Election 2008

Two questions:
1) Who do you think will win, and why?
2) Who do you want to win, and why?

Blogged with Flock

Debate

I'm going to start posting discussion topics and my stance on them so that others can come and agree, disagree, or expand on my points.

Blogged with Flock

Economics: Biblical Perspectives

I figure, if I already had to type this all out for school, why not post it on my blog...so here it goes. Read it (if you want) and tell me what you think. If you disagree with something I said, then, by all means, let me know.

Wealth, Poverty, and the Poor

One of the main Biblical principles that has to do with giving to the poor is when Jesus says, “What you do to the least of these brothers, you are doing to me.” When we produce a crop (or whatever the modern equivalent is), we should not go through a second time to glean what we missed, but rather we should leave what we missed for the poor and needy to have. God says that he will provide, and sometimes Him providing looks like us giving to the poor or whoever. Since God will provide, it is better to have little and trust God, than to have lots, but have no faith in Him. If you are diligent, you will have extra to give to the poor. Furthermore, there is the heartbreaker of all heartbreakers: Robin Hood had a flawed strategy. You should not steal so that you can give to the needy, instead, work hard so that you can give from your abundance. If you are rich, don’t mock the poor, and whatever circumstance you are in, find your strength and contentment in God. Finally, even though giving to the poor is awesome, there will always be poor to tend to. Sometimes, you need to give directly to God first.

Work

As soon as God created us, he commanded us to work by ruling over the whole earth and by creating new life. But God also set an important working example: resting on the seventh day. We, too, should work hard during the week, but spend the Sabbath as a day of rest and praising the Lord. Also, we could do the same with the Year of Jubilee, that is, if our society was completely different than it was and was completely based upon land. Everything we do, we should do wholeheartedly, therefore, if we are lazy we will be poor, but if we are diligent, we will be wealthy. The perfect wife is described in the Bible as someone who works pretty much non-stop, and puts the need and interests of her family in front of her own wants and needs. Working diligently is stressed multiple times throughout the Word, each having different reasons. Be diligent so that you don’t have to sponge off of others, and be diligent so that you set an example for others to follow. Pretty much, if you are going to work, work as hard as you can.

Money

Money, in itself can be a wonderful thing; it is not inherently evil. But, just like anything else, if you value it too much and become enslaved to it, it can be the root of all evil. Money has the power to control people and make them do things they would never otherwise do. You definitely must choose which is more important to you: God or money, because you cannot serve both. This is not to say that we should never think about money. The Bible almost flat out called the man foolish who buried his master’s money, instead of putting it in the bank to collect interest. We just need to keep things in the proper order, then all money stuff will be good.

Debt

Debt is the sort of thing that could lead to a ridiculously long, friendly argument if both sides follow the Biblical rules. If you lend something out, you should not expect to get it back, but if you borrow something, you had better give it back. So, if someone borrows money from you and tries to pay you back, it is good to tell them not to worry about it, but if they insist, just accept the repayment. You definitely should not charge interest on someone who will have a hard time paying the debt back as it is, nor should you take someone’s livelihood as collateral for a debt. This is not to say you should be frivolous with your money and just give it out willy-nilly, but if you have to err on one side of the stingy versus foolishly giving ledger, you should err on the side of giving too freely.

Private Property

The most basic and most important rule about private property is simple: do not take what you do not own, and do not spend your whole day wishing you had what your neighbor has. And if someone acquires things by unworthy means, do not wish you were in their position, having all of their possession; instead, be thankful that you are working diligently to acquire your thing the good old fashioned way.

Charity

A lot of the teachings on charity in the Bible overlap with the teaching on giving to the poor and needy, because they are pretty much the same thing. If someone is hungry, give them food. If someone is thirsty, give them a nice, cold Mountain Dew. If someone needs a place to sleep, hook them up with some shelter. Do not think of them as less than you or lazy just because they live on the streets, but rather show them the love and grace of God through your charity to them. But, like I said earlier, be wise with your charity and make sure that you are not helping someone with their addictions.

Tithing

Tithing is a basic principle that should become a given in every Christian household. Before you do anything else with the money that you earn, set aside 10% of it to give back to God. If you give back that little bit to God, He will provide for you in ways that you never could have imagined or even thought possible. It is the least you can do for someone that gave you everything that you own. The true joy is giving your tithe and still have money left over, so that you can give over and above the required amount. Take, for instance, the woman who gave a mere penny’s worth to the church. Disciples and other scoffed at the insignificance of this gift, but Jesus knew that this was the greatest gift of anyone, for she had given all that she had, out of her poverty. We should do the same.

Preparing for the future vs. trusting in the Lord to provide

This, as well as many other things in the Bible, is all about finding the correct balance between two things. This time, it is between working hard to prepare for the future and trusting that the Lord will provide for your needs. I think it pretty much comes down to your attitude toward trusting in God. Job trusted God, and got repaid way better than what he had originally. But the Bible also says that it is better to have little and trust in God than to have a bunch of stuff, but no trust. In another passage, it says that you should not stress out about where you will get your daily necessities from, just ask God for your daily bread, and He will surely hook you up and provide for you. Ultimately, you must remember that when we die, we can’t take anything with us. So do not put too much effort into storing up treasures here on earth, but rather channel that effort into storing up treasures in heaven. The bible makes a great point in saying (hang with me as I paraphrase here), “What good is it if a man gains the whole world, but does not know the love of Christ?” In conclusion, diligence is an amazing quality that we should all possess, but we must mix that diligence with compassion and trusting in God.