing market crashed.
Americans kept wanting bigger and bigger houses. We had to have extra bathrooms. Media rooms became all the rage…game rooms are great places to corral the kids. I’m not knocking down the American Dream of prosperity. I’m just trying to get a handle on MY part of this, from a godly perspective.
I’m squirming in my seat to read these words from Jesus in Luke 12:
When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other!
In light of the images captured on this short video,
I can see very vividly how people today are divided against each other. It’s not just Democrats vs. Republicans. That’s a very narrow view of the world. God sees us all. There is no Jew or Greek or master or slave or rich or poor in Christ. Many of these extremely poor people are believers…praise God! They have hope, and in God’s kingdom, they will be WAAAAYYY ahead of me. Many more are not believers. Can you imagine what it must be like to watch your own children starve to death right in front of your eyes without having God to lean upon? How do they do it?
The Lord requires much of me…because He gave so much…because He’s given me so much.
So, it’s back to the closet. I’m going to try to get organized. But what to do with the stuff I’m not going to keep? What do you do with the “junk” in your house?
Because I’ve always wanted to do a poll, this seems like as good a place as any to include one:
Perhaps if we all dug through our closets…and our cabinets…and our drawers…we’d find a new use for old stuff so we could, like our parents, learn to “make do” with what we have instead of running out and buying more. Better yet, maybe we can find someone in need — at church, through homeless shelters, through a friend of a friend — who would be very blessed to have our old stuff.
I’m the kind of girl who doesn’t believe in coincidences. God has answered every one of my prayers…even a non-answer is an answer. It’s a “not yet,” or possibly a “never.” But, since He is God alone and I am not, I accept his authority in all areas of life. Even in the confusing ones.
At our community group meeting last week while we shared prayer requests, I told of how my parents had a very quick move from one part of the state to another. My grandmother is not in the best of health, so my parents decided, with much prayer, that they were being led to move closer to her. I remember telling my mom at the time that the sale of their house was under God’s authority, even in this weird collapsing economy. My husband thought they were nuts to put their house on the market in the dead of winter — their own realtor suggested that they wait until May before putting the house up for sale. But the sign went up in the front yard anyway.
Their house sold in one week.
I opened my big mouth and said it must have been a “God thing” for the house to sell so quickly. He knew their desire to honor their parents, and He provided a way to do so.
Kinda makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to see how God is taking care of my parents.
But there’s a flip side to this story. A man in our group has had a prayer request for a year that his parent’s home would sell. His parents died and left behind a mortgaged house. He and his brother are both struggling financially to keep paying for this empty house.
Is it a “God thing,” too, that this house has not sold?
As a woman of faith, I have to reluctantly say that somehow, someway, this struggle for them has a God-given purpose. Maybe God has already selected the family who will purchase that house and is preparing them financially. Maybe He wants to encourage all of us to trust him daily for our needs. It could be that this man and his brother and their families are closer to God than ever before because they have had to learn to rely on His provision each month. I don’t have the answer for why their house hasn’t sold. All I can offer up is faith that it will sell eventually in God’s perfect timing.
I’ve walked a bit in their shoes. Several years ago, my husband and I wanted to move to a different house in the same town. We put our house on the market and began planning the building of the new house. I picked out paint colors and wallpaper and carpet. We selected the brick and the trim and told the builder which trees we wanted him to keep. A flood of people began looking at our home…but we had no buyers. Weeks turned into months, and still our house would not sell. We changed realtors and lowered the price substantially. Still there were no buyers. The builder told us they had to release our contract and offer the house to someone else if we did not have our home sold in the next couple of weeks. I alternated between frantically pacing and calming prayers. I knew God was up to something.
Out of the blue, a man my husband had worked with previously called him up and offered him a new job halfway across the country. The opportunity was too good to pass up — more responsibility, more pay, and a chance to ‘move our cheese.’ We kept the house on the market and then did the unthinkable step in faith: we went ahead and moved.
The new company provided us with a furnished corporate apartment in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore. To say I was out of my comfort zone is a huge understatement. Here I was with a two-year-old and a very energetic Dalmation living on the sixth floor of a combination hotel/apartment complex on the harbor. I had no car. I had to take a taxi to the grocery store. Little old country girl hillbilly meets the big city — what a hoot! To top it all off, everyone took the “water taxi” to get wherever they needed to go. I get terribly seasick and hate boats of any kind. I rode the water taxi twice but managed to stay close to the apartment for anything else I needed. Every other night the fire alarm went off, and we had to grab the baby and the dog and head down six flights of stairs before we got the “all clear.”
But guess what? I did it! I proved to myself that I could live and function in a completely different environment…God showed me His presence in so many ways. I got to experience beautiful sunsets on the harbor, and I learned to be patient when waiting for God’s timing…because it was indeed perfect.
A couple of weeks after we were settled in the corporate apartment, we got the call that we finally had a buyer for our home. We lived in the apartment for a couple of months and then bought a home in the suburbs of Baltimore where life once again ruffled in familiar, comfortable ways.
Looking back, I remember the times of pacing, of wondering why God wasn’t allowing us to reach our dreams. It was because He had even bigger ones in store for us around the corner!
Writing about the “God things” in life gives me a different perspective on current events in our country. We have become a nation that turns to The Government to solve its problems rather than turning to God. Our first president, George Washington, understood the danger inherent in governments:
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
Yet our people today are appealing to this force, to this ‘fearful master,’ for their very livelihoods, and those of us who question them are labeled unpatriotic or uncaring.
Could it be a ‘God thing’ that our economy is now in the tank?
Could it be a ‘God thing’ that our children’s performance in public schools is going down?
Could it be a ‘God thing’ that so many of our children are filled with such angst and disregard for human life that they think nothing of taking the life of another who ‘disses’ them?
We reap what we sow. The flagging economy and other woes facing our society today is a direct result of the one thing government will never be able to solve: SIN. Sin is behind the fall of our nation, and if we continue to do nothing about it, we will continue on our current path. The anti-God movement is gaining momentum. I don’t know how to stop it, but I know George Washington might have been a prophet after God’s own heart when he said:
Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
We the People who have elected…and kept electing…corrupt politicians…who have allowed ourselves to rely on The Government to cure our health, our finances, our bank accounts, our corporations, our whales, our Golden Cheeked Warblers, our mortgage woes — we are being disciplined. According to the writer of Hebrews, we should embrace this discipline and learn from it:
And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?[d] He said,
“My child,[e] don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and don’t give up when he corrects you.
For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”[f]As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?
For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.
Today as I prepare to go to a homeschool mom’s meeting, I’ll try to remember those words from Hebrews 12. Take a new grip. Strengthen your knees. Mark out a straight path. Become strong. Because it’s all a ‘God thing.’
Do you believe God when His word says in Romans 8,
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Absolutely nothing going on in the secular world can separate us from the love of God in Jesus. Nothing. Not a stimulus package that no one had time to read before it was passed into law. Not an automobile bail-out. Those things are just symptoms of how needy our great country really is. We have people turning to Government when all they really need is Christ.
My husband shared with me last night that our retirement fund is exactly HALF of what it was just three months ago. Fortunately the price of gas is also half of what it was a few months ago…but we can’t retire on our gasoline savings, can we?
The economy in America is teetering. You might compare it to a glorious house stuffed with gold and diamonds and platinum napkin rings. Lots of luxurious “must-have” items fill every room of this house called American Dream. The closets are so full of the latest fashions that it’s hard to shut the doors. The view out of this house used to be filled with crystal clear waters, sugar sand beaches and lush tropical foliage. Today a huge cloud bank is building off-shore, and the once-smooth waves are eroding the beach. But there’s a bigger problem. This Dream house is situated on prime, not-yet-paid-for real estate on the beach. And though the house looks pretty solid from the outside, it wasn’t built on a rock. (you know where this is going, right?) This Dream house has been built on a foundation of sand. Oh, it looks good. But what happens when the storm comes?
You and I live in this house. We are the ones who have built it. We have bought into the American “Buy More” dream where he who has the most stuff wins the most status, the most security, the most success. Those of us who have a credit card or a car payment or a mortgage built this house on shifting sand. Everything is smooth sailing as long as we keep making payments. We can keep using our cards to satisfy our desires, but what happens if we lose our jobs and are unable to make those payments? What if we get sick and are unable to work?
We’ve been like hamsters running on borrowed time, and now, as a country, we are on the brink of paying for our sin of greed. God has provided so richly for us, and how have we responded? By never being satisfied. Personally, I can say that I have been like the rich man who got so much stuff that it would no longer fit in his storehouses. Jesus warned us to be on our guard against greed in Luke 12:
Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’
“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
How is this applicable to me? Well, how’s this for fresh honesty: my closets are so full of stuff we are storing that I have considered renting out a storage unit. If we were to sell this home and buy a smaller one, we would first have to get rid of much of our furniture because it all would not fit in anything smaller. Every time we have moved, we have moved “up” to a bigger home even though there are only three of us. Why? Because we could. So…have we been wise? Or have we been foolish?
This is a tough message to swallow. My husband and I were up in the wee hours last night discussing our lifestyle and trying to figure out how we have managed to become so undisciplined in matters of finance. We began reading Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace workbook, and God has brought us on the same page. We prayed and felt that the crisis facing our country isn’t just about the corporations and the banking industry. It’s about us. It’s about how we view our wealth, how we acquire it, and how we use it.
So imagine our surprise when today’s message at church was exactly what we were discussing! Our pastor said that he believed that God in his providence meant for this exact message to be preached to the congregation today. The entire topic was about wealth and contained explicit, some would say prophetic, warnings, about the dangers of putting your trust in wealth rather than in God.
From James 5 (The Message):
And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment.
All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it.
When the “crash comes upon” us? That sounds pretty much like what’s happening in today’s stock market. It’s what happens when we spend our money before we’ve earned it…it’s what happens when we are slaves to our lenders.
The King James version is so poetic. I like comparing translations of tough passages because it helps me get a handle on the meaning of these precious words:
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
Before we slap each other around and walk around feeling dreadfully guilty, let’s dig deep and discern what God is telling us in these verses.
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
We who are wealthy (and, since Americans have 70% of the entire world’s wealth, that would put all of us in that category. The poorest of the poor in America are vastly more wealthy than the poor folks in Haiti who live in the dump) are warned that misery is coming.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Our wealth is corrupted. The Greek word translated “corrupted” also means “to be destroyed, to become rotten.” The term brings to mind the fleeting nature of wealth. Our rocky economy built on credit is a great example of wealth just ripe for destruction. The bigwigs at those failed banks took huge bonuses even though they were the ones responsible for risky and possibly illegal behavior. That is rotten, destructive, and corrupt!
But before I throw stones that those bigwigs, I need to take a hard look at my own financial practices. Was it foolish to lease a new car just because I could? Yes. It was foolish and rotten. Why rotten? Well, if we assume my lease is for $500 a month (it’s not), I would basically be shelling out $6000 for my own selfish desires instead of using it for the Kingdom. In fact, through Samaritan’s Purse, $6000 would feed thirteen hungry babies every week of one full year. With just $1500 more, Samaritan’s Purse can build a 500 square foot house for a destitute family…a family that right now, as I write this, is sitting in a shack.
I’m looking at my life, and I don’t like what I’m seeing.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire
The Greek word for “cankered” is katioō, and it means to be covered over with rust. It makes me think of the images I’ve seen of artifacts from the Titanic and other shipwrecks. Those fine candlesticks are worthless lying at the bottom of the ocean, covered with rust and tarnish beyond repair. The word for “the rust of them” is ios, and this word can also mean poison — the kind of poison that men give to each other with the intent of injury. Putting this all together, I see that our rusted, misused treasure (stuff) is actually poisonous. My misapplication of the wealth God has given me is directly taking away from — injuring — someone God has purposed that I help. This is a testimony against me. In a court of law, I would be guilty. (I have to say, I am really feeling the check in my spirit here. This is one of those times that I am eternally grateful that Jesus paid the penalty for my sin as I become more and more aware of it!) Sitting here now, thinking about it, does make my face burn. Why? Because I’ve done a great deal of talking and writing the talk, but from the outside looking in, I’m learning I have a long way to go before I’m actually walking the walk.
Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days
The Greek is thēsaurizō, and it means to “accumulate riches.” While my bank account and retirement account may not look like they are accumulating, the stuff-o-meter is off the charts. Furniture. Shoes. Jewelry. Cooking gadgets I’ll never use. Organizing bins that collect dust in the garage. A bicycle that hasn’t been ridden in who knows how long. Clothes. Make-up. Things I didn’t need to buy but justified having anyway.
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton
Tryphaō is Greek for living the good, luxurious, soft life. It’s what those commercials on TV try to sell us, isn’t it? It’s all about living the life of luxury. Luxurious accommodations in ritzy hotels…luxurious cars…luxurious carpets…luxurious furnishings. The luxury bug is so entrenched in American lives that we don’t even notice it until it’s gone. We take our electricity and running water for granted, but a busted water main that sends us into a Boil Water advisory quickly reminds us of the luxury we have in clean drinking water. Water pipes that bring us fresh water on demand…sanitary bathrooms…computers…telephones…the list goes on and on! We Americans are up to our necks in luxury and don’t even realize it.
Spatalaō is Greek for wanton. It is a verb that means giving yourself over to pleasure. We get whatever we want whenever we want, whether we can afford it or not. My husband and I were spatalao when we bought — on credit — our first television set. You’d think one would be enough, right? Well, over thirteen years of marriage we have somehow managed to move from one to (count them) five…six if you include a portable one for the car. Is that really necessary? No, it’s not. It’s spatalao.
ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter
Picture a calf. Now picture it nursing. The Greek word trephō is the word used here for “nourished,” and it literally means to take nourishment through feeding or suckling. James is telling us that our lifestyle is such that we satisfy our heart’s desires just as a calf satisfies its hunger, only we do so by buying up more and more stuff. We are trying to fill up empty places in our hearts with material things, and the more luxurious they are, the more secure we feel. We get our security from these things we buy just as a calf gets security from suckling its mom. But this security is false. Just ask the fattened calf being led to the slaughter about security!
All of this is not to say that we ought to feel guilty about being wealthy. Rather, it should be a warning to us. Jesus told us to guard ourselves from all kinds of greed. As a nation, we have not guarded against greed, and our storehouses are in the process of being trashed. God is Just, and there are natural consequences for sinful behavior.
So what’s the right thing to do? Paul wrote sage advice in 1 Timothy 6 on how to view wealth, how to acquire it, and how to spend it:
Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
I want to experience this “true life.” I want to be so fully committed to God that I become immune to the pesky worldly dissatisfaction. Instead, I realize that I’ve been caught in the middle between living for God alone and living for my own pleasure. I’ve bought into the idea that more is better. Casting Crowns has a song out that really illustrates the way I’ve been living — perhaps it fits your life, as well:
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
But I praise God that I am not STUCK in the middle! I am so thankful that God is faithful and just and, above all, merciful. My heart is in the right place — I don’t want my behavior to thwart God’s dreams for his people. I want His dreams for me to be My dreams for me.
I can’t wave a magic wand and make everyone else in America wise up financially. I have no control over bank executives and legislators who run off with cash, cheat, and steal. But I CAN change my own behavior. I can move myself out of that Dream house built on shifting sands. I can fix MY economy, with God’s help, and in the process I’ll be freeing up His dreams for my life and for the lives of others.
I’ve been getting pounds and pounds of catalogs in the mail these days advertising everything from Christmas trees to fuzzy socks and fake rocks. My email is flooded with ads urging me to “beat the rush” and snatch up various merchandise currently offered at unbeatable deals. Of course, all these deals are “the lowest price of the season.”
I also receive daily emails from the American Family Association. Many of these emails are a sincere effort to mobilize Christians to stand up for Christ in today’s culture. They organize boycotts against companies that advertise in “alternative lifestyle” magazines and websites. I salute the organization for its stand on many issues.
One of AFA’s drives is an effort to make sure that businesses and organizations in America do not take the word “Christmas” out of holiday celebrations. They rallied their supporters to contact Home Depot after it was discovered that their company website mentioned “holidays” and “Hanukkah” but not “Christmas.” After receiving many phone calls and emails from AFA supporters, Home Depot released this statement:
…The Home Depot has not censored Christmas. The Home Depot has and will continue to include the word “Christmas” in a variety of communication efforts, including advertising, store banners, our Web site and point of purchase displays near such items as Christmas trees.
We also use the word “holiday” in our outreach to customers, as many of our store displays and other marketing efforts cover more than one holiday from Thanksgiving to New Year’s and stay in place throughout the entire holiday season from November through January.
With that said, we are adjusting our Web site to make “Christmas” more prominent and to make our site more aligned with our advertising and point-of-sale in-store signage. Customers will start seeing the adjustments later this week.
AFA was pleased with this change in policy and encouraged its supporters to contact Home Depot to thank them for their willingness to keep “Christmas” on their website and in their stores.
As I read the statement from Home Depot, I began to squirm. A thought popped into my head:
Why should Christians care whether or not the word ‘Christmas’ is used in advertising and other promotional materials?
I’ve been pondering this thought for several weeks now, turning it over in my mind. The answer I’ve concluded goes against the mainstream Christian culture, but I believe that is because the mainstream Christian culture has bought into a fake Christmas hook, line and sinker.
Think about it. Why is it that we Christians who actually “own” the meaning of Christmas allow the mainstream American “Buy More” culture to permeate our celebrations? Many well-meaning Christians go into debt in order to buy bigger and better stuff for their children, for their families, and for their friends. In fact, Americans spend $450,000,000,000 (that’s $450 Billion!) on Christmas every single year.
Say what?
450 Billion Big Ones is spent in America every single year on Christmas. Don’t get me wrong…we celebrate Christmas with our credit cards just as much — or more — as the Jones’ next door. And last year during the holiday season I ended up with a three-month-long headache that was the result of stress and anxiety. It struck me the other day that Jesus does not want us to be so preoccupied with the “stuff” of the season. The real “stuff” that he is interested in has to do with putting our treasure in heaven.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
Romans 12
If I take those verses from Romans 12 and apply them to my life during the Christmas season, I see that I have completely and totally copied the behavior and customs of this world. I have bought the lie…the lie that says that the more money you spend on your kids, the more they will know how much you love them. I have swallowed the lie that tells me that my family won’t know I love them unless I spend oodles of cash on them buying stuff that they don’t really need. Somehow I have allowed myself to link LOVE with STUFF…and that is ridiculous.
Think about it.
What does a carpet display at Home Depot have to do with Jesus? He walked on unpaved, dusty roads and undoubtedly had dirty feet! He wasn’t exactly born in the Ritz but in a stable filled with musty, earthy animal scents. Mary didn’t dress him in purple robes from BabyGap but in swaddling cloths (although I’m sure she probably would have if she’d been able!).
How on earth have we Christians come to equate presents under the tree with the person of Jesus Christ? Take a look at these advertising slogans and see how many of them you know by heart. How many of them do you know better than you know God’s word?
- Don’t leave home without it. (American Express)
- Reach out and touch someone. (AT&T)
- The ultimate driving machine. (BMW)
- The King of beers. (Bud)
- Have it your way. (Burger King)
- M’m M’m good. (Campbell’s soup)
- Cooks who know trust….(Crisco)
- It keeps going, and going, and going… (Energizer)
- Quality is Job 1 (Ford)
- Because you’re worth it (L’oreal)
- Just do it (Nike)
- The un-cola (Seven-up)
- Who wears short shorts? (Nair)
My favorite ornament is a “gift” that my daughter made for us several years ago. It is hand-made out of typing paper to resemble a child’s version of a present. On the inside of the present is one word: Jesus. We place this present under the tree every year. That is what I’m focusing on this Christmas: getting back to the heart of the season, which is gratitude to God for giving me the ultimate gift in Christ.
I’m not trying to be Scrooge here. I am honestly seeking to understand why I’ve bought into the lies — and I am horrified to think of what my actions are teaching my daughter about what it is that I really treasure.
That’s why I’m joining the Advent Conspiracy.
I will do my best to give Presence, not just presents that are here today and tomorrow are forgotten.
In the coming days, I will post some non-gift ideas for ways to celebrate the special Christmas season or ways to celebrate by spending money on those who have nothing. The first idea is this:
Coupon Book
This gift has been a favorite of my daughter’s each year that I have done it…and on the few years I haven’t made the time to make it, she’s asked where it was! The coupon books contains coupons for my time or for special events. Some items have included:
- Eat dessert first (this was a favorite one!)
- Skip a shower
- Picnic with mom in the park
- Mommy manicure
- Ice cream scoop at Baskin Robbins
- Skip a school assignment in our homeschool
The coupons are redeemed at any time during the year. I have several of each item, and she can use them whenever she wants. I’ve found that she likes to keep them saved up for special occasions.
This year I plan to make a coupon book for her…but I also will make one for my husband (with different coupons, of course!)
As He often does, God is conspiring all sorts of things to lead my mind in this direction. I first heard of The Advent Conspiracy on a friend’s Facebook page, and somehow it stuck in my brain. Several weeks later I checked into it and WOW! I felt as if that sword of the spirit was smiting me all the way to my marrow. Then this weekend my husband downloaded an album from a group I’d never heard of before called Monk and Neagle – and I heard this song:
Whereas last year I would have cared very much that Home Depot or Target or JC Penny or Macy’s omitted the word “Christmas” from their holiday circulars…God is working on me, people. I can honestly say today that I.don’t.care. In fact, I would rather see Christ REMOVED from the holiday spending orgy because the xBox 360 and the latest and greatest computer do not reflect the person of Jesus Christ. Those things are of THIS world and are slowly but surely stripping away all that is holy about the miracle of Christmas. I don’t want to pass by the truly needy for the twenty-first time in my rush to buy the Next Big Thing.
I am definitely still a work in progress, and so is this topic. Stay tuned for more…
With the economic crisis looming, I have sometimes stopped to wonder what it would be like to live through another Great Depression. I remember my teachers in school assuring us that our economic gurus would never allow something like that to happen ever again — yet here we are, watching our representatives and senators working night and day through an emergency session to try to prevent a collapse of not just Wall Street, but also of Main Street.
It is tempting to allow fear to take over, obsessing over the “what-ifs.” God knew these kinds of things would happen, and he’s already given us very sound financial advice. 1 Timothy 6 has a couple of gems for us to examine:
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
And another gem:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Many of us are “rich in this present world.” We live in houses or apartments, we drive cars, we have enough food to eat. But we also put our hope in wealth, don’t we? I’m just as guilty of this as the next person. I assume that my husband will bring home a paycheck and that our bank balance has enough for us to pay for our food.
It is time to actively put my hope in God, who is the source of that paycheck and who richly provides us with everything we need. Why should we panic? If the market falls, God will provide.
I have friends who recently went from a 2-income household to a 1-income household so the mom could stay home with the children. She likes to say that they are FROG-ging it. That’s Fully Relying On God for everything.
If nothing else, this awareness of the fragility of our economic structure has made me look more closely at my own spending habits and at God’s guidelines. I’ve found two great websites that I am exploring, looking for ways to change my own way of thinking. Perhaps they will be helpful to you, as well:
Dave Ramsey is all about getting out from under debt. Here he outlines why our market is in crisis mode and what could be done to fix it.
I also came across a blog about ten financial Biblical principles that I’m slowly reading, trying to digest. I think my next several blogs will be in this realm as I seek God’s will for my life. And I thank Him for examining my heart in this way. I don’t want to be the kind of person who runs after more and more stuff. I want to be content!
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”[a] So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
Hebrews 13:5-6
Since I used to live in the Sunshine State, I know at least a little about what I speak. I lived on the Atlantic side of Florida in what’s known as the First Coast. Our suburb was separated from the city by a three mile bridge. My husband’s twenty mile commute sometimes took over ninety minutes, one way. If there was an accident or construction on the bridge, he had to drive on a loop completely around the other side of the city to get home. Needless to say, he spent many so many hours on the road getting to and from work that we joked he should buy stock in Exxon.
This summer we took a vacation to beautiful Destin, along with about a zillion other people who all decided to arrive — and leave — at the same time we did. A full one-third of our drive time took place in…you guessed it…Florida. Bumper to bumper traffic on roads built eons ago led to much aggravation and even pollution as we sat in our car and poked the last fifty miles at less than twenty miles an hour.
We’ve spent our share of time on America’s roadways. We’ve had three cross-country moves, all on interstate highways. There are some stretches of highways (I-45, for example, in Houston) that have been under construction as long as I have been alive! How can that be, when tollroads open up so much faster? I think the answer lies in government red tape.
That is where Governor Huckabee comes in! Listen, Florida voters! Tomorrow you have the chance to vote for THE conservative candidate, whose record in Arkansas shows an ability to accomplish things that the “status quo” said was impossible:
Governor Huckabee said,
“I can’t part the Red Sea, but I do believe I can part the red tape.”
In the case of roads, or “infrastructure,” Governor Huckabee is the only candidate with a plan to improve them. Take it from someone who used to bounce around in her grandfather’s truck on truly deplorable Arkansas roads…Governor Huckabee did indeed “part the red tape” in Arkansas and led the way towards turning some of the “worst roads in the nation” to some of the best.
Huckabee first mentioned roadways in the Florida debate:
This nation’s infrastructure is falling apart. And if we built those lanes of highways — with American labor, American steel, American concrete – I believe it would do more to stimulate the economy.
And the reason I say that is because when we were going through a recession in my state, we were in the middle of a billion-dollar highway construction program that brought about 40,000 jobs and brought a billion dollars of capital into the economy.
That’s a long-term stimulus package that I think would have more impact on the American long-term future. And it would keep social capital from being wasted, fuel wasted. A lot of people in Florida sit around in traffic every day, never getting to their kids’ dance recitals or soccer games because they’re stuck in traffic, and we’ve done nothing about it.
–Governor Mike Huckabee
Florida Atlantic University Debate
January 24, 2008
A study conducted by Texas A&M University concluded that we spend 4.2 billion hours each year in our cars due to added length of commutes and traffic congestion. That translates to nearly 3 billion wasted gallons of gasoline each year and costs our economy 78 billion dollars, per year!
Governor Huckabee has some ideas about traffic concerns specific for Florida, ones that you voters need to consider:
Florida’s economic engine rests on moving people and freight. It has the longest coastline in the continental U.S. and many vital ports. A strong highway system is integral to moving tourists through the state in a timely manner and taking freight across the country.
There is an immediate need to expand the ports of Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville, which are enormous economic engines not only for Florida but for the entire country. Yet there are challenges ahead:
- Annual operating security costs at the Port of Miami almost quadrupled from 2001 to 2006, from about $4 to $16 million.
- The current expansion of the Panama Canal will allow for much larger tankers to come through Florida. To harness these benefits, we must enlarge the capacities of the Port of Miami, the Port of Tampa, and the Port of Jacksonville.
- The Port of Jacksonville is currently working on becoming a deepwater port and expanding to double its cargo capacity. The Port will need road/rail improvement to transport goods across the state and country.
- Miami has requested $13 million to complete dredging of the Miami River this year or next. This would complete an $86 million dredging project started in 2004 and run by the Army Corps of Engineers. Over the next 20 years, this should generate $100 million in business from ships, letting them use the river at both high and low tides. The river had not been dredged since the 1930’s.
- The Miami Harbor has requested $2 million for engineering and design for dredging the harbor.
- These are just some of the important projects that a Huckabee administration will seek to foster.
As Huckabee states on his website, building roads and improving transportation doesn’t just make things easier for the commuter. It also helps the economy. Every dollar invested in infrastructure is estimated to produce $5.70 in economic activity. Every billion invested in federal roadways results in an additional 47,500 jobs. I am no math genius by any sense of the word, but even I can figure out that building and improving things, like roads, adds jobs and stimulates the economy.
Every once in a long while, a leader comes alone with a special combination of bold ideas, creativity, and common sense. Governor Huckabee is one such leader, and I am proud to be a supporter. Is it any wonder Huckabee has such wisdom? He states quite emphatically that he is a believer; his faith defines who he is and drives his decisions. He spends time in the Word of God and allows it to sink in him and guide him as he walks his path. His current path is this one: seeking the presidency. Take a look at Proverbs 2 and what God says about seeking wisdom:
1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,3 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
Governor Huckabee does search for wisdom. You decide whether or not he’s found it. Here’s another “Huckism” for you:
We ought to be people of compassion. And being people of compassion means we deny ourselves, and our self-centeredness.
Here are some more treasures from Proverbs 2:
6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.7 He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
About the war in Iraq, Governor Huckabee said that he knows some mistakes were made, but the focus should be on the future, not on what’s behind:
In a war, whoever gives up loses. If we say that’s it, we embolden an enemy that has its intent to destroy us. They don’t care if it takes 1000 days or 1000 years.
Pulling out of Iraq would be tantamount to a loss, and Huckabee would not stand for that.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.16 It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God. [a]18 For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
Huckabee is in this race because he wants to serve a nation that seems to have lost its way.
If we are to leave a legacy for the next generation, we need to understand what kind of legacy we are losing as a result of confusing lust with love. There is something tragic about a culture that loses the capacity to express sacrificial love for another. We have abandoned that idea in exchange for ego-centered love that uses other people as vehicles for our personal satisfaction.
Who else in among the presidential candidates comes out on the side of sacrificial love?
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
Mike Huckabee has great regard for America but does so with remarkable, “big picture” wisdom:
Every single one of us as Americans need to remember that freedom did not come free. As we get on our knees tonight, thank God we live in a country where people are trying to break into, and not a country people are trying to break out of.
I have had many people tell me that they really do like and “lean toward” Governor Huckabee, but they are worried about voting for him because of his standing in this poll or that poll. They are afraid that a vote for him would be a “wasted vote.” If you find yourself in that category, think about this: why do you vote anyway? Would you jump off a cliff if everyone else told you it was the “in” thing to do? Don’t let those polls or television pundits tell you who to vote for or how to think. The ONLY vote that is wasted is the one that doesn’t follow your conscience.
This principle of “thinking for myself” hit home hard today as my daughter and I were studying The Declaration of Independence as part of our homeschool history curriculum. Thomas Jefferson penned a document that actually had no original idea in it at all. Everything in it was based on similar writings that the English people themselves came up with in their “Glorious Revolution.” Thomas Jefferson used their own words as a basis for America’s decision to break off and become its own country: the King was breaking his own laws in his dealings with the Americas, taxing them without representation, denying the colonists a trial by jury, prohibiting free trade, etc.
Governor Huckabee reminds me of Thomas Jefferson in that he takes good ideas that have been around for awhile (such as the FairTax, the 9-point border plan, support for a Human Life Amendment, and belief that investment in our infrastructure will boost our economy) and embraces them. He is an intelligent man who doesn’t think he has to re-invent the wheel. He isn’t interested in getting glory or power or wealth. His interest is in serving.
You can get a better look at Governor Huckabee, the man, by visiting www.huckisms.com. There are lots of great quotes that reveal just how intelligent, thoughtful, and effective Huckabee is as a man, a leader, and a Christ-follower.
The Lord multiplied the loaves and fishes when the crowds gathered to hear Jesus speak. He can do the same with our donations! If you are stuck on Huck, please consider donating some funds to his campaign. My goal is to raise $500 by the end of this week. Click on the word “donations” above, and I’ll get credit. Even $5 or $10 will be used in mighty, God-honoring ways.
South Carolina was lost by a mere 7700 votes. Let’s give the Goliath News Media pundits some shock-and-awe!!
I watched the debate on Fox News last night and was reminded that, like all people who walk on this earth, all those candidates are just people. Like you and me, they all make mistakes. As my dad would say, they all put their pants on one leg at a time. It’s helpful to remember that when you watch the debates and other events that showcase them. I wish they’d spend more time talking about how they’d solve problems than pointing fingers at each other’s mistakes, but that’s for a different post. Today I need to write about taxes and how they fit in with my Christian worldview.
The first thing that comes to mind is that all wealth, all money, comes from the Lord. All of it. Every means of measuring wealth that people have used through the centuries comes from God Almighty. And all of that treasure is ultimately his. It’s important to recognize that when working out what it means to be a Christian in today’s world.
The second point is that the leaders of our country have been approved by God himself. Sometimes he allows those with hardened hearts to cause events that eventually lead up to his purposes (think of Pharaoh, think of Joseph’s brothers throwing him in the well). Sometimes he places a series of strong leaders in place that quickly move his purposes and plans along. The point is, He has a plan. No primary election in any state or general election or election result will impede his plan for our nation or for each one of us. Even if we all make huge, horrendous mistakes and we end up with a president who tromps all over the Word of God and legalizes everything God says is illegal…God’s plan will prevail. The victory has already been won!
Psalm 33
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations!
A key question during the recent debates has been whether or not each candidate would raise taxes. All the Democratic candidates seek to raise them and “roll back” tax cuts that have already been granted. Ack! We are taxed enough, many people say, including me. When I went back to teaching, the meager extra income put us over into another tax bracket; the resulting taxes, and the amount of personal money I paid to equip my classroom and my students, made my net earnings almost zip. It’s extremely frustrating to work so hard, even to work two or more jobs, to try to get ahead only to have the government penalize your extra productivity.
What does our government use our taxes for? That question is the one of the century. So much waste and corruption are in place, and the tax code is so cumbersome that even the experts don’t know the law! It is not responsible stewardship of our country to take all this money from the people without an easy-to-understand accounting of where the money is being spent. Surely some of that money is being spent in ways that do benefit our country as a whole and in ways that ultimately are pleasing to God.
What did Jesus think of taxes? Let’s find out in Matthew 17:
24After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax[b]?”
25“Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?”
It’s interesting that Jesus said “kings of the earth” rather than just saying “kings.” I think he was making a distinction. Let’s keep digging. The word used for “sons” in Greek is huios, which can mean descendants. So Jesus is asking Peter whether kings of the earth collect taxes from their own descendants or from strangers.
26“From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27“But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Jesus said that the King’s sons are exempt from the tax, from the law. Could it be that Christ was painting a comparison between himself as the King and the kings of the earth? The implication is that followers of the true King are no longer slaves to the law. But then what does Jesus tell Peter to do? He says “so that we may not offend them…” The word “offend” is the Greek word skandalizo which literally means to provide a stumbling block, to cause to sin, to cause one to distrust one whom he ought to obey. Jesus did not want us to give those who run our government any reason to distrust the one whom they ought to obey — God! If we do not pay our taxes, if we cheat on them or refuse to pay them, then we are giving someone else a stumbling block to Christ.
How was a fisherman who had been following Jesus everywhere able to come up with the money to pay the tax? Miraculously! The point is that he paid it. Jesus could have gone to the leaders and displayed who He was in a blinding flash of glory. He could have used his extensive knowledge to argue his way out of paying the tax, or to try to change the law. But he did not. Our Lord instead humbled himself and gave over the tax which would be used for the temple.
We in America who earn paychecks give over lots of money involuntarily — much of it is docked before we even see the check. Still others end up having to pay even more money each year when it becomes apparent that the ever-inefficient IRS didn’t take out enough money in the first place. But I think it is important to note that the Bible does not record Peter or Jesus complaining about the tax payment. Perhaps in those days it wasn’t possible for citizens to change the law, as it is in our country. We have a unique privilege to decide how much money our government gets and to demand accountability for those monies.
Which Republican candidate has the best record on taxes? I wish Huckabee had spoken more plainly in last night’s debate. Yes, he did raise taxes. But they were necessary. They money raised was used for the good of the people. Here are the particulars:
$500 Million Total Net Increase in Taxes, Adjusted for Inflation
$5.2 Billion Increase in Spending
When you look closely at those numbers, you can see that although spending increased over 5 billion dollars, there was only a $500 million net total increase in taxes. That is a good sign! Huckabee was under a court order to change the way public schools were funded so that they would be more equitable. He did so by raising taxes, and in the process increased student performance state-wide. Roads were built and improved. Some might not know that Arkansas state law requires a balanced budget. So he was faced with a budget shortfall, a court order for funding the schools, repairs for pothhole-filled roads, and rising health care costs. He raised some taxes but then cut them back when the needed items were paid for. From his website:
- Governor Huckabee is a fiscal conservative who cut taxes almost 100 times in the state of Arkansas.
- He doubled the standard deduction and the child care credit
- Eliminated the marriage penalty
- Repealed capital gains taxes for home sales
- Lowered the capital gains rate
- Expanded the homestead exemption
- Set up tax-free savings accounts for medical care and college tuition.
The fact is that when Governor Huckabee began in office, the tax rate was 1% for the poorest taxpayers and 7 percent for the richest – the tax rates remained exactly the same when he left the governor’s office 11 years later. The sales tax only went up 1 penny in 10 ½ years and the gas tax 3 cents per gallon.
From FactCheck.org on Huckabee’s fiscal record:
It’s worth noting, too, that Huckabee, despite facing a $200 million shortfall in 2002, ended his term with a surplus of $844.5 million. A billion dollar turnaround is, we think, a noteworthy accomplishment.
Relying on someone who pledges to do nothing but “cut taxes” is not feasible. Running a government costs money. What I want is a leader who will see what spending needs to be done, find the funding for it, do the job wisely, and give any surplus back to the people. That is responsible stewardship. It’s what Huckabee did in Arkansas, and I believe he would do the same for America.
My prayers go out to all the candidates, and my trust is placed not in Huckabee, nor in whoever wins the nomination, but in my God, who created the heavens, the earth, and all that is in them, including this gorgeous sunrise.
Praise be to Him!
8Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
These words from 1 Timothy 6 continue the instruction God gives those of us in America who are rich. If you are able to read this blog, then you are rich. Maybe you have two pennies in your pocket, but you are rich in education — someone somewhere gave you the incredible gift of knowing how to read, a gift that keeps on giving long after it was first given.
Today we’ll peel the onion a little more so we can find the jewels in store for us when we obey this teaching.
Command them to do good (agathoergeo)
Agathoergeo. It’s a word translated “good,” but it means more than that. It means to do well, to act rightly. The rest of the verse goes on to tell us what “acting rightly” is all about.
To be rich (plouteo) in good (kalos) deeds (ergon)
Plouteo. To have an abundance of or to be richly supplied
Kalos means many things — morally good, noble, honorable. It also means beautiful by being pure of heart. It is being precious, genuine, and useful.
Ergon. Anything accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind, or anything that is done, any work, business, or employment.
To be generous and willing to share (koinonikos)
Koinonikos is what happened after 9-11 when lines at Red Cross blood banks were overflowing. Everyone wanted to do something. There was a spirit of togetherness in our country in those weeks after that disaster. It means being ready to be sociable, ready to maintain fellowship, to make others sharers in one’s possessions, being free in giving. It’s what happens when we those of us who have “2 cloaks” (coats) give one to someone who has none. (Note to self: take clothes to Salvation Army!!)
In this way they will lay up (apothesaurizo) treasure for themselves
Storing up abundance for future use, to treasure away.
as a firm foundation (themelios) for the coming age (eis mello)
Themelios is a firm foundation. It’s also the beginnings or first principles of an institution or system of truth. The King James Version translates eis mello as “against the time to come.” The Greek word mello means to be on the point of doing or suffering something, or to have in mind or intent.
So that they may take hold of (epilambanomai) the life that is truly life (aionios zoe).
Epilambanomai is taking possession of. The image is of someone seizing something with their hands. Aionios means without end…and zoe means:
life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever
To tie up these new treasures, I see that we are commanded to
- Act rightly
- Have an abundance of morally good, beautiful, pure-of-heart works, so that everything we set our hands upon is noble, honorable, precious, genuine, and useful.
- Be generous of our possessions and have an attitude of fellowship towards others; look at our possessions as items to be shared with those who have none.
If we do these things, we are promised that we are building up our system of truth in Christ, strengthening our own faith in the process so that we will be able to stand in the face of trials or suffering. We also will grab hold of:
- understanding that eternal life is our gift (given to us through grace, not by anything we have done…but grabbing hold of it means we draw that gift into ourselves. We clutch it to our hearts as a child grasps a favorite stuffed toy or blanket. We treasure this hope as our foundation!)
- a life on this earth that is vigorous, active, real and genuine.
In the times of life when I feel empty and deflated, I need only to examine my work and my generosity. Feeling weak in faith? Dig through the closet and find some clothes to donate. Volunteer somewhere…find a place that needs hands to do some good work, and then do it excellently. Praise God for the wonder and miraculous gift of eternal life…think on that, on what it means. Treasure it. Let it roll around in my heart the way I let a Dove dark chocolate roll around on my tongue, melting its sweetness into my very being. I think this especially applies during the holiday rush. Let’s put the spotlight back on Jesus and remember…he is God’s gift to us, and it is through the Christ Child that we have that wondrous, supernatural eternal life.
