Tag: faith

My Favorite Economic System

I’m sure some of you thought I was crazy when I posted last week that I think capitalism, socialism and communism are all fine economic systems, depending upon the moral fabric of the people engaged in them.

Some of you think capitalism is the only way. Others think it is the ruin of the world. Most of us consider communism to be untenable, while a few believe that it is the only way to fairness for everyone. Socialism, somewhere in the middle of the two, also has proponents and adversaries.

My favorite economic system is what I would call, compassionate capitalism. Here’s where I get it from. The Bible says that people need to work to eat and that workers should be paid fair wages. The Bible says that each family must work to provide for itself, but that farmers should not harvest all of their fields, but leave some food behind for those less fortunate.

The Bible asks people to give a tenth of what they make to the church, who then is to distribute some of that to those who are truly in need. The Bible says to set up a roll for those who are in need, but only those who are truly unable to work are allowed on the list.

The New Testament Christians lived somewhat communistically, having everything in common. But it was done as one wished, not required.

The Bible repeatedly decries laziness, but also continually admonishes those who have to share with those who are poor.

A recent example in my life is this. I work about 24 hours a week, and decided to use some of that money to go to a conference several weeks ago. Unfortunately, that conference ended up being canceled due to severe weather. I did cancel my airline tickets in hopes of using them another day. However, I told the hotel, the person I was renting my car from, and the conference host organization that they could keep the money that I had already paid them, as I knew that they were suffering greatly because of the destruction the weather wrought.

That is compassionate capitalism. I work hard and get paid fair wages (sometimes a little on the low side, but that is because my husband makes plenty of money to keep our family afloat, so I can afford to get paid a little less as a way to bless those I am working for). I then spend my money to support others who are working hard. And when tragedy strikes, I am able to bless them with money that I had already planned to spend, even though I will no longer reap the benefit, sort of like the farmer who leaves behind some of the harvest for those less fortunate. I also do donate to organizations who help people during natural and human-made catastrophes.

Let us truly love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We love ourselves plenty most of the time.

If we work and spend as a way of loving others, the perfect economic system will naturally form.

Bible Defies Human Description

The past several Sundays our pastors have tried to teach us what the Bible is and where it gets its authority. And basically, I have come away with the understanding that, as humans, it is not possible to do that beyond stating the obvious – God wrote it through people and we are to obey what it says.

And I guess that makes sense. Since it was written by God’s Spirit through people, it, as an entity, is above our understanding. Yet, its teachings are simple enough that even the youngest child among us is able to understand it.

God says that His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours. And God asks us to become like little children to follow Him. So it makes sense that the Bible is above definition, yet is useful for teaching, rebuking and instructing in all righteousness.

It, as always, comes down to faith. Do you believe it? Do you plan to follow it?

As the old song goes, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Now I get it!

When I would read the Bible passage about leaving the weeds in the field with the good grain, I have to admit that I kind of wondered about it. The explanation given is that if the weeds are pulled up, the wheat amongst which the weeds are growing may also be uprooted.

(See the Bible passage, Matthew 13:24-30, here)

But if the gardeners went really slowly and were really careful, shouldn’t it be possible to uproot the weeds without pulling up the wanted plants. I’m not saying that it would be easy, but shouldn’t it be doable?

Fast forward not quite 2000 years to today.

I have been working in my garden this spring to uproot a particularly aggressive ground cover that not only likes to cover the ground, but grow over and choke out everything else in its path.

For those who know me well, I can be considered rather slow at whatever I accomplish. I like to be careful and thorough. Things often turn out well, but I have been known to be told that I am as slow as molasses in January. My response to that – I was born in January, so I guess there isn’t much I can do about it! I have learned to pick up the pace when necessary, but it is not me preferred way of operation.

So, in my usual slow, methodical way I have been carefully eradicating the beautiful but destructive ground cover from my front flower bed. And even as slow and careful as I am trying to be, I cannot even begin to tell you how many plants that were supposed to stay planted have also come out of the ground with the unwanted pest.

Now I get it!

Thank you, God, for your gentleness and patience, even when it means that you must endure weeds in your garden.

Oh, and the good news of the Gospel is that if we happen to be a weed, we can easily ask Jesus to make us into the wanted wheat simply by admitting we are a weed and accepting that he makes us wheat through his death and resurrection.

Is anyone among you sick?

Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

James 5:14-15

Many years ago, while cleaning my bathtub, I heard a sermon by Chuck Swindoll over KTIS. I have a ton of respect for him and his teaching.

In this particular sermon, he talked about how the above verses didn’t mean that we were supposed to expect healing by faith alone. He went on to explain, as best as I remember, anyway, that when these verses were written, the readers understood that James was telling them to not just pray, but to also go to the doctor.

The reasoning went like this. Pastor Swindoll described the doctors of the Jewish world as the priests (see Leviticus 13). Therefore, in the newly created Christian church, the elders were now the doctors of their community. In the Old Testament, if you suspected you were sick, you would go to the priests to find out what ailed you, and what to do about it. The priests would anoint you with oil as part of the healing process, hence, the reference in James meant that you should see a doctor as part of the healing process.

As someone who is praying for and encouraging a number of friends in pursuit of healing, I don’t know if I agree with Pastor Swindoll’s take on James 5:14-15. I have seen God heal people through prayer alone.

However, I have also seen and experienced God healing through medicine. And nowhere does the Bible say to stay away from medical treatments. God used Luke to spread the Good News through writing several books of the Bible, without requiring Luke to give up his profession as a doctor, after all.

I am believing for healing for my friends, hoping for a miracle so that they can be restored to full living immediately. I am also encouraging them as they are led to different doctors and medical treatments, praying that in all situations God’s will would be done.

Sometimes God works a miracle all by himself, sometimes he asks his people to take part.

Praying for miraculous healing and excellent medicine for you and yours!

Meek?

I just recently heard meekness defined as:

strength under control

In spite of years of Bible studies on the Sermon on the Mount I never understood what it meant to be meek. Did it mean to be a doormat? a person without an opinion? How could such people “inherit the earth?”

I mean, I know that with God all things are possible, and if He says it, then it’s true. And He likes to do things in counter-intuitive ways, often ways that are the exact opposite of our natural, human inclinations. But meek, mousy people inheriting the earth?

Now meekness being strength under great restraint, that is something I can understand. It corroborates with the following Old Testament teachings:

 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

Proverbs 15:1

Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

Proverbs 25:15

Anyone that knows me well knows that I can be quite the talker. And meekness is, unfortunately, not my signature style.

With the new year just beginning, and my birthday yesterday, I am regularly being asked what resolutions I have for this year.

I haven’t made resolutions the past few years but this year I would like to grow in meekness.

I’ve already had many opportunities to practice it, and I have to say, it is much more effective than I would have ever dreamed possible (this is where Jesus is shaking his head incredulously saying, “Oh ye of little faith”)!

I highly recommend meekness!

The next time we find ourselves in difficult situations where we really should speak up, let’s remember to be meek – strong but gentle.