This economy is not just a bad time economically; it is a crisis about Capitalism. There is a new fashion for market atheism. The market doesn?t work, Capitalism is bad! There is more than a hint of wistful nostalgia for Communism. Well, nostalgia ain?t what it used to be. While Communism was seen as an alternative for many decades, its failure, which largely was an economic implosion that killed millions, showed there is only one, albeit imperfect, economic system.
Communism was mythological.? It?s funny how we are told to ?grow up? about religion, yet secularists cling to the childlike myths of communism or a world where capitalism can be no more. Protesters, media headlines, the guy on Main Street all ask the same questions: What does it do for us? Why is it not providing? Why are we being punished? All these questions come pouring out, as if the economy is God-like.
And indeed, there is a spiritual parallel. When we go through a bad patch or something horrible happens, we ask why did God let that happen? Where?s God when you need him? Seeing suffering in the world, a child dying of cancer, becomes a reason to deny the existence of a loving God.
Like God, the economy is in the dock. We charge the economy with our failings. Like in a courtroom drama, the language gets twisted and we are determined to get a conviction, and lay the blame on others: fat-cats, big corporations, and all those others who seem to benefit.
The reality is different. The economy has put us in the dock. How fiscally responsible were we, as individuals, as companies or as government when the times were good? How prepared were we for the downturn? Just as surely as we know we will face tough spiritual times, we face tough financial times, so we have to wonder why we were not prepared.
In the divine economy, what is needed is good discipleship with good stewardship. In both cases, we cannot be fair weather friends of God and the economy. Yet, this economy has exposed this is the case. I didn?t hear folks complaining about their rising pay or rising value of their properties during the good times. Why during the bad times?
When things are going good for us, some thank God while others think ?I did that!? When things are going bad for us, some blame God, while others say ?it?s not my fault, why did this happen to me?? Of course, there are times when events are beyond our control and we get hit badly. But then again, there are times when we get that little piece of luck or opportunity that gives us the big break we were looking for.
Just as there is never a good time to deny God, this is not a good time for market atheism either. The economy needs folks to believe if it is to get going and support us again. The nation needs confidence to invest and innovate to solve the problems of this economy, not the dog-in-a-manger feeling-sorry-for-ourselves attitude that currently dogs this economy. This attitude is suppressing business, and investors are scared to commit their funds, to risk their capital. The economy needs capital at risk, it is called opportunity, and it makes the economy strong.
We become spiritually strong when we realize God is not about giving handouts to us, but when we reach out our hand to Him and take the risk of walking with Him through whatever weather lays ahead on our path, sunshine or storm. In this economy, we need to know that there will always be changeable economic weather ahead, which means right now we need to weather the storm, so when the sun shines on us once more we remember where we have travelled these past few years and act fiscally responsible when the next storm hits.
Source: http://www.cfcbe.com/2012/09/24/the-new-fashion-for-market-atheism/
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