By Neil Earle
It will take years for historians to sort out just how close we came to a financial meltdown in what may be remembered as Black September for the financial markets.
Is there a Christian perspective on all this?
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, There are no experts on economics, it seems, merely varying degrees of ignorance.
But one text should hit home during these days of crisis. I’m thinking of 1 Timothy 2:1-3 which reminds us to pray first of all for “kings and all those in authority.” The reason is very clear – “so we can lead a quiet and peaceful life.” If we can say that our lives haven’t been quiet and peaceful these weeks then maybe we haven’t been praying as we should. James says we have not because we ask not. Peter said, Fear God, honor the king – that’s the President, the Congress, the Treasury Secretary, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, etc., etc.
Well, thankfully, I do know of Christians who quietly, soberly offered up prayers for wisdom in a non-partisan, non-vindictive way this week. Thank God for them. When we think of “Christians and Politics” we perhaps should have 1 Timothy 2 at the very front of our minds. That, and Luke 6:46, Judge not, that you be not judged.
Oh, yes, especially that one. It’s one of Jesus’ New Testament commands.
Also, we must admit we don’t always know how to pray as we should (Romans 8:26). Our church, the Worldwide Church of God began in the Great Depression of the 1930s, so economic setbacks are not the end of the world per se. On the other hand, church members I’ve talked to say that they’d prefer stability and free course for the Gospel if we have a choice. I have to agree. Depressions are no fun.
Our local congregation was affected. We moved accounts from one bank to another in July and decided to stand pat and “trust in God and the FDIC” as rumors of 1000 banks closing hit the media. Thank God for a good financial team.
I myself was reminded of the closing chapter of the book of Judges, Judges 21. You can catch the scene in Judges 20 where the tribe of Benjamin is almost wiped out by the tribes for allowing an unbelievable atrocity, one that would give the CSI team cause to pause. The eleven tribes were self-righteously all steamed up, vowed to never marry again with Benjamites, launched a holy war and drove all but 600 of that tribe into a wilderness. Then came the pendulum effect. After pride, the pain. The rest of Israel felt bad about the outcome of the war, were really torn up that a tribe was virtually missing from Israel. A bad situation. Ugly. Then we see the cascading effect of that one decision to go to war falling downhill dangerously like a sharp and spiky rock.
The rest of Israel had vowed not to give their daughters to Benjamin. So they took counsel again, took a poll and found there was one city that hadn’t entered the pact – Jabesh-Gilead. So they burnt Jabesh and took 400 virgins to offer to the Benjaminites. Problem – there weren’t enough to go around!
Another genius idea crashes and burns. Remember the old quip, “Cheer up things could be worse, so I cheered up…and things got worse!”
Decisions, decisions. What’s next?
The tribes huddle again and come up with this semi-humorous dingbat scheme to let the Benjamite men lie in wait while the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance and sing at a tribal festival. Sort of a Sadie Hawkins Day in reverse. That’s what happened and the irate parents of the unlucky girls had to be appeased with, “What else could we do?”
The last verse of the Book of Judges says it all – “In those days there was no king in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” A cry for some regulatory oversight, perhaps?
I had an old history prof who used to repeat regularly – “Politics matters!” It does. Leading Senators have been pretty staunch through this latest crisis and one of them said, “Sometimes you’re only given a choice between bad and good.”
Yeah, I think maybe the elders of Israel felt the same way in Judges 21. Not many options except the goofball “Sadie Hawkins in reverse.”
The point is that politics does matter, and economic matters sometimes matter more. All the more reason then for us to invoke 1 Timothy 2 more regularly in our prayer meetings. Humbly, but with boldness, before the One who is the source of lasting, true wisdom.