Friday, September 26, 2008  

Jesus Christ on the Economic Crisis (An Interview)

  
by David Rudel:
I was a theoretic mathematician, now I'm a writer, editor, mathematical modeler, and theologian working on church reform. I wrote a chess book: www.zukertort.com		 Response by Kevin Craig.
David Rudel honored me by posting a comment on my blog post, "Thinking Biblically about the Banking Crisis," with a link to his blog post in the left-hand column.
There are all sorts of sites offering to explain the economic crisis (if it is a crisis), and how it occurred. While politicians have been happy to blame the meltdown on greed, some Christian writers (perhaps in deference to their tendency to support free markets?) have shied away from that view (though some have not), blaming people who could not pay their loans (while pointing out most of those are minorities), or taking a page out of Jerry Fallwell's playbook and blaming gays, abortion, and other selected aspects of American culture. I'm not checking the links (time constraints).

 

I agree with Jerry Falwell.
It's funny how people always choose easy targets for blame. [What's also funny is this video on the Credit Crunch, but that's neither here nor there.] But what does blaming "greed" or one's enemies teach us? We already know greed causes problems. We already know democrats/republicans eat kittens. There's no lesson there. Blaming teaches us to avoid the named sin.

Accounts of historical judgments, in which God says "for these transgressions, I brought this judgment," show us that God is "the Supreme Judge of the world" (Declaration of Independence), and if we want to avoid a similar judgment, the lesson is, avoid the similar sin.
Instead, why don't we try to determine what Christ would say about this if we asked Him for guidance:  
Interviewer: Hello Jesus, thank you for joining us today. I was hoping you could tell us Your thoughts on what caused this financial crisis.  
J.C. : What do you say? How do you read it?  
Interviewer: Well, most people say it comes down to, in some way or another, failed sub-prime mortgage.  
J.C.: Sub-Prime Mortgage? Please explain this term.  
Interviewer: Well, you know how even in the ancient times, people would borrow things.  
J.C.: Yes. My people, the Jews, would occasionally have to borrow grain or food for their daily preservation during difficult times. Sometimes they would have to put up their land just to stay alive. [Neh 5:3-5] Lamentably, My people went against the explicit command of God, not only lending money at interest to their own countrymen but also lending it at high interest to the poor. Can you imagine something as foolish as to triply insult God? More on usury here.
Interviewer: Right. Well, now people take loans to buy their own home. At least people in America. People of other nations do not see the wisdom of buying houses. I'd be interested in a link to the proof that other people think buying a home is "unwise," as opposed to being economically unthinkable due to their poverty.
J.C.: Explain to me this wisdom.  
Interviewer: Renting is essentially throwing money away, and there are significant tax breaks based on deducting the interest from your income. Many also enjoy the stability and security of owning your own home. People figure they'd rather pay a lot each month and have some of it go toward ownership rather than pay less to rent. The stability and security of owning your own home is clearly a Biblical ideal; see Micah's "Vine & Fig Tree" vision.

The mortgage interest deduction is truly subversive.

How does charging rent differ from charging interest?
J.C.: Your wisdom is foolishness. Foolish is the one who seeks to gain stability and security through possessions, and those who base their decisions on what leaves them the most mammon 30 years hence have chosen the wrong master to serve. Did nothing I said get transcribed? Are all My words vapor?
     Did I not say 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?
     Did I not say, immediately afterward, So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Why do you think I said that? Why would anyone think spending thousands of denarii on a house is what I meant when I advised one man to sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. What part of So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple did you not understand?
     Don't you know that everything you have is God's? Are there no widows you could help today that you had to go into debt to buy yourself a mansion instead? Did you learn nothing from the Parable of the barns? [Luke 12:18] Why have you traded the poor's food and water in exchange for "security," as though God's security were not enough for you? Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?		 Jesus commended the person who built his own home (on a rock).

All of these verses equally condemn the person who seeks "stability and security" by renting. They might even condemn the homeless person who seeks "stability and security" by sleeping in his car. If the verses do not condemn those two classes of people, then neither would they condemn the person who wants to own a home.

The desire for home ownership is not the cause of the current crisis.

If there were no Federal Reserve to expand credit, and no federal government taking over half of everything everyone earns, and no death taxes, a lot more people would own their own homes, debt-free.

In a free economy, prices are always going down, so there would be no buying of houses for speculative house-flipping.

Matthew 8:20
And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

So nobody should have either shelter or beds?
Interviewer: Are you saying it is never okay for one of Your followers to own a house?  
J.C.: There is much of my Father's work that can be done through owning a house. If you wish to set up a food pantry for your community, or a shelter for battered women, support a home church, start an orphanage, or do any number of things that serve God, and if God presents a means for you to obtain such a building, by all means do so.
Mature followers of Mine should recognize that it is not wise to own a house when its value can be better used ministering to the oppressed.		 But isn't it serving God to raise children? What if there are no more hungry, battered, or orphans? We've pretty much eliminated poverty in America; now the big boogeyman is "inequality."

Of course, there's always something that can be done in the way of ministry, and I support voluntary associations to deal with those less fortunate. But I'm not sure owning a house is, by itself, inconsistent with the teachings of Christ.
Interviewer: But it seems reasonable that someone should be able to use that which he earns honestly to secure a place for his or her family...  
J.C.: It also seemed reasonable to one brother to ask his other brother to split their parents' inheritance, but how did I respond? Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. The desire for food, clothing and shelter is not, in itself, unGodly. True, we should seek the Kingdom of God first, but if we do, "all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:25-33).
Did I not warn My own: For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God? Even lower-class Americans are rich compared to humanity in general, and while all things are possible with God, why expose yourself to the burden of possessions willingly? Doesn't Jesus promise His followers a hundred homes? (Mark 10:23-30) Why would He burden us with those possessions?
Interviewer: I understand your points, but can you tell me why leaders in the church are not reminding their congregations about Your teachings on possessions? Probably for the same reason they're not telling congregations about wasting time watching TV. I'm not defending churches or those in them. I'm just defending Jesus against inferences from His teachings which are not necessarily Biblical.
J.C.: [Fill in the Blank]  

So... what do you guys and gals think the answer is?