Bailout Response

This week our country decided to bailout the economy with a $700 million in aid to lenders so there wouldn’t be a total collapse.  I have been thinking about this a lot over the last two weeks, and I’ve come to some conclusions about how we got here, and what needs to be done in response.

No doubt your church deals with monetary issues from the pulpit and in your small groups.  The pastor preaches on biblical stewardship and tithing.  You occasionally have lessons on why money management is important, but do you ever really teach people to be good stewards.  The Scriptures say that it is more about stewardship than it is about financial loss or profit.

In America we have cultivated an attitude of consumer spending that has led to consumer debt.  Not only do we have national debt increasing, but household debt continues to rise.  Psalms and Proverbs often remind us that we become wise from reading the Scriptures because we gain insight into daily living.  If you are worried about the economy you can make a direct impact by only buying what you can afford, and not spending money with credit cards that you can’t pay back.  All you need to do is search the Scripture on these issues.

The area church’s can help is to give members a way to learn how to do this through the lens of the Bible.  I know of no better tool than Crown Ministries.  Crown offers seminars and classes that teach people basic budgeting and stewardship principles.  If your church wants to bring members into maturity in their walk with Christ, they must provide and answer to individual financial crises.

I know this response is simple, but Scripture says God makes wise the simple.  While it won’t fix the current problem, we can ensure we don’t have to go through this again any time soon.