The world faces the greatest economic crisis that has been experienced in generations. What is the cause? Who is to blame?
Greed is defined as the excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves. Greed is the foundation stone of this economic crisis. I hear from the mainstream media that the greed of Wall Street is to blame. But is that the only source of greed?
Greed has gripped the hearts of Wall Street certainly. But it has also gripped the hearts of foreign nations who bought up all of our debt, as well as the many individuals who borrowed more than they could afford. We have become an entitlement society. A friend stated it well that today's youth think they are in poverty if their parents don't buy them an iPhone. We want what we want, when we want it. It's that simple!
The generations immediately following the Great Depression saved and sacrificed to have a large down-payment on a home they could afford. A common saying in our home is "Present sacrifices for future benefits". It is something we've taught our children from early on. We need to say no to our desires and be willing to wait to fulfill some of them.
Lenders certainly took advantage of people, but they would not have been successful if the people had not responded to their deceptive promises. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins. The antidote to greed is gratefulness. We need to be thankful for what we already have, instead of coveting things we don't have.
It is my prayer that the current "global economic spanking" we are experiencing would be a lesson well learned; that we would return to delayed gratification and simpler living. My fear is that the lesson will go unnoticed and ignored.
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I think this is just like any other crisis we've seen in the last 40 years. People freak out for a while, then they forget and go back to their old habits. (Maybe reading Jeremiah is rubbing off on me.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Ivan Boeske said "greed is good" many years ago, right before they nabbed him for insider trading. We can't expect people who's god is money to have any other higher authority.
Sarbanes-Oxley was supposed to prevent "creative accounting" like Enron -- instead the accountants just got more clever.
The problem is, and always will be, that most of us can't live by the simple rules in Matthew 6 -- you can't make your life longer by worrying, so let tomorrow worry about itself. God knows what you need, so seek his kingdom.
I'm not saying I've figured out how to live that way; it's just amazing that 2000 years later we haven't changed much, have we?
Shouldn't we have "evolved" into smarter people by now?
The issue that causes me the most grief is that we haven't changed our lifestyles one iota in this economic crisis. People made dramatic lifestyle changes that lasted for the next 30 years after the Great Depression. I will continue to pray that we learn a lesson from this!
ReplyDeleteOur idea of reduction is so out of ballance and our belts are so tight from overstuffing. I think a fitting analogy is the constant dieter who orders a diet coke with a grossly over endulgent meal, somehow hoping that the token retraint will make up the difference.
ReplyDeleteIf what you say is true Tom, than it will take more than what we have experienced to bring us to such a level of self restraint.
Brady
Present sacrifices for future benefits, I really like that.
ReplyDeleteHow much if any do you think abortion plays a factor in our current "crisis"?
I read something in Times where they were listing people and groups that were to blame. They listed a lot of people that I don't know, but they also listed consumers, which is probably accurate, Bill Clinton, and George Bush. I don't know your thoughts on Bush, but it was kind of humorous what they put. It was something along the lines of yes Bush tried to put regulations on Fannie Mae and other things, he tried to stop this, but simply because it happened on his watch, because he was there he's partially to blame. If I remember correctly, they didn't blame themselves. Perhaps he is in part to blame, but what I hear in their words is something like, yeah he was tied up and gagged in the corner but it's his fault the house was robbed. Just my little rant, if ya don't agree I completely understand.
This "crisis" can be looked at another way: as just a hiccup, burp, or bump as the world as a global economy evolves into greater co-existence and learns to regulate itself for the betterment of mankind. All necessary due to a God who has for all intents and purposes, vanished.
ReplyDeleteIf people's hearts don't change their lifestyle is not going to change. Reading somewhere about revival, how bars closed down and jails were empty, I realized that is what we really need, true heart change.
ReplyDeleteBill, God has certainly not abandoned us. Rather, we have abandoned Him. This is one more step away from the rule of God over our lives. We have free will. We can live with Him or without Him. But we have the ability to live outside of His protection and wisdom.
ReplyDeleteThere are blessings when we follow His way, and curses when we don't. I believe we are experiencing the curses of leading lives without Him in the center.
This could be a burp or hiccup in the global economy. But I believe it is the end result of greed and covetousness on the part of Democrats and Republicans, poor and rich, Americans and Internationals, Christians and non-Christian. We are ALL to blame.
Paul the apostle wrote "So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world". We must all put to death our greed if we are ever going to learn our lesson well!
Tom I gotta ask how ya posted the music playlist down at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteSomeone else had one years ago and I really liked it. All you have to do is click on "Create Your Own Playlist" and it will take you to Playlist. You will have to create your own free account and then start searching for music. Once you finish your playlist, it will publish the playlist in HTML format and then you add it to your gadget menu. It's quite simple.
ReplyDeleteIf I may, I would like to offer an alternative slant on the whole "Greed", "Global market", "Lay the blame on somebody/something" cycle that this generation is experiencing.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would like to set up a little background to explain why we should consider a different point of view.
Most people start with the problems and work backward to the one reason for that problem, and effectively ignoring how that problem is linked to humanity as a whole; this causes us to become religious, but never makes a way to remove the cause of the problem.
This world is facing some common problems in most areas, and these problems need a solution that does not only lay blame, but also provides detailed instructions to free our self from these problems. I believe greed is a problem, as well as fear (fear being more important than greed in our investigation of a solution), and there are many other problems to consider; however, fear and greed are simply symptoms of a much bigger, and more important problem.
At this point, let me first describe the overall problem before I name it as we can maybe all recognize some of the symptoms, but each have our own name for it.
This global problem that is as real for each of us personally as it is for the whole world is hard to see clearly; it is like a cancer working under the surface and out of sight, but causing problems all over the world that are hard to link or explain; I am not talking about another "conspiracy theory", I am talking about problems that are linked and common around the world because people are around the world.
Describing this over-all condition would paint a picture that looks like this: A person has personal problems to face (growing, learning, eating, marrying, surviving), and they have problems that show up from unknown sources (loss of a job, high prices, unfair treatment, random accidents, health problems, under payed/devalued).
Now the personal problems (as hard as they are to face) are a whole lot easier than the known problems to face because they have personal explanations and solutions. But the problems from unknown sources are harder to fix because their source is not always known, and when it is known, the problem is backed by power that is beyond our personal capacity to combat.
These problems from outside use our personal weaknesses (greed) against us, but also come at us from many angles at once with overwhelming power on every front. When we want a solution, we get lies; when we try to get truth, we get more lies; when we try to take short cuts we get caught, when we try to do right, we get punished anyway; when we rely on others to do right for us, we get cheated.
Yes we have greed issues to deal with in this world, but greed is not just coming up from inside of us, it is repackaged and sold, forced, injected into us. Many people have had this, and other problems repackaged, and given to them in the form of something that is actually good, something that should be had by all (health, prosperity, justice, equality, hope, joy); all things bad have, at one time or other, been repackaged as something good, and delivered to somebody in desperate need of something good.
And when this poison is swallowed and the effects are experienced, people do not just lose hope in a specific solution, they lose hope of finding a solution, and don't believe in the solution when they find it. people mostly see two choices, follow their heart and do something bad confused as good or cut out the good with the bad, either way they get kicked in the heart every time.
And this makes them hate a message that greed is bad because they do not believe there is good, so bad is the best they know, and can not be compared to anything because all seems relative.
So what is this? Another conspiracy theory? No, and yes.
We all see the stealing going on on Wall street, but that is just another symptom like greed; we are being robbed blind in much more important ways than this. There is a force that is sucking life out of this world from every available source through lies, manipulation, and even telling the truth.
People get confused by their environment, and are generally weak, so they have a hard time believing that a global conspiracy could exist when they look at it from the top down; but when they see corruption from the bottom up, on a local or national level, they make accusations which could only add up to a conspiracy. So how is this contradiction to be reconciled? Is there a conspiracy or not?
It is much like the scientific study of the human body; life is an ethereal, spiritual thing that scientists can not "put their finger on", but they can not fully explain the body from a totally physical prospective either.
They are confounded with or without the spiritual point of view.
Same with or without a "conspiracy theory" (world view), people are at a loss for adequate explanations for most everything.
I say all this (sorry this is so long) because I don't want people to focus on symptoms like greed and miss the bigger picture.
Yes people gamble in the biggest casino in the country over there on wall street because they are greedy, but people are not just throwing away money through greediness, it is being ripped out of their hands, and most of the time they are not even trying to stop the theft because they are confused, deceived, and powerless.
And this force that is sucking life out of our lives and this world, the force that is to hard to imagine, to unbelievable to comprehend, is getting away with this for two main reasons: One reason is easy to see, the reason is that this force can not be seen; the other reason is Christians (including those who call them self Christians, but do not know what they are talking about) are "dropping the ball" all over the court (world), and have been for a long time.
If we want to lay blame for the present state of the world, I believe it should rest squarely on our shoulders as representatives of a real, live, breathing God, who have traded personal relationships with God for religion. We have debated for many years what causes our problems; idolatry? lust? greed? envy?; which problem is bigger? which one is harder to deal with? which one is more hated by God? which one can we successfully fight?
And then we devise our personal religions to try to stamp out the worst problems first, always working backward from the symptoms, like a Doctor, lawmaker, economist, policemen, U.N. soldier, judge/jury/executioner.
We have a church on this corner that says greed is bad, and poverty is good; we have a church on that corner that says poverty is bad and greed is not an issue; we have another church down the block that says everything is bad except more religion; and I heard about a church across town who says everything is bad, but don't worry about it, just come have a good time, and comfort is most important of all, so they have installed revolving doors, front and back, and a drive through were you can pick up coupons for ipod friendly sermon downloads.
And the other non-believers who do not call them self Christian begin to wonder if God is real or not.
But I am hear to say we can lift this burden off the shoulders of Christians by the power if Jesus and free them to stop worrying about the symptoms and go at the root of all problems by spreading unfiltered Love direct from God Himself, and pouring that Love into the lives of people personally every day until they have no more doubt in their mind or heart that God truly does exist and is better than they could have ever imagined.
I know I don't have it all figured out, so please let me know what you think of what I had to say here? ...and sorry this was so long.
Enoch,
ReplyDeleteI questioned whether or not I would actually publish your comment. Not because I disagreed with it, but because it was rather long and rambling. I decided to publish it after all because of your sincerity. But try to be clearer and more succinct next time.
I think I hear what you're saying. The ultimate issue is God and His son, Jesus Christ. Love will transform us. But we if we love him, we must also obey Him. He tells us in John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments". I don't believe that we will ever keep His commandments perfectly. But we must cry out to Him and ask Him for His grace in, and through, our weaknesses. He will then empower us to keep His words. He tells us to not be greedy. We must then strive to not be greedy. It's really quite simple.
Even though it's two months since Enoch's post I just have to say that I appreciate the wisdom shared.
ReplyDeleteSo much dark energy is swirling around us in this world. But it's really up to those of us who consider ourselves to be the true church to mitigate or somehow impact that negative atmosphere with good -- "love."
The old adage: better to light a candle than curse the darkness. :))
Steve