Saturday, October 11, 2008
BE CONFIDENT! (Bumped)
Any body out there feeling depressed? - Or maybe just anxious? - Worried or concerned about what the future holds in this time of "financial crisis?" Well, if you are not, I am pretty certain there are a lot of people who are. I am no economic expert, but the stock market drops of this past week (as opposed to the week before) seem to me to far exceed the problems in the credit market. We appear to be in a full-fledged panic, although Friday did show signs of the panic easing, only time will tell.
Under such circumstances, I think it reasonable to suspend normal comic, and sermon, blogging for this weekend and turn my attention to matters at hand.
My business, along with the business of my clients, continues to move unaltered. The work comes, the money flows, the bills are paid. Everybody is sort of looking over their shoulder waiting for the other shoe to drop, but no shoe is dropping. There is a huge problem in the credit market, but good steps have been taken to resolve it, and the non-financial sectors of our economy continue to hum along. Money, for those that rely heavily on credit, may get a little tight for the next few months, but from my perspective we are far from any sort of major economic "depression."
I spent a good deal of yesterday, Friday, talking to people that were simply seeking reassurance. Some of them were acting like the proverbial headless chicken, thinking they HAD to do something before it all caved in on them. Others were simply "hunkered down" counting pennies, making sure they had enough to eat this weekend, neglecting the fact they were sitting in a comfortable house with 4 televisions, 2 cars, and enough "stuff" to see to their needs for a couple of years. Others were in some sort of quivering suspension, and some were just worried and depressed.
Of course, I could, and did to some extent, argue that things are not quite as bad as they may seem. But I am no economic expert - I only know the evidence in my face so I will leave that argument to people better suited than myself.
But I am thinking about what it means to be a Christian in a time like this. I think there are three really important lessons.
REMEMBER THE SOURCE OF OUR HOPE
Do you remember the old hymn, "The Solid Rock?" It opens:
and the chorus reads:
Part of me is very sad that this is something that even needs to be said. This should be one of the basic lessons of our faith - "Being a Christian 101" if you will. Our hope lies not in our job, our investments, our government..., - but in our Lord!
Scripture is full of references to the source of our hope. Sometimes even heroes like Elijah thought hope was lost, and yet God gave them hope (I Kings 19:1-21). King David, wealthy beyond imagination, in control of the nation, turns again and again to the Lord as the source of his hope (Psalm 39:6-7), he admonishes himself to overcome his despair with hope in the Lord (Psalm 42:5). The Pslamist admonishes us that our "help comes from the Lord." (Psalm 121:1-8)
But it was Christ Himself that put it best in the Sermon on the Mount: (Matthew 6:19-34)
I have been unemployed for a period measured in years. I have been many months in a situation where I did not know today if I would be able to eat tomorrow, or pay the rent on the first. And yet, each meal appeared, each rent check was written. And now, here I am - PROSPEROUS! By the blessings of God, I have all that I could want, much that I do not need, and more than enough for today.
My hope is in the God that has supplied such blessing, not in the blessing itself. I hope and pray that such is true for every Christian.
HELP THOSE THAT ARE TRULY IN CRISIS
While I do not think things are truly as bad as the common public perception, there are problems. There are people being laid off in the financial sectors. There are people that will be in hard times. We are called to minister to them.
This past summer, it was the a genuine surprise for my wife and I to unexpectedly find the retired pastor and his wife of the church my father attended until his death, on the cruise with us. We had a marvelous dinner together and spent a significant portion of it reminiscing about the ministry my father had in that church for the unemployed. It was somewhat unique.
Dad did occasionally refer those in dire financial straights to the Deacons for direct financial aid, but he purposefully sought to keep his flock a bit hungry, as a motivator. His true ministry was twofold - he provided networking to people looking for opportunities and he kept them confident. He said it all the time, "When you don't have a job, your job is to find a job, and you should work at it just as hard."
We simply must minister to those that find themselves in genuine strife right now. I would like to challenge us to think creatively about that. Simply spreading money around will not solve the issues they face. Yes, in some instances it may be necessary, but even then, it is not the solution. If you think about it, the ministry we offer to the unemployed and broke should not be that different from the ministry we offer to the employed and worried.
If our hope lies in Christ and and we are ministering in Christ's name, then HOPE is what we need to bring to the table - not money, not food - HOPE. Money and food are poor substitutes. Which brings me to my third point.
IT IS OUR DUTY TO EXPRESS OUR HOPE AND TO BE CONFIDENT
On a purely economic basis, there is one thing I know for certain. If we sit around and worry about a depression - we will make one. It is just that simple. If we approach the admitted and obvious difficulties with an attitude of "the sky is falling," then the sky will fall. We will fail to engage in commerce - our fear will rule our behavior, our behavior will fail to do what is needed to overcome the difficulty and the difficulty will turn into impossibility.
As it is our ministry to offer hope to those that are in dire straights, it is also our ministry to offer hope to those that are experiencing "concern" - ranging from mere anxiousness to "let's sell it all and hoard cash." Offering such hope both spreads the gospel AND bolsters the economy. There are concrete ways to to this too.
Counter worry by pointing out the good. Family members contacted me yesterday very concerned that the portfolio that supports my mother had lost a third of its value. To which I quickly responded that there remained more than enough to care for her for the projected remainder of her life and that in that time, significant recovery was probable.
I think you will find that is true for most of us. Again, I acknowledge that there are those that will find themselves in truly hard times. But most of us find ourselves with far more than we need, and the losses we experience are either on paper only, or will only be in the "extras" - like maybe next summer's vacation is a car trip instead of flying to wherever. Hardly the end of the world.
Spread the good news. I mean both the good news of Jesus Christ as the source of our hope, but also the good news that MOST of our economy still functions quite well, thank you very much. I have made a point as I traveled from client to client in the last two weeks to ask each of them how their business was, and as much as possible, without revealing company private information tell them that the rest of my clients were reporting pretty much the same as they were - business as usual.
Everybody just assumed they were "the lucky ones." It was funny how when I spread that news, people's moods lightened.
Yes, we should counter the worry people have by pointing out the good that remains, but more, we need to be conscious about telling as many people as we can about the good we are seeing.
Engage in commerce. Most people run through money like it was water on the weekends. Home projects, time for normal shopping, all of it means we spend mostly on the weekends. Certainly do not spend outside your means, but don't fail to spend just because you are "concerned." If your boss has not come to you and said "We're in trouble," you can safely assume that next week's paycheck will be there to pay the bill that you incur today.
If need need to buy new clothes this weekend, do so. Fixing up the garage? - go for it! The economy really is working, act like it.
Go have some fun. Nothing spreads hope and confidence like going out and having a good time. I am not encouraging anyone to go beyond their means here, but don't change your plans for this weekend because you might run out of money. Don't fail to make plans for the same reasons. Why not go to dinner and a movie this weekend (I strongly recommend Appaloosa) instead of cook at home and watch TV. It will do you a lot of good and it will set an example. In fact, call some friends and take them with you!
And when you feel your hope ebbing, find a quiet place for just a minute - read some of the scriptures I discussed above, or some of your own favorites. Quiet your heart just a bit and look towards the God who supplies all. Don't ask Him for money, or house payments - ask Him simply for the confidence to know that He will provide.
Then go act like He has, because He will.
UPDATE: Mark Daniels proves that great minds think alike. Read it all.
Technorati Tags:economy, hope, confidence
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
Under such circumstances, I think it reasonable to suspend normal comic, and sermon, blogging for this weekend and turn my attention to matters at hand.
My business, along with the business of my clients, continues to move unaltered. The work comes, the money flows, the bills are paid. Everybody is sort of looking over their shoulder waiting for the other shoe to drop, but no shoe is dropping. There is a huge problem in the credit market, but good steps have been taken to resolve it, and the non-financial sectors of our economy continue to hum along. Money, for those that rely heavily on credit, may get a little tight for the next few months, but from my perspective we are far from any sort of major economic "depression."
I spent a good deal of yesterday, Friday, talking to people that were simply seeking reassurance. Some of them were acting like the proverbial headless chicken, thinking they HAD to do something before it all caved in on them. Others were simply "hunkered down" counting pennies, making sure they had enough to eat this weekend, neglecting the fact they were sitting in a comfortable house with 4 televisions, 2 cars, and enough "stuff" to see to their needs for a couple of years. Others were in some sort of quivering suspension, and some were just worried and depressed.
Of course, I could, and did to some extent, argue that things are not quite as bad as they may seem. But I am no economic expert - I only know the evidence in my face so I will leave that argument to people better suited than myself.
But I am thinking about what it means to be a Christian in a time like this. I think there are three really important lessons.
REMEMBER THE SOURCE OF OUR HOPE
Do you remember the old hymn, "The Solid Rock?" It opens:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
and the chorus reads:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
Part of me is very sad that this is something that even needs to be said. This should be one of the basic lessons of our faith - "Being a Christian 101" if you will. Our hope lies not in our job, our investments, our government..., - but in our Lord!
Scripture is full of references to the source of our hope. Sometimes even heroes like Elijah thought hope was lost, and yet God gave them hope (I Kings 19:1-21). King David, wealthy beyond imagination, in control of the nation, turns again and again to the Lord as the source of his hope (Psalm 39:6-7), he admonishes himself to overcome his despair with hope in the Lord (Psalm 42:5). The Pslamist admonishes us that our "help comes from the Lord." (Psalm 121:1-8)
But it was Christ Himself that put it best in the Sermon on the Mount: (Matthew 6:19-34)
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.As Christians, we must know that even if we really are on the precipice, and even if we do fall off that precipice, we will be fine. God has taught me this lesson - the hard way.
"The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
"For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span? And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?
"Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. [emphasis added]
I have been unemployed for a period measured in years. I have been many months in a situation where I did not know today if I would be able to eat tomorrow, or pay the rent on the first. And yet, each meal appeared, each rent check was written. And now, here I am - PROSPEROUS! By the blessings of God, I have all that I could want, much that I do not need, and more than enough for today.
My hope is in the God that has supplied such blessing, not in the blessing itself. I hope and pray that such is true for every Christian.
HELP THOSE THAT ARE TRULY IN CRISIS
While I do not think things are truly as bad as the common public perception, there are problems. There are people being laid off in the financial sectors. There are people that will be in hard times. We are called to minister to them.
This past summer, it was the a genuine surprise for my wife and I to unexpectedly find the retired pastor and his wife of the church my father attended until his death, on the cruise with us. We had a marvelous dinner together and spent a significant portion of it reminiscing about the ministry my father had in that church for the unemployed. It was somewhat unique.
Dad did occasionally refer those in dire financial straights to the Deacons for direct financial aid, but he purposefully sought to keep his flock a bit hungry, as a motivator. His true ministry was twofold - he provided networking to people looking for opportunities and he kept them confident. He said it all the time, "When you don't have a job, your job is to find a job, and you should work at it just as hard."
We simply must minister to those that find themselves in genuine strife right now. I would like to challenge us to think creatively about that. Simply spreading money around will not solve the issues they face. Yes, in some instances it may be necessary, but even then, it is not the solution. If you think about it, the ministry we offer to the unemployed and broke should not be that different from the ministry we offer to the employed and worried.
If our hope lies in Christ and and we are ministering in Christ's name, then HOPE is what we need to bring to the table - not money, not food - HOPE. Money and food are poor substitutes. Which brings me to my third point.
IT IS OUR DUTY TO EXPRESS OUR HOPE AND TO BE CONFIDENT
On a purely economic basis, there is one thing I know for certain. If we sit around and worry about a depression - we will make one. It is just that simple. If we approach the admitted and obvious difficulties with an attitude of "the sky is falling," then the sky will fall. We will fail to engage in commerce - our fear will rule our behavior, our behavior will fail to do what is needed to overcome the difficulty and the difficulty will turn into impossibility.
As it is our ministry to offer hope to those that are in dire straights, it is also our ministry to offer hope to those that are experiencing "concern" - ranging from mere anxiousness to "let's sell it all and hoard cash." Offering such hope both spreads the gospel AND bolsters the economy. There are concrete ways to to this too.
Counter worry by pointing out the good. Family members contacted me yesterday very concerned that the portfolio that supports my mother had lost a third of its value. To which I quickly responded that there remained more than enough to care for her for the projected remainder of her life and that in that time, significant recovery was probable.
I think you will find that is true for most of us. Again, I acknowledge that there are those that will find themselves in truly hard times. But most of us find ourselves with far more than we need, and the losses we experience are either on paper only, or will only be in the "extras" - like maybe next summer's vacation is a car trip instead of flying to wherever. Hardly the end of the world.
Spread the good news. I mean both the good news of Jesus Christ as the source of our hope, but also the good news that MOST of our economy still functions quite well, thank you very much. I have made a point as I traveled from client to client in the last two weeks to ask each of them how their business was, and as much as possible, without revealing company private information tell them that the rest of my clients were reporting pretty much the same as they were - business as usual.
Everybody just assumed they were "the lucky ones." It was funny how when I spread that news, people's moods lightened.
Yes, we should counter the worry people have by pointing out the good that remains, but more, we need to be conscious about telling as many people as we can about the good we are seeing.
Engage in commerce. Most people run through money like it was water on the weekends. Home projects, time for normal shopping, all of it means we spend mostly on the weekends. Certainly do not spend outside your means, but don't fail to spend just because you are "concerned." If your boss has not come to you and said "We're in trouble," you can safely assume that next week's paycheck will be there to pay the bill that you incur today.
If need need to buy new clothes this weekend, do so. Fixing up the garage? - go for it! The economy really is working, act like it.
Go have some fun. Nothing spreads hope and confidence like going out and having a good time. I am not encouraging anyone to go beyond their means here, but don't change your plans for this weekend because you might run out of money. Don't fail to make plans for the same reasons. Why not go to dinner and a movie this weekend (I strongly recommend Appaloosa) instead of cook at home and watch TV. It will do you a lot of good and it will set an example. In fact, call some friends and take them with you!
And when you feel your hope ebbing, find a quiet place for just a minute - read some of the scriptures I discussed above, or some of your own favorites. Quiet your heart just a bit and look towards the God who supplies all. Don't ask Him for money, or house payments - ask Him simply for the confidence to know that He will provide.
Then go act like He has, because He will.
UPDATE: Mark Daniels proves that great minds think alike. Read it all.
Technorati Tags:economy, hope, confidence
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
