A Christian response to the economic crisis

The Dow just finished below 9,000 points for the first time since May 21, 2003 following it’s third-biggest point drop ever. Congress just passed a major bill to bail out failing banks, and we are seeing worldwide ripple effects from what is going on here. It is safe to say that we have been faced with an economic crisis. While people scramble to hold on to their assets watching the market daily to see how their wealth might be affected, what should be the Christian response to this crisis?

I think Revelation chapter 18 gives us a pretty good idea of how we ought to live in such times. This chapter fortells the final collapse of the world market. What we are experiencing now is not the final collapse, but there are some startling similarities. Chapter 18 tells us that the world has become completely intoxicated by material wealth. Verses 11-14 show us that the main items of trade are all luxury items–things to make people’s lives extravagent and overly comfortable. But God has pronounced judgment on the world at this point, and suddenly (“in one hour”) the world economy collapses forever. This will be a collapse that no interest rate adjustment, bail out plan, or presidential nominee will be able to stop.

The saddest part of this chapter is the response of the people. People put ashes on their head and mourn, not because they want to repent of their perverse materialism, but because their wealth is gone. We can see this happening now. People are distraughtbecause their wealth is vanishing before their eyes. But this is not how Christians must respond to the challenging economic times.

There are three ways that we ought to respond as Christians (these come straight out of my notes from Revelation class):

1. Live in light of eternity. We must recognize that while this life is important, our existence does not end at death. Life is not a race to see who has the most toys at the end of the day. 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Ander verse 17 states, “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” We cannot embrace the world system in which we live because it will ultimately be destroyed. We must live with an eternal mindset.
2. Pray only for needs, not riches. When Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6, he did not tell us to ask for God to lavish extravagant material riches on us. He simply told us to ask for “our daily bread.” God will give us all that we need to survive, if we trust in Him to provide. If we place our hope in the stock market, we will be disappointed. In fact, if we are faithful, God will give us more than we need. But we would be ill advised to ask Him for superfluous riches.
3. Accumulate true riches. We ought to flee from the love of money like Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife. 1 Timothy 6:10-11 tells us, “For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:19-20, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.”

It is in times like these where we as Christians especially must examine ourselves to make sure we are not succumbing to the lies of our culture that money somehow brings happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment. As we can see now amid the economin turmoil, money guarantees absolutely nothing. In the end, all it will guarantee is grief if we allow it to take up a seat of importance in our lives.

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