High Priced Oil, a Struggling Economy, and Spirituality Part 1

I haven’t exactly wanted to make this known other than to my wife and a few of my closest friends, so they won’t think I am mean, rude, or crazy, but in the past few months I have been seeing the bright side of high priced oil and a stuggling economy.

First let me iterate that I hate poverty. But I also hate affluency and greed. Sometimes economies struggle because of the manipulation of governments to exploit people. Other times it is when corporations or juntas (sometimes I can’t tell the difference) impose their iron fists on people and treat them like capital instead of like human beings created in the image of God. There is a lot of that going around these days, some of it even in the United States, but for the most part, I think the American people has done this to themselves. We live in a country where we are not forced to buy or consume anything. We can be as frugal as a hermit or as materialistic as a debutante. We open credit cards and we choose not to pay them off. We choose to buy houses to big for us, and buy food that is both expensive and un-nutritious, mostly because it is not food. We choose to live in such a way that runs counter to the Christian life as it was handed down to us by the ancient church.

There is a critique amongst Protestants that the Roman Catholic Church, as a bastion of affluency during the Middle Ages, was a crippling force to the living of a pious Christianity. Bishops and Cardinals certainly did own lots of land (France is a great example) and were abusive, greedy, and materialist to no end, and that was bad, but I think it is happening right now and we are condoning it.

Churches in America, for the most part, are well provided for. They own real estate. They have savings accounts and pay staff and supply them with health insurance and housing stipends. I don’t think this is a bad thing. I have more of a problem with the congregations filled with people rolling into church with Escalades, Hummers, BMWs and Benzs (I’ve seen some Porshes, too). These vehicles are beyond justification when it comes to being a properly frugal Christian. When we pray, "give us this day, our daily bread" we can understand needing a car to get around, to go to church, and to get to work. But certainly, we cannot think that our daily bread, our provision of God, would be in the form of sparkling new and luxurious monstrosity of the giant SUV German luxury car variety.

It is time to start being prophetic. This has gone to far. Some preachers have gotten into trouble for saying that certain events in the world are the "wrath of God." I do not know the mysterious mind of God, so I will not be so presumptious to say such a thing. But I will say this: you reap what you sow.

We have been sowing greed, affluency, and luxury to the masses, and now we are paying dearly.

How does this affect our spiritual lives?

Turn in for part 2.