Our Economy and Our Government

There is no doubt that our economy is in serious trouble. Now, I am by no means an economist. I’m just a biblically-thinking citizen. Furthermore, our economy is in its current mess with all those real economists having done their thing; so, don’t expect me to be intimidated by your degree in economics, if you want to argue with what I have to say here.

Here are the problems that I see. Back in the 60’s women entered the workforce full-force. Like never before, women planned careers, if only as a clerk at a retail store. Thus, we had the launch of the two-income family as the dominant form. Remember, this was the “baby boomer” generation. That meant unusually large numbers of people became adults and adopted this new lifestyle. A wave of prosperity followed. As young families we had more funds available than the previous generation. And we had credit available.

Throughout my adult life, living on credit has been a way of life. We have not asked if we could afford to buy something; we asked, “can I afford the payments?” Lenders of money have worked to make sure we could “afford the payments.” Over the past 40 years, we have seen the proliferation of stores of all kinds – places to spend money, in many cases money we didn’t have to spend. Now, if you think me wrong, you should look at the bankruptcy rates of the past several years. Look at the growing amount of credit card debt the average American has carried in the past several years.

All of our earning and spending has obviously had a positive effect on the economy. We have had the means to buy stuff, so companies have had incentive to make stuff. When I was a young man, I could tell you the make, model and year of almost every car on the road. Today it's a challenge to get the make right on most of them. And the amenities available for our vehicles have exploded. And, of course, we need all these things. So, we have gone into debt to get them.

Our government likes a booming economy. It means there is a lot of money in the system – all the more to tax. And our government, over the past four decades, has spent like the proverbial “drunken sailor” just like much of the American citizenry. Elected officials keep coming up with more neat stuff they should do for us (with our money). And we keep electing them to do it.

Our federal government has manipulated the economy for many years. When the economy was struggling, they just gave it a dose of medicine: lower the interest rates. For several years, we all heard about mortgage interest rates at 30 and 40 year lows. Well, that made buying our dream home more feasible. And, just like our automobiles, the amenities available for our homes have multiplied. Of course, we have needed as many of those as we could afford (meaning, as much as we can afford the payments on). Now, all of that interest rate manipulation did stimulate the economy. The housing market was booming. That meant that furniture and appliance businesses were booming. Other related businesses prospered, too.

Not everyone has been financially irresponsible, of course. But a sizable percentage of us have lived paycheck-to-paycheck (make that paychecks-to-paychecks) with little-to-no margin in the budget. When the unexpected happens (that is, what would have been expected if we had been living in reality), we are not prepared. A large car repair bill hits us; a storm causes us to have to have a big tree cut down and hauled off; our sewer line has to be replaced; we have to pay an insurance deductible and co-pay; one of us loses his/her job – then we are in major financial trouble.

The people we send to represent us in our local, state and federal governments have depended upon an ever-expanding economy. They want to do things and figure a way to do them. Increase taxes. Add or increase a fee for something. Just print the money if you have to.

At least three violations of Scripture are attached to our current problems. Let’s look at these.
1. Jesus said: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (LK 12:15). Through my adult life, it appears that we Americans do not agree with Jesus. Our lives are very much rooted in the “abundance of [our] possessions”. It seems to be an American right. We are entitled to really nice homes, really nice cars, and really nice STUFF. On the Christian scene, we find a whole theology that supports our desire for stuff that suggests wealth. Name it; claim it; charge it!
2. Jesus said: “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (MT 6:28-33). Even in the Church, it seems to me that “seeking God’s Kingdom” is displaced by worry over what we will eat, wear, drive, where we will eat and shop for our clothes, and where we will live and vacation.

3. A Proverb says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (PR 22:7). The Apostle Paul penned these challenging words: “Owe no one anything except to love one another . . .” (RM 13:8). The Bible looks at debt as bondage or at least potential bondage. Our culture, on the other hand, has looked at it as a great blessing. “Buy now, pay later” say the rich to the poor. And many of us have not realized that we are slaves while we sit in the midst of all our stuff. Surely slaves don’t have this kind of stuff, do they?

In closing this piece, I will just encourage you to make wise and godly choices with the resources God has given you. It is time to make debt-free living a real goal. It is time to assess our values and priorities. How different are they from “the pagans”? How should they be different. It is time to seek God’s Kingdom as our real and highest priority. I believe that very tough economic times are ahead of us, not just in spite of the current administration’s spending frenzy, but actually because of it.