I am interviewing the pastors of my church Tuesday afternoon. Here are some of the possible questions I'll be asking them:
What do you think the Church's response should be to environmental problems?
Is overconsumption a "real" problem in the spiritual life of a Christian? If so, how can we deal with it in the Church?
Why do some Christians not use their gifts to serve inside or outside the Church?
How do we set Christians free in the church and the world to do what God has called them to do? Or how do we help them understand that they are set free to minister in the world?
What does it mean to keep the Sabbath? (in other words, what can we do and what should we avoid? Does keeping the Sabbath mean that we spend all day either in church/worship, or can we do anything that help us relax and rest?)
What happens during a spiritually fallow time (vs. a spiritually productive time)? Would this fallow time be comparable to a Sabbath, or is it something different?
How do we maintain a balance between giving and accumulating (things/money)? What level of giving or sacrifice is a burden to people?
Do you think we must live in affluence to evangelize the wealthy?
Is it necessary to spend millions of dollars on church buildings when there are so many people in the world who have virtually nothing? Instead of building buildings, could the church use tithes and gifts to take care of more poor people, much like the ancient Israelites and the first Christians did?
Sometime next week, I'll probably post their responses. It should be interesting - I've known two of these pastors since I was seventeen, and one of those two I met at summer camp. So I'm pretty excited to talk to them.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Purpose Driven Life, Day 1
Day One – Thinking about my purpose
Point to ponder: It’s not about me.
Verse to remember: “Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” Colossians 1:16b
Question to Consider: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?
I’ve lived in big cities, and I’ve traveled in big cities. There are billboards and businesses everywhere. And in the middle of all this wealth, there is a lot of poverty. In Chicago, just down the street from Saks Fifth Avenue, there are homeless people who beg for help and money.
I remind myself that life is living for God by thinking of the homeless people that are everywhere, by thinking of the people in Haiti whose lives and homes were destroyed this summer, accumulating poverty on poverty. By thinking of the children in Africa and Asia who are dying from easily treated illnesses and hunger. By thinking of the way we are destroying the earth for the sake of being independent.
Point to ponder: It’s not about me.
Verse to remember: “Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” Colossians 1:16b
Question to Consider: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?
I’ve lived in big cities, and I’ve traveled in big cities. There are billboards and businesses everywhere. And in the middle of all this wealth, there is a lot of poverty. In Chicago, just down the street from Saks Fifth Avenue, there are homeless people who beg for help and money.
I remind myself that life is living for God by thinking of the homeless people that are everywhere, by thinking of the people in Haiti whose lives and homes were destroyed this summer, accumulating poverty on poverty. By thinking of the children in Africa and Asia who are dying from easily treated illnesses and hunger. By thinking of the way we are destroying the earth for the sake of being independent.
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Part 5
Luke 4:14-21
14Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."[e]
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
It’s always been clear that there is a lot of injustice in this world. What has not always been so clear is how we might fix it.
Rich Christians has made me think more about the injustice that happens in the world. I am more aware of my choices and how some of them – especially my choices as a consumer – contribute to the amount of injustice present.
Do you know where your clothes come from? Have you ever paid attention to that detail? I think I’ve always looked, but it’s never really made a difference in my life until now. Clothing is a good example of a place where numerous injustices happens. Sweatshops employ people and pay only a few dollars a day. The workers labor long hours. Some sweatshops force their employees to live there. They get few work breaks. We pay a lot of money for clothing in this country, but very little of the profits are going to workers who make our clothes.
The garment industry isn’t the only place where people are treated unfairly, but when we spend money, we often support many cases of injustice and abuse. As followers of Christ, we are called to do justice and love mercy. Sider says, “God wills justice for the poor, not occasional charity. And justice means things like the Jubilee and the Sabbatical remission of debts. It means economic structures that guarantee all people access to the productive resources needed to earn a decent living” (Sider 100).
This “occasional charity” thing has really made an impact on me. Is what I’m doing right now just occasional charity? How do I, how do we as a nation, contribute to true justice – or not?
It seems like such a big thing, the task of righting social structures. It’s bigger than you and me combined; in fact, it’s bigger than a lot of groups and nations, but it’s something we should aspire to.
The Founding Fathers of America, in deciding how the States would be represented in the House of Representatives, said in our Constitution, “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.” Africans and African Americans were only counted as three-fifths of a person in 1791, and they weren’t counted as free people. Slavery was an institution that became part of our nation before we were even a nation. Yet there were men who wanted to see slavery abolished at that early time in America’s history:
“In 1830, John Quincy Adams was elected to Congress as the representative of the 12th District in Massachusetts. He was outspoken about nationalism and abolition of slavery. He attempted to introduce amendments to the Constitution in 1839 which would prevent any person born in the U.S. from being born a slave. He additionally became involved as a proponent for the Amistad Africans in writings of late 1839 forward. He eventually joined the team defending the Africans and helped win their freedom in arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.” (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/amistad/AMI_BADA.HTM)
On September 22, 1862, President Lincoln, who was in favor of abolishing slavery in the United States, issued the Emancipation Proclamation:
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
“And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.”
(http://www.usconstitution.net/eman.html)
On December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified and legally abolished the practice of slavery in the US:
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
On February 3, 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified and gave all men the right to vote:
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Though our country gave African Americans freedom and the right to vote, racism still existed in this country. We coined the phrase “Separate, but equal” and had to use military force to allow desegregation. But on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Junior, spoke these words at the Lincoln Memorial:
But one hundred years later [after the Emancipation Proclamation], the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
(http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html)
King’s words prompted the Civil Rights Act in 1964. And still this country struggled with racism. Since then, the struggle against racism hasn’t gotten better; we have legally freed people who were in bondage, but we still keep many of them in chains because of our social policies.
Here is the point to this history lesson though (and thanks for indulging me): It’s a process. God asks us to contribute to the process of justice. We may never see the end results, but we are expected to make the changes we can. In 1830, John Quincy Adams supported abolition, and probably dreamed of the day when all people in America would be free. And though he worked to see it happen, he died before it did. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln freed those in bondage, but I doubt he thought that they’d be equal because of it. Martin Luther King, Junior died before he saw some of the extraordinary changes we’ve made here.
In Luke 4:14-21, Jesus announced that He was the fulfillment of prophecy and the One to set the captives free. While He only quoted part of Isaiah 61, I would argue that he fulfilled all of the words of the ancient prophet, who wrote:
Isaiah 61
The Year of the LORD's Favor
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 "For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed."
10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.
The last verse says that the Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up like the soil makes a sprout come up and the garden causes the seed to grow. Seeds don't grow overnight, and righteousness is a process. Out of the process, we must begin the process of justice for all of God's children, not matter the color or culture - and even at the expense of our own comfort.
Thought for the Day
Jeff subscribes to an email list called "Mikey's Funnies/Thot for the day". I though today's "funny," while not so funny, would be a good addition to this blog. Enjoy!
today's"FUNNY"=============================
An investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The fisherman replied, "Only a little while."
The banker then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The fisherman said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The banker then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a nap with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I play guitar and sing with my friends. I have a full and busy life."
The banker scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to a big city where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
To which the banker replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then?"
The banker laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."
"Millions...Then what?"
The banker said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could play your guitar and sing with your friends."
today'sTHOT============================
If you are not content with what you have, you'll never be content with what you want.
today's"FUNNY"=============================
An investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The fisherman replied, "Only a little while."
The banker then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The fisherman said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The banker then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a nap with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I play guitar and sing with my friends. I have a full and busy life."
The banker scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to a big city where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
To which the banker replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then?"
The banker laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."
"Millions...Then what?"
The banker said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could play your guitar and sing with your friends."
today'sTHOT============================
If you are not content with what you have, you'll never be content with what you want.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Purpose Driven Life
I read this book for the first time when I was 28. I mention this because reading this is an important part of what got me to this moment in time.
When I was 28, I was working as a bank teller. From past posts, you know it wasn’t my favorite job in the world. I am fortunate enough that I’ve known from a youngish age what I’m supposed to be doing with my life, and being a bank teller isn’t it.
Even though I thought I knew what God was calling me to do with my life and what my purpose is, I was sort of stuck in how to get there. I was in a dead end job, didn’t have a bachelor’s degree, and didn’t have any plans to go back to school anytime soon. But I was really feeling the void in my life of not being in ministry somewhere, and I hoped that reading this book would give me some insight and kick-start some motivation, if I had any left.
The author, Rick Warren, recommends that the reader do this book as a study; instead of reading it from end to end, take it one chapter a day, reading slowly and thinking about what’s just been read. So I did that. I read one chapter a day for forty days, and at the end of that time, I was excited to start the journey back to ministry.
Since I’m probably going to be working with the poor and homeless most of the rest of my life, I decided that I would volunteer at our local Salvation Army shelter. I met with the person in charge one afternoon after work, got a tour of the building, and filled out all the paperwork that night. The sooner I got it in, the sooner I could start volunteering. The next morning, I woke up excited and with a plan to move forward.
Have you ever heard God speak, and you just knew it was God? I have. Most of the things I hear aren’t really words but impressions. But there have been 2 or 3 times when I’ve heard God say something quite clearly, and this next day was probably the first time I remember hearing it so clearly. It was a quiet day at work, and I was reading a book between customers, but thinking about the next step in my “Stephanie saves the world” plan (hahahaha). Out of nowhere, I hear, “It’s time to go back to school.” I’ll be honest; if it had just been that, I probably would have laughed it off and not paid attention, but the words were accompanied by an intense desire to get back into school. Remember, I started that day uninterested in going back to college, so this was a complete 180.
I never did follow up at the Salvation Army. But I looked at going back to school and finishing my education as the more important way for me to get back into ministry, and in the years since then, I have felt a very deep peace as confirmation of that choice. Right now, furthering my education is going to help me get back into ministry.
So that’s part of how I got to where I am right now. And starting today, I’m going to revisit this book – not because I need another kick-start, but because I need to read it as someone studying stewardship. This book covers (if I remember correctly) everything I’m studying this semester.
We all live out stewardship in different ways. As Christians, we have some of the same mandates, but the way we go about it can be quite different depending on the person. God tells each of us to spread the Gospel, but not everyone can be a Billy Graham. Some people, like my friend Erin, share Christ with people on airplanes bound for Ukraine. Some people, like my friend Holly, share the Gospel with people trying to stay sober by helping them work through the twelve steps. How each of us goes about doing the work God has prepared us to do is up to God. The Purpose Driven Life isn’t a book that gives you the steps to take to get to the goal. It’s a book that helps you discover what you need to do to discern and live out your purpose. There are no right or wrong answers and no definitive steps, except to love God and love your neighbor.
Over the next forty days, I’ll be sharing this journey with you as well. Think of it as a journey within a journey, because I’ll still be posting about the other books I’m reading too. I haven’t said nearly enough about Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, so I’ll be posting about that again in the next few days. I’m not going to promise to post every single question that Warren poses, because some of them are pretty personal. But I promise to post at least every few days so you can get an idea of who I am and what my purpose is, beyond what I’ve posted about the books I’m reading.
When I was 28, I was working as a bank teller. From past posts, you know it wasn’t my favorite job in the world. I am fortunate enough that I’ve known from a youngish age what I’m supposed to be doing with my life, and being a bank teller isn’t it.
Even though I thought I knew what God was calling me to do with my life and what my purpose is, I was sort of stuck in how to get there. I was in a dead end job, didn’t have a bachelor’s degree, and didn’t have any plans to go back to school anytime soon. But I was really feeling the void in my life of not being in ministry somewhere, and I hoped that reading this book would give me some insight and kick-start some motivation, if I had any left.
The author, Rick Warren, recommends that the reader do this book as a study; instead of reading it from end to end, take it one chapter a day, reading slowly and thinking about what’s just been read. So I did that. I read one chapter a day for forty days, and at the end of that time, I was excited to start the journey back to ministry.
Since I’m probably going to be working with the poor and homeless most of the rest of my life, I decided that I would volunteer at our local Salvation Army shelter. I met with the person in charge one afternoon after work, got a tour of the building, and filled out all the paperwork that night. The sooner I got it in, the sooner I could start volunteering. The next morning, I woke up excited and with a plan to move forward.
Have you ever heard God speak, and you just knew it was God? I have. Most of the things I hear aren’t really words but impressions. But there have been 2 or 3 times when I’ve heard God say something quite clearly, and this next day was probably the first time I remember hearing it so clearly. It was a quiet day at work, and I was reading a book between customers, but thinking about the next step in my “Stephanie saves the world” plan (hahahaha). Out of nowhere, I hear, “It’s time to go back to school.” I’ll be honest; if it had just been that, I probably would have laughed it off and not paid attention, but the words were accompanied by an intense desire to get back into school. Remember, I started that day uninterested in going back to college, so this was a complete 180.
I never did follow up at the Salvation Army. But I looked at going back to school and finishing my education as the more important way for me to get back into ministry, and in the years since then, I have felt a very deep peace as confirmation of that choice. Right now, furthering my education is going to help me get back into ministry.
So that’s part of how I got to where I am right now. And starting today, I’m going to revisit this book – not because I need another kick-start, but because I need to read it as someone studying stewardship. This book covers (if I remember correctly) everything I’m studying this semester.
We all live out stewardship in different ways. As Christians, we have some of the same mandates, but the way we go about it can be quite different depending on the person. God tells each of us to spread the Gospel, but not everyone can be a Billy Graham. Some people, like my friend Erin, share Christ with people on airplanes bound for Ukraine. Some people, like my friend Holly, share the Gospel with people trying to stay sober by helping them work through the twelve steps. How each of us goes about doing the work God has prepared us to do is up to God. The Purpose Driven Life isn’t a book that gives you the steps to take to get to the goal. It’s a book that helps you discover what you need to do to discern and live out your purpose. There are no right or wrong answers and no definitive steps, except to love God and love your neighbor.
Over the next forty days, I’ll be sharing this journey with you as well. Think of it as a journey within a journey, because I’ll still be posting about the other books I’m reading too. I haven’t said nearly enough about Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, so I’ll be posting about that again in the next few days. I’m not going to promise to post every single question that Warren poses, because some of them are pretty personal. But I promise to post at least every few days so you can get an idea of who I am and what my purpose is, beyond what I’ve posted about the books I’m reading.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Part 4
People are funny when it comes to money.
I learned this when I started working as a bank teller. Banks are regulated by federal laws, and the people who enforce these regulations in your local bank branch are usually your friendly neighborhood tellers. Most people are ok with the regulations, but about once a day, there was usually one person who didn’t want to show his ID, or expected us to cash a check after she’d forged her husband’s signature in the endorsement (in front of the teller, I might add), or wanted us to not file a CTR.
People want their money and they want it now. Customers expected us to cash checks against accounts that had no money in them or give them money that was still unavailable to them. The unspoken saying among the bank tellers I worked with was “It’s not your money until I give it to you.” Banks might hold customer accounts, but if you look at the fine print when you open that account, you’ll probably read something like this: money in those accounts belongs to the bank until such a time as the customer makes a withdrawal that follows all the rules. In other words, money in your bank account isn’t yours until it’s in your hot little hands.
When it comes to money, we’re funny. We think we possess it, but more often than not, it possesses us. The power of money is really only the power of potential, because money, in itself, can’t do anything. It won’t feed your kids. It won’t get you to work. It won’t clean your dishes. But with money you can buy groceries, a car (or a bus pass), and a dishwasher (or a maid). Money can’t buy happiness, but it has the potential to buy things that will make your life easier and maybe give you a facsimile of happiness. And that is where it possesses us, in its potential to give us more and better happiness.
Why do we get so weird about money? It’s only bits of paper or metal that have been marked as currency. And the whole world is weird about money, lest you think it’s just certain individuals. Think about it this way: Anything that money can buy can usually be made at home with the right tools and resources. You could build your own dishwasher or make your own clothes. You can’t make your own money at home. Let me rephrase that – you can make money at home, with the right tools and ink. Making your own clothes or building a dishwasher won’t get you anything but new clothes or a dishwasher if someone finds out. Making your own money at home is a federal offense that will earn you jail time if someone finds out. I’ve dealt with counterfeit money before, and it gets sent straight to the FBI. All of this fuss happens over something that only has potential
But here’s the thing: even though we are in possession of wads of cash, we don’t own it. It’s not ours. Sider says, “God, the landowner, permits his people to sojourn in his good earth, cultivate it, eat its produce, and enjoy it beauty. But we are only stewards. Stewardship is one of the central theological categories of any biblical understanding of our relationship to the land and economic resources” (Sider 68).
In ancient times, land was capital. But among the ancient Israelites, there was an understanding that only God was the landowner. They could use the land (within reason), but they would never own it.
Here in America, we still value land and trying to own it, but we have traded land as the main currency for money. And God owns all of that, too.
Christians who are normally pretty sane about financial matters can get kind of funny about money in the church. One of the reasons I wanted to do this independent study is because of my experience of what “stewardship” means in the church. Generally, when the topic of stewardship comes up, most churchgoers think of money. I can’t blame them, to be honest. The only time I’ve heard of stewardship in most church settings has been at the beginning of a stewardship campaign – also known as the church’s yearly drive to beg for money from the congregation. Churchgoers have been trained to think of stewardship in financial terms. And so we get a little funny when money is mentioned inside church walls. Those of you who tithe and give offerings get offended because you are being hit up for yet more money, and might be made to feel guilty if you choose not to give more. Those of you who don’t give enough get mad because you’re tired of being hit up for money all the time.
Financial stewardship in the church is pretty simple. In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to tithe:
As has been mentioned in previous posts, the tithe was used to take care of the poor and the Levites:
Those of us who follow Christ don’t necessarily have to tithe – but we do have to give, and we have to do it generously and with a grateful heart. Sider says, “The early church continued the pattern of economic sharing practiced by Jesus… Whenever anyone was in need, they shared. Giving surplus to needy brothers and sisters was not enough” (77). Consider this: When asked by spies if they should pay taxes to Caesar, “He [Jesus] said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
When we get funny with money in the church, we are forgetting to give unto God what is God’s - and it’s all God’s.
I learned this when I started working as a bank teller. Banks are regulated by federal laws, and the people who enforce these regulations in your local bank branch are usually your friendly neighborhood tellers. Most people are ok with the regulations, but about once a day, there was usually one person who didn’t want to show his ID, or expected us to cash a check after she’d forged her husband’s signature in the endorsement (in front of the teller, I might add), or wanted us to not file a CTR.
People want their money and they want it now. Customers expected us to cash checks against accounts that had no money in them or give them money that was still unavailable to them. The unspoken saying among the bank tellers I worked with was “It’s not your money until I give it to you.” Banks might hold customer accounts, but if you look at the fine print when you open that account, you’ll probably read something like this: money in those accounts belongs to the bank until such a time as the customer makes a withdrawal that follows all the rules. In other words, money in your bank account isn’t yours until it’s in your hot little hands.
When it comes to money, we’re funny. We think we possess it, but more often than not, it possesses us. The power of money is really only the power of potential, because money, in itself, can’t do anything. It won’t feed your kids. It won’t get you to work. It won’t clean your dishes. But with money you can buy groceries, a car (or a bus pass), and a dishwasher (or a maid). Money can’t buy happiness, but it has the potential to buy things that will make your life easier and maybe give you a facsimile of happiness. And that is where it possesses us, in its potential to give us more and better happiness.
Why do we get so weird about money? It’s only bits of paper or metal that have been marked as currency. And the whole world is weird about money, lest you think it’s just certain individuals. Think about it this way: Anything that money can buy can usually be made at home with the right tools and resources. You could build your own dishwasher or make your own clothes. You can’t make your own money at home. Let me rephrase that – you can make money at home, with the right tools and ink. Making your own clothes or building a dishwasher won’t get you anything but new clothes or a dishwasher if someone finds out. Making your own money at home is a federal offense that will earn you jail time if someone finds out. I’ve dealt with counterfeit money before, and it gets sent straight to the FBI. All of this fuss happens over something that only has potential
But here’s the thing: even though we are in possession of wads of cash, we don’t own it. It’s not ours. Sider says, “God, the landowner, permits his people to sojourn in his good earth, cultivate it, eat its produce, and enjoy it beauty. But we are only stewards. Stewardship is one of the central theological categories of any biblical understanding of our relationship to the land and economic resources” (Sider 68).
In ancient times, land was capital. But among the ancient Israelites, there was an understanding that only God was the landowner. They could use the land (within reason), but they would never own it.
Here in America, we still value land and trying to own it, but we have traded land as the main currency for money. And God owns all of that, too.
Christians who are normally pretty sane about financial matters can get kind of funny about money in the church. One of the reasons I wanted to do this independent study is because of my experience of what “stewardship” means in the church. Generally, when the topic of stewardship comes up, most churchgoers think of money. I can’t blame them, to be honest. The only time I’ve heard of stewardship in most church settings has been at the beginning of a stewardship campaign – also known as the church’s yearly drive to beg for money from the congregation. Churchgoers have been trained to think of stewardship in financial terms. And so we get a little funny when money is mentioned inside church walls. Those of you who tithe and give offerings get offended because you are being hit up for yet more money, and might be made to feel guilty if you choose not to give more. Those of you who don’t give enough get mad because you’re tired of being hit up for money all the time.
Financial stewardship in the church is pretty simple. In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to tithe:
Leviticus 27:30-32
30 " 'A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. 31 If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. 32 The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod—will be holy to the LORD.
Malachi 3:10-12
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.
As has been mentioned in previous posts, the tithe was used to take care of the poor and the Levites:
“Yahweh is the Lord of all, even economics. There is no hint here of a sacred law of supply and demand that operates independently of biblical ethics and the Lordship of Yahweh. The people of God should submit to God, and God demands economic justice among his people” (Sider 68).
Deuteronomy 14:28-29
28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, 29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Deuteronomy 26:12-15
12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. 13 Then say to the LORD your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them. 14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything you commanded me. 15 Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."
Those of us who follow Christ don’t necessarily have to tithe – but we do have to give, and we have to do it generously and with a grateful heart. Sider says, “The early church continued the pattern of economic sharing practiced by Jesus… Whenever anyone was in need, they shared. Giving surplus to needy brothers and sisters was not enough” (77). Consider this: When asked by spies if they should pay taxes to Caesar, “He [Jesus] said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
When we get funny with money in the church, we are forgetting to give unto God what is God’s - and it’s all God’s.
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Part 3
10 "For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.
Exodus 23:10-12
1 The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. 6 Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7 as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.
Leviticus 25:1-7
There are so many dimensions to the above Scriptures that I’m not sure where to start. So I'll just start where my brain lands.
The first aspect of this is being a good steward of our time. Exodus 7:12 mentions the Sabbath day, the day of rest. We all need a day of rest, even the type A’s among us. I’m not really a type A, but I don’t relax or rest very well. God expects us to work, that much is clear, but he also expects us to set aside a whole day to rest and relax. He also expects us to allow the other people in our households to rest. He ALSO expects us to allow any animals we keep to rest. And finally, God expects that we will allow others to rest, even those who are foreigners to our land. Good, creative, productive work doesn’t come out of working ourselves without a break, and we aren’t built to go, go, go without a stop, stop, STOP! I’ll talk more about limits at a later time, but let me just say that if this wasn’t so important to God, it wouldn’t be Commandment Number 4.
Examine Exodus 23:10-11 and Leviticus 25:1-7. These two passages are both talking about the Sabbath year, yet they have very different messages.
Exodus 23:10-11 speaks about helping the poor. Of course, the Israelites were to help the poor anyway, but this Sabbath year they were to go so far as to let the land rest, and whatever the land produced on its own was to be left for the poor and the wild animals. If I’m not working the land, and you’re not working the land, and no one else is working the land, then no one can claim as their’s what the land produced on its own. What belongs to no one can be used by everyone. Economists call this concept the commons, but here, it goes beyond economics in that it allows a whole community to take care of its poor.
Leviticus 25:1-7 looks at the Sabbath year from an environmental point of view. Every seventh day, God tells us that we need to rest so that we can rest from the week behind us and gain strength for the week ahead. The same is true for letting the ground be fallow. When we use land continuously, nutrients in the soil are used up to grow crops. If we use the land too many years in a row, all the nutrients will be leached from the soil and the land won’t be able to produce anything. Letting the land lie fallow for a season allows the nutrients to build back up so that crops will succeed. Don’t believe that this is an environmental mandate? Ask an organic farmer how s/he grows crops. Crop rotation – letting land rest for a season – is a big part of organic farming. In this passage, the land isn’t exactly lying completely fallow, but the farmer wasn’t to do anything to work the land – no sowing, no pruning. Just as the body doesn’t rest itself when you’re resting (you’d be dead if it were), the land doesn’t really rest when we’re not working it. The land, like our bodies, is using its energy to heal and restore what has been lost, without having to expend that energy on something else, like actively growing crops.
Sider says, “God’s law also provides for liberation of soil, slaves, and debtors every seven years. Again, the concern is justice for the poor and disadvantaged as well as the well-being of the land” (70). What would happen if we truly practiced Sabbath today? Not just a day of rest, but a year of rest, of healing for the land, and allowing the poor to benefit from it?
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Part 2
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
Luke 11:3
Have you ever given thought to what you need to live?
Three years ago during a summer semester, I took a class about hidden messages in advertising. The point of the class wasn’t just that we are bombarded with advertising every single day, but that every ad was trying to make you see a need for something you didn’t already have. One of our major projects was to analyze a 30 second commercial and point out all the messages the viewer would see, frame by frame.
We have a lot of wants in this world. If you lived in a family like mine, you tried to really distinguish needs from simple wants, and maybe you still try to do that. The line between needs and wants is sometimes blurred, though. I heard a conversation in an elevator recently where one young woman was telling her friend that she needed a black coat. Ok, I get that. Then I heard her friend say, “But you just told me you have a brown coat and a grey coat. Why do you need a black coat too?”
The young woman, who was wearing black dress pants, said, “Because I need something to go with all my black pants. I can’t wear brown or grey with them.”
We have a need for warm clothes, yes. But does anyone needs three coats? Really?
In this advertising class, we learned about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and how advertisers use this Hierarchy to get us to buy things.
Physiological Needs
These are biological needs. They consist of needs for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come first in the person's search for satisfaction.
Safety Needs
When all physiological needs are satisfied and are no longer controlling thoughts and behaviors, the needs for security can become active. Adults have little awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social structure (such as widespread rioting). Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe.
Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness
When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied, the next class of needs for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging.
Needs for Esteem
When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can become dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless.
Needs for Self-Actualization
When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do." "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write." These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. The person feels on edge, tense, lacking something, in short, restless. If a person is hungry, unsafe, not loved or accepted, or lacking self-esteem, it is very easy to know what the person is restless about. It is not always clear what a person wants when there is a need for self-actualization.
(from Psychology - The Search for Understanding by Janet A. Simons, Donald B. Irwin and Beverly A. Drinnien, West Publishing Company, New York, 1987)
We have these really basic needs for air, food, and water. Without one of these things, we die. After we have all these needs met, we are free to look for the “higher” needs of shelter and safety. Without shelter and safety, we may or may not live, but our chances of life are better if we have them. After that are the other higher needs, those of love and affection, esteem, and self-actualization. You aren’t going to keel over from a lack of self-esteem or self-actualization, but to have the basics in these departments certainly makes life better. The need for love is a tricky one. As an adult, it’s great to have someone to love and to be loved in return, but a lack of love won’t cause an adult’s death. Children are another story; they seem to have a need for love and affection to flourish and thrive.
Think about the commercials you’ve seen just in the past day. Lipstick? ‘That’s just to help me look pretty,’ you think. But why? Why do you want to look pretty? Do you want to feel better about yourself, or attract a mate (esteem or love)? How about those commercials for cruise ships? Well, they might be trying to sell you love (you could find a mate on a ship), esteem (people might be impressed when you tell them you’re going on a cruise), or self-actualization (hey, you were BORN to sail the high seas!).
Advertisers are trying to get us to meet our wants, but Jesus calls us to live differently. In the Lord’s Prayer, He tells the disciples to ask God for their daily bread. And now we’re back to the first question I asked: Have you ever given thought to what you need to live?
Obviously, we need air, food, and water to physically survive, and a safe place to live to protect us from the elements and those who might do us harm. But even within our needs are a range of things we need vs. those we just want. Let’s start with food, shall we? The three basic building blocks of nutrition are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats (any chemistry book will tell you this). You need protein, but does that mean you need to eat pheasant and steak every night when chicken and hamburger will do? If you want to go to an even more basic level, do you need animal proteins when vegetable proteins will do just as well?
So here’s part of my point: sometimes we confuse our standard of living for our basic needs, but only when it comes to ourselves. We have a much easier time telling others what their basic needs are.
Sider has a different view of a person’s basic needs. In Rich Christians, he talks about the life of the ancient Israelites and how they lived. They weren’t poor farmers struggling to survive. On what God thought as “necessary for life,” Sider says, “ ‘Necessities’ is not to be understood as the minimum necessary to keep from starving. In the non-hierarchical, relatively egalitarian society of small farmers... Families possessed resources to earn a living that would have been considered reasonable and acceptable, not embarrassingly minimal” (67). Later, he says, “Proverbs 30:8-9 is a marvelous summary: ‘Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full, and deny Thee, and say, ‘who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God’” (98).
While our most basic needs are for air, food, and water, what I’ve read over the past two months leads me to believe that God doesn’t want us to survive – He wants us to live and thrive. He wants us to have not just what it takes to survive, but a basic level of comfort that allows us balance, so we neither deny nor profane Him.
He doesn’t just want you and I to have that level of comfort though. God wants every other person He created to have that same level of comfort. Sider asks, “Are we not guilty of greed when we demand our ever-higher standard of living while neglecting millions of children who are starving to death each year?” (96). So when we give blankets to the homeless, when we ourselves have a spare bed at home, we’re being greedy. When we stockpile food so that we don’t bore our palates, but put only generic rice and dried beans in the food drive at work, we’re guilty of greed (I’m guilty of this one). We need to help others get to this basic level of comfort, but it’s going to take some sacrifice on our parts to do it:
“God’s people must practice self-denial to aid the poor and share the gospel. But we must maintain a Biblical balance. It is not because food, clothes, wealth, and property are inherently evil that Christians today must lower their standard of living. It is because others are starving. Creation is good. But the One who gave us this gorgeous token of affection has asked us to share it with our brothers and sisters” (98).
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Part 1
“Faith without works,
Like a song you can’t sing,
It’s about as useless as a screen door on a submarine.”
Screen Door, Rich Mullins
Of all the books I’ve read so far for this study of stewardship, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger is the one I’ve not only enjoyed the most, it’s also the one that has had the most impact on my own thoughts about stewardship. I’ll make a guess right now that of all the books I’ll read about stewardship this semester, this will be the one that impacts me the most.
Rich Christians looks at just about every aspect of stewardship through the lens of how our stewardship – or lack of it – affects the poor people of this world. The author, Ronald J. Sider, leaves no stone unturned in his quest to show the reader how what we do in the industrialized North either blesses or curses those in the developing South. In fact, this book is so complete, and everything I’ve ever wanted to tell people, that I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just buy all the copies I can find on Amazon and give them to people, instead of trying to write my own version. Sider covers the environment, finances, spiritual gifts, and time, and pretty much does away with any excuses we might have for not helping those in need.
We walk a fine line when it comes to a theology of salvation. By that, I mean that there are those who believe that they’re going to heaven simply because they’re good people. Romans 3:23-24 says “23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” So those people of the world who believe that they’re “good enough” on their own are, quite simply, wrong. Salvation comes through Jesus, since no one is “good enough”: “8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The great thing about this is that all you have to do is have faith in Jesus (that’s a little simplistic, but my intent is not to go into a whole explanation of how one becomes a Christ-follower) and God wipes the slate clean and one becomes as sinless as Jesus.
But for those of us who have been following Christ for a long time, we often forget that while our salvation isn’t based on works, how we demonstrate our faith is: “…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).
I don’t know why we forget this so often. I’m guilty of it too. The weird thing is that we look to Paul and James to teach us these things, but they are just telling us what Jesus already did:
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[a]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b]"
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
(Luke 10:25-29)
Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which a Jew traveling between Jerusalem and Jericho is robbed and beaten by thieves, who leave him for dead by the side of the road. A priest and a Levite both pass the victim and decide not to help him, but a Samaritan sees the man and takes pity on him. The Samaritan takes care of the Jew, putting him on his own donkey to get to a safe place to tend to the Jew’s injuries.
This is a radical concept for the Jews listening to Jesus right then: the Jews and the Samaritans hated each other at this time, and helping a Samaritan would probably have been worse than helping a Roman at the time (and you know how much the Jews liked the Romans, since they were occupying Israel at the time). If I understand the law correctly, just touching a Samaritan would make a Jew unclean, something that requires significant ritual and sacrifice to amend.
At the end of the parable, Jesus asks:
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
(Luke 10:36-37)
Jesus redefines the word “neighbor” in that moment, rescuing it from the warped, earthly notion that we have created for it. What Jesus is saying to the Jews, and to us, is that it doesn’t matter what we think about other races, colors, and cultures. It doesn’t matter what we think about someone’s religious beliefs. Our neighbor isn’t just our friend or the person who lives in the same homogenous neighborhood that we live in; our neighbor is whoever shows mercy on us.
Left to my own devices and mentality, I probably wouldn’t show mercy to many people, so I wouldn’t be a neighbor to many. You might be thinking that no one has been a neighbor to you, in that no one has shown you mercy. But Jesus, God Incarnate, has mercy on you, every single moment that you ask for it. Jesus picks us up from the side of the road, saves us from those who would harm us, and is our neighbor. And then he tells us to show mercy to others, to be a good neighbor to them.
John 13:34 puts it this way: “34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
All people will know that we follow Jesus because of what we do, not through the faith we profess with our mouths. We are saved by grace through faith, but faith without works is dead. Jesus calls us to be neighbors to all, to love one another, and we show our love by doing things for others.
Rich Christians takes on the argument that what we believe is more important than what we do, and Sider explains that faith and works must work in tandem in our lives. In the next few posts, I’ll show you what he says about the typical American Christian and how we can be better stewards. We are to be neighbors to the poor people of this world – as God has shown us mercy, so must we also show mercy to them.
Monday, September 29, 2008
The Bailout and Stewardship
"It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases."
Bono on the Bailout
This weekend, a friend of mine from New York was in Chicago, and I was able to take the train up there to visit her and another of our friends who lives in Elgin. Melissa commented that she hadn't seen any homeless people yet, which surprised her because homeless people were all over NYC.
As we strolled up the Magnificent Mile, I thought it was a little odd myself, but then again, I'm from a small city that isn't as busy as Chicago. The last time I was in Chicago, I only saw homeless people at night. So maybe they only come at at night.
Not but twenty minutes later, I heard a woman say, "Please, can someone help me?" I turned to see who was calling out, and this woman sat in the grass, holding a sign that said she was homeless and needed help. In the next fifteen minutes, I saw four other homeless people, including one elderly man, who looked barely conscious, in a wheelchair.
Cities, of course, are a study in contrasts. They always have been:
46Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. (Mark 10:46)
1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. (John 5:1-3)
Here we have two major cities in Israel, places of business and trade, and both have beggars. People probably passed these beggars all the time, so used to seeing the poor that they rarely noticed them, much less heard their cries.
That's kind of what it was like in Chicago this weekend. Here I was, surrounded by fancy hotels, upscale retail establishments, and museums out the wazoo. People swarmed by me (at one point, Melissa leaned over to me and said, "This is what a New York sidewalk looks like."). And yet, in the middle of all this money and style, people walked right on by the poor people, some of whom cried out for help.
To start this post, I quoted Bono, who wondered why we have so much money to bail out ailing business from the mortgage crisis, but no money to help prevent disease in children. Or why do we have so much money to bail out these businesses, but not enough money to pay for single payer health insurance, homelessness prevention, or aid for those in poverty around the world?
Our federal government showed its priorities in introducing this bail out package. Hint: it's not people.
The House of Representatives voted against the bill today:
House ignores Bush, rejects $700B bailout bill
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - In a stunning vote that shocked the capital and worldwide markets, the House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation's financial system, ignoring urgent warnings from President Bush and congressional leaders of both parties that the economy could nosedive without it. The Dow Jones industrials plunged nearly 800 points, the most ever for a single day.
Democratic and Republican leaders alike pledged to try again, though the Democrats said GOP lawmakers needed to provide more votes. Bush huddled with his economic advisers about a next step. The House was to reconvene on Thursday instead of adjourning for the year as planned.
Stocks began falling even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was officially announced on the House floor. The 777-point decline for the day surpassed the 721-point previous record, on the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, though in percentage terms it was well short of the drops on Black Monday of October 1987 and at the start of the Depression.
In the House chamber, as a digital screen recorded a cascade of "no" votes against the bailout, Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley of New York shouted news of the falling stocks. "Six hundred points!" he yelled, jabbing his thumb downward.
Bush and a host of leading congressional figures had implored the lawmakers to pass the legislation despite loud protest from their constituents back home. Not enough members were willing to take the political risk just five weeks before an election.
More than two-thirds of Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats opposed the bill.
The overriding question for congressional leaders was what to do next. Congress has been trying to adjourn so that its members can go out and campaign for the election that is just five weeks away.
"The legislation may have failed; the crisis is still with us," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a news conference after the defeat.
"What happened today cannot stand," Pelosi said. "We must move forward, and I hope that the markets will take that message."
At the White House, Bush said, "I'm disappointed in the vote. ... We've put forth a plan that was big because we've got a big problem." He pledged to keep pressing for a measure that Congress would pass.
Republicans blamed Pelosi's scathing speech near the close of the debate — which attacked Bush's economic policies and a "right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation" of financial markets — for the vote's failure.
"We could have gotten there today had it not been for the partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House," Minority Leader John Boehner said. Pelosi's words, the Ohio Republican said, "poisoned our conference, caused a number of members that we thought we could get, to go south."
Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the whip, estimated that Pelosi's speech changed the minds of a dozen Republicans who might otherwise have supported the plan.
That was a remarkable accusation by Republicans against Republicans, said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee: "Because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided to punish the country."
The presidential candidates kept close track — from afar.
In Colorado, Democrat Barack Obama said, "Democrats, Republicans, step up to the plate, get it done."
Republican John McCain spoke with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before leaving Ohio for a campaign stop in Iowa, a spokeswoman said.
The legislation the administration promoted would have allowed the government to buy bad mortgages and other rotten assets held by troubled banks and financial institutions. Getting those debts off their books should bolster those companies' balance sheets, making them more inclined to lend and easing one of the biggest choke points in the credit crisis. If the plan worked, the thinking went, it would help lift a major weight off the national economy that is already sputtering.
Monday's action had been preceded by unusually aggressive White House lobbying, and Fratto said that Bush had been making calls to lawmakers until shortly before the vote.
Bush and his economic advisers, as well as congressional leaders in both parties had argued the plan was vital to insulating ordinary Americans from the effects of Wall Street's bad bets. The version that was up for vote Monday was the product of marathon closed-door negotiations on Capitol Hill over the weekend.
"We're all worried about losing our jobs," Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., declared in an impassioned speech in support of the bill before the vote. "Most of us say, 'I want this thing to pass, but I want you to vote for it — not me.'"
Said Boehner, after the vote: "Americans are angry, and so are my colleagues. They don't want to have to vote for a bill like this. But I have concerns about what this means for the American people, what it means for our economy, and what it means for people's jobs. I think that we need to renew our efforts to find a solution that Congress can support."
I got an email today from my cousin that has a solution. Congress might not support it, but I'm betting the rest of America would:
Good afternoon my fellow Americans,
I'm against the $85,000,000,000..00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.
To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might b e a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000.00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college - it'll be there
Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create jobs
Invest in the market - capital drives growth
Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other com pany that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( "vote buy" ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG - liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.
Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work."
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion!
My "We Deserve It Dividend" is more deserving for US, than the "geniuses" at AIG or in Washington DC!!!
And remember, The Brannon plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
Kindest personal regards,
Stephen T Brannon -- A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic
PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how WE ordinary people can think better than our current government representatives and could develop a much better economic bail-out plan!!!
Of course, this email was a joke (sort of), but it shows how ridiculous the whole thing is. These companies were poor stewards of their money and made bad loans to people who wanted cheap payments on mortgages they couldn't afford. When the recession began and people couldn't make their house payments, the mortgage companies started to see the results of their bad stewardship. And now they want to be saved.
Instead of saving a few companies from their own stupidity, why don't we save some people from their poverty? Why can't we use that money to help sick people pay their doctors bills, or buy homes for those who have had to choose between food and a mortgage payment? Maybe we should help developing countries with their food supplies instead of making sure a few presidents and CEOs don't lose their homes and cars.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Themes in Stewardship
I've just finished the fifth book I'm reading for this class and will be writing about it more later, but I've noticed some common themes in what I've read so far:
These are just a few of the similarities. Discussions on being a good steward of time, the Sabbath, environment, and spiritual gifts show more similarities. I've also read a lot more about Adam Smith and Karl Marx than I expected I would, but when one is talking about stewardship, finances and the economy are usually where people start.
Sider's Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, which I'll be posting about next, talks about this idea of a third way. Both authors spell it out pretty clearly - this third way is the way of sacrifice and sharing. This doesn't mean socialism or communism, at least not in the sense Marx intended and how we understand it today. Volf and Sider are talking about the way the earliest Christians lived. They held property, but sold it if one of them, or if anyone in their community, had a need. They lived together and took care of each other. They gave money to the poor. This third way is a generosity so wide it allows us to sell our cars, diamond rings, and houses so that we might make sure that a family had groceries, or a child could have emergency surgery.
They also stressed that Christians should not work only to satisfy their own needs, but also in order to have something to share with their needy fellow human beings (Volf, 72).
First, God wants all people to have the productive resources to be able to earn a decent living and be dignified members of their community. Second, God wants the rest of us to provide a generous share of the necessities of life to those who cannot work (Ronald J. Sider, 86)
Correspondingly, the mere refusal of the wealthy to aid the poor can be considered a criminal act [Ezekiel 16:49](Volf, 194).
He [Jesus] fed the hungry. And he warned his followers in the strongest possible words that those who do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoners will experience eternal damnation [Matthew 25:31-46](Sider, 47).
These are just a few of the similarities. Discussions on being a good steward of time, the Sabbath, environment, and spiritual gifts show more similarities. I've also read a lot more about Adam Smith and Karl Marx than I expected I would, but when one is talking about stewardship, finances and the economy are usually where people start.
People are increasingly aware that the tradition that Smith started does not have solutions to some major problems plaguing the world today (such as widespread abject poverty, dehumanization, and global ecological disaster). The Marxist brand of socialism being completely discredited, the capitalism being completely inadequate, concerned people worldwide are searching for a still-elusive third way (Volf, x).
Sider's Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, which I'll be posting about next, talks about this idea of a third way. Both authors spell it out pretty clearly - this third way is the way of sacrifice and sharing. This doesn't mean socialism or communism, at least not in the sense Marx intended and how we understand it today. Volf and Sider are talking about the way the earliest Christians lived. They held property, but sold it if one of them, or if anyone in their community, had a need. They lived together and took care of each other. They gave money to the poor. This third way is a generosity so wide it allows us to sell our cars, diamond rings, and houses so that we might make sure that a family had groceries, or a child could have emergency surgery.
Doing One Thing Well (Work in the Spirit, Part 3)
Plato grasped the many benefits of the division of labor very well when he said that "all things are produced more plentifully and easily and of a better quality when one man does one thing which is natural to him and does it at the right time, and leaves other things" (31).
I am not a Supermom. I refuse to ever be a Supermom. I love my son, but I cannot do it all. I am a full time wife, mom, employee, and student. He always has clean clothes (though sometimes he has to wear jeans in shorts weather), but his room is another story. For me to do all of these things, something has to drop. As a result, my house usually looks like it's been hit by a tornado. Last night, I did squat. Actually, last night I did the absolute most important thing in the world - I sat on the couch with Liam cuddled in my lap. We read books, we talked to grandma and papa on the phone, and we tickled each other. I had other things I should have been doing, but my priority was him.
We are not Superhumans, and no individual can do everything. Oh, we try. And then we get severely burned out, or depressed, or angry at others. There are a million and one things you can do in a day, but you only have 24 hours to do them. Some of you don't get enough sleep or relaxation as it is (you know who you are).
Division of labor is a good thing. Think about everything you'd have to do if we had to do everything ourselves. Make a peanut butter sandwich? Not so easy when you have to make the bread and the peanut butter on your own. Especially not so easy when you have to grow the peanuts, wheat (flour), sugarcane (sugar), vegetables (for veg oil), and other assorted grains that go into bread. Add jelly to the mix, and you're screwed. With division of labor, you can pay someone else to make the bread and peanut butter for you, saving you time and energy to do whatever it is you do all day. This is what keeps all those companies in business, and allows us to buy the things we need - like peanut butter and bread.
But Plato's emphasis wasn't on making money; it was on someone focusing her time and attention on making one thing of a better quality and more plentifully, because making that thing is natural to her, it's done at the right time, and she leaves other thing for others to do.
Volf ties this in with a theology of work because this ties in very well with spiritual gifts. We don't all have the same gifts. There are things I can do, like administration and teaching, but they aren't my primary gifts and I don't really enjoy doing them. On the other hand, two of my top gifts seem to be giving and mercy - so, if you want my help, show me pictures of starving people or a homeless man sleeping on the street in the middle of February. You'll get your money (just make sure to have some Kleenex handy). The point is that there are some things we should do - must do - because we have the gifts and skills to do them, and there are some things we should leave alone because we are neither gifted nor talented in those areas. Plumbers don't build houses and carpenters don't fix toilets. If you are gifted in evangelism, why would you even think about doing administration stuff?
Using our gifts is a natural process. I am a better giver than my husband, but he is better at showing hospitality to others than I am. Where one of us leaves something, another will do that. In this way, we all fit together, much like a puzzle. It's a complete picture when our grooves and lines fit together and not one of us is missing.
What you are gifted to do, do and do it well. Leave the rest to those of us who have those gifts.
Work as Vocation (Work in the Spirit, Part 2)
One of the things I really liked about Work in the Spirit is that Volf redefines the role of work in the life of Christian. You might have a heard a Christian say they are called to be this or that, as in "God has called me to be a doctor" or "I've felt called to the ministry since I was ten." This is why a lot of Christians might call their job a vocation instead of just a job; they believe that God has called them to that line of work.
Volf argues that we should look at work not as a calling, but as an expression of our spiritual gifts:
In contrast to this is the view of work as a vocation, in which you feel called to one thing and stick to it. You might be miserable in your work, but if you find something else, then you might feel as if you are disobeying God.
I didn't get the impression that Volf was completely arguing against the concept of being called to so something, but rather that he was arguing more for being called - and able - to do many different things because of how we are gifted.
My husband has felt called to be in ministry as long as I've known him (so have I, so that works out well for us). Over the years, that call has been more defined as youth ministry. He gets along with adolescents pretty well, and he'll tell you (if you know him well enough) that he shares a brain with most adolescents. He enjoyed doing volunteer youth ministry, but the few times he's been the youth pastor haven't been quite as enjoyable (paid youth ministry involves a lot less working with kids and a lot more pacifying of parents). In a complete 180, he's now waiting tables in a fancy Asian place here in town. It's one of those jobs that people work typically as a stepping stone or a side job, but for him, it's neither. This is his real job, and it pays like a real job. Jeff's gifts lie in hospitality and helps - does it surprise you that he likes his job then? He's a great waiter; yes, I'm biased, but I've seen him in action. Oh, and other people will tell you the same thing, as he has regulars who ask for him to wait on them. Waiting tables would wear me out emotionally and spiritually, but I'm an extreme introvert (those of you who know me in real life are probably laughing at this, but think about when you first met me and how little I talked to you or looked you in the eye. And how quickly I escaped.) and people wear me out. For my husband, people are energizing. I'm extremely content to sit in an office all day long and not talk to another soul, but that would kill Jeff.
Jeff's worked a lot of jobs over the course of the 17 years I've known him, and the jobs he's been happiest at have been the ones that allow him to use his gifts to wait on others. He has a MBA, and he's happier and less stressed now (working what some would consider "not a real job") than he was when he was in a "real job."
For the Christian, ministry happens everywhere, and believers don't have to be pastors to do ministry. In fact, Jesus calls all of us to be ministers:
You might not be called to or gifted for liturgical work, but you are still expected to be minister to others. You can do this in any job.
When you base your life on being called to a certain job, it's stifling and can be guilt-inducing. And what happens if you are forced to resign or fired? Were you ever really called to that job, or did someone get it wrong (either the decision to hire or fire you)? The best thing about Volf's redefinition of this issue is that it's liberating. There's a freedom in doing work that uses the gifts you've been given, and there's a freedom in knowing that you can change jobs at any time and switch to using other gifts - without guilt.
Volf argues that we should look at work not as a calling, but as an expression of our spiritual gifts:
In accordance with the plurality of charisms, there can be a plurality of employment or jobs without any of them being regarded theologically as inferior, or a mere "job on the side" (117).
In contrast to this is the view of work as a vocation, in which you feel called to one thing and stick to it. You might be miserable in your work, but if you find something else, then you might feel as if you are disobeying God.
I didn't get the impression that Volf was completely arguing against the concept of being called to so something, but rather that he was arguing more for being called - and able - to do many different things because of how we are gifted.
My husband has felt called to be in ministry as long as I've known him (so have I, so that works out well for us). Over the years, that call has been more defined as youth ministry. He gets along with adolescents pretty well, and he'll tell you (if you know him well enough) that he shares a brain with most adolescents. He enjoyed doing volunteer youth ministry, but the few times he's been the youth pastor haven't been quite as enjoyable (paid youth ministry involves a lot less working with kids and a lot more pacifying of parents). In a complete 180, he's now waiting tables in a fancy Asian place here in town. It's one of those jobs that people work typically as a stepping stone or a side job, but for him, it's neither. This is his real job, and it pays like a real job. Jeff's gifts lie in hospitality and helps - does it surprise you that he likes his job then? He's a great waiter; yes, I'm biased, but I've seen him in action. Oh, and other people will tell you the same thing, as he has regulars who ask for him to wait on them. Waiting tables would wear me out emotionally and spiritually, but I'm an extreme introvert (those of you who know me in real life are probably laughing at this, but think about when you first met me and how little I talked to you or looked you in the eye. And how quickly I escaped.) and people wear me out. For my husband, people are energizing. I'm extremely content to sit in an office all day long and not talk to another soul, but that would kill Jeff.
Jeff's worked a lot of jobs over the course of the 17 years I've known him, and the jobs he's been happiest at have been the ones that allow him to use his gifts to wait on others. He has a MBA, and he's happier and less stressed now (working what some would consider "not a real job") than he was when he was in a "real job."
For the Christian, ministry happens everywhere, and believers don't have to be pastors to do ministry. In fact, Jesus calls all of us to be ministers:
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20)
You might not be called to or gifted for liturgical work, but you are still expected to be minister to others. You can do this in any job.
When you base your life on being called to a certain job, it's stifling and can be guilt-inducing. And what happens if you are forced to resign or fired? Were you ever really called to that job, or did someone get it wrong (either the decision to hire or fire you)? The best thing about Volf's redefinition of this issue is that it's liberating. There's a freedom in doing work that uses the gifts you've been given, and there's a freedom in knowing that you can change jobs at any time and switch to using other gifts - without guilt.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Quote of the Day
"Americans always do the right thing, after they've exhausted every other alternative."
Andrew Sullivan on Real Time with Bill Maher, September 19, 2008
Andrew Sullivan on Real Time with Bill Maher, September 19, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Work in the Spirit, Part 1
I'll probably get back to Irresistible Revolution for one or two more posts, but I want to start talking about Miroslav Volf's Work in the Spirit (so I'm only one book behind what I'm reading, ha).
I like my job. For the past year, I've been a Research Associate for our state's General Assembly. I research questions for people and write letters explaining the research. Like any job, it has its bad days, but I'm doing something that I enjoy and I'm getting paid for it. There's the added bonus that I adore the people I work with, who are not just smart, but are some of the absolute nicest people I've ever met who go out of their ways to help everyone else out. I can't say enough good things about this place or the work I do.
My life hasn't always been that way. Up until August of last year, I was a bank teller. In itself, it wasn't a bad job. I was there for eight years, and the first three were pretty good. Then we had a few situations with other employees that made the work environment go downhill. Add to that long-term employees who hate their jobs and are bitter towards the company they work for, plus customers who don't like the policy changes, and you have a job that's not fun in any sense of the word. Oh, and let's add co-workers who would just as soon kick you in the teeth as look at you, and you have a pretty good idea of what my job at the bank was like.
After I graduated from UIS in 2006, I spent a year looking for a job, but there wasn't much to do in Springfield with the degree I had, and I really didn't want to settle for any old job. I wanted one that I would enjoy.
This brings me to the reason behind this post. I have been telling people for years that no one should have to settle for just any job. We are all gifted and talented in certain areas, and "called" to do something. When you spend 40 hours (or more) a week at a place, you should enjoy being there. It won't be fun every single day, but it should be something that you enjoy doing and can do well, using the gifts and talents that you have. Why, then, do so many people settle for jobs they don't enjoy, or worse yet, hate?
This is what I liked so much about Work in the Spirit - it validated what I've been saying.
According to Volf, work shouldn't be a place where you turn off your spiritual gifts. In fact, one should use their gifts at work whether or not they work in the church. And here's another gem:
A few posts back, I listed the more commonly known gifts. Generally, when Christians take a spiritual gifts inventory, these gifts are listed. Sometimes there are a few more than that, defined by Scripture and added according to what the author thinks should be included. The last inventory I took had the gift of writing on there, which was one of my top three gifts. I'm not sure I'd define writing as a gift so much as a talent, but it becomes important for me personally because either way, I'm using a gift or a talent to earn money. I'm using a skill I've acquired and practiced over the years (if you go to the very beginning of the blog, you can see how my creative writing skills were honed over my last semester as an undergrad) to earn a living. I hope to continue to do so throughout my life. And I don't work in the church.
Do I think I'll be at this job forever? Probably not. I think God has put me here right now to learn. I'm learning here, I'm learning a ton in school, and I think God is preparing me for what will come next. But it's enough that He's put me here right now and I can still use the gifts He's given me.
Do you enjoy what you do each day? If you could do any job in the world, would it be the one you're doing now? If the answer is an emphatic no, then start looking for another job. I know that's not easy right now, but you are worth the trouble of finding somewhere else to work. If you're miserable in your job, you don't have to be. If all that's standing in the way of you getting a job you enjoy is a college degree, then go get one. If it's money, ask yourself if the money you're making is worth the stress you feel each day you stay at a place you hate. Think of what you could give up to have a more enjoyable working environment. Having cable tv, a cell phone, internet service, a larger house, etc., aren't worth the stress of a bad job.
I like my job. For the past year, I've been a Research Associate for our state's General Assembly. I research questions for people and write letters explaining the research. Like any job, it has its bad days, but I'm doing something that I enjoy and I'm getting paid for it. There's the added bonus that I adore the people I work with, who are not just smart, but are some of the absolute nicest people I've ever met who go out of their ways to help everyone else out. I can't say enough good things about this place or the work I do.
My life hasn't always been that way. Up until August of last year, I was a bank teller. In itself, it wasn't a bad job. I was there for eight years, and the first three were pretty good. Then we had a few situations with other employees that made the work environment go downhill. Add to that long-term employees who hate their jobs and are bitter towards the company they work for, plus customers who don't like the policy changes, and you have a job that's not fun in any sense of the word. Oh, and let's add co-workers who would just as soon kick you in the teeth as look at you, and you have a pretty good idea of what my job at the bank was like.
After I graduated from UIS in 2006, I spent a year looking for a job, but there wasn't much to do in Springfield with the degree I had, and I really didn't want to settle for any old job. I wanted one that I would enjoy.
This brings me to the reason behind this post. I have been telling people for years that no one should have to settle for just any job. We are all gifted and talented in certain areas, and "called" to do something. When you spend 40 hours (or more) a week at a place, you should enjoy being there. It won't be fun every single day, but it should be something that you enjoy doing and can do well, using the gifts and talents that you have. Why, then, do so many people settle for jobs they don't enjoy, or worse yet, hate?
This is what I liked so much about Work in the Spirit - it validated what I've been saying.
...Since the whole life of a Christian is by definition a life in the Spirit, work cannot be an exception, whether that work is ecclesiastical or secular (viii).
According to Volf, work shouldn't be a place where you turn off your spiritual gifts. In fact, one should use their gifts at work whether or not they work in the church. And here's another gem:
One should not define charisma so narrowly as to include in the term only ecclesiastical activities (111).
A few posts back, I listed the more commonly known gifts. Generally, when Christians take a spiritual gifts inventory, these gifts are listed. Sometimes there are a few more than that, defined by Scripture and added according to what the author thinks should be included. The last inventory I took had the gift of writing on there, which was one of my top three gifts. I'm not sure I'd define writing as a gift so much as a talent, but it becomes important for me personally because either way, I'm using a gift or a talent to earn money. I'm using a skill I've acquired and practiced over the years (if you go to the very beginning of the blog, you can see how my creative writing skills were honed over my last semester as an undergrad) to earn a living. I hope to continue to do so throughout my life. And I don't work in the church.
Do I think I'll be at this job forever? Probably not. I think God has put me here right now to learn. I'm learning here, I'm learning a ton in school, and I think God is preparing me for what will come next. But it's enough that He's put me here right now and I can still use the gifts He's given me.
Do you enjoy what you do each day? If you could do any job in the world, would it be the one you're doing now? If the answer is an emphatic no, then start looking for another job. I know that's not easy right now, but you are worth the trouble of finding somewhere else to work. If you're miserable in your job, you don't have to be. If all that's standing in the way of you getting a job you enjoy is a college degree, then go get one. If it's money, ask yourself if the money you're making is worth the stress you feel each day you stay at a place you hate. Think of what you could give up to have a more enjoyable working environment. Having cable tv, a cell phone, internet service, a larger house, etc., aren't worth the stress of a bad job.
Missed Opportunities
Do you ever feel like you've missed an opportunity to serve or be a good steward?
I do. I try not to let it happen too often because I get a case of the guilts and "what ifs?". And since I think I missed an opportunity last night, I'm living both right now.
Let me give you some background: Three years ago, I took a class that included some study of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I haven't kept a really close watch on either country since then, but have made a mental note whenever Haiti's been mentioned in the news, mainly because it's such a poor country. When the price of food skyrocketed earlier this year, there were riots in Haiti. Since then, Haiti's been on my mind, especially in the past month as the people try to recover from four severe storms.
Last night was a nice night, so the front door was opened to get some fresh air in the house. I was in the kitchen when I heard this noise outside the screen door, and this young woman comes bouncing up to the door saying hello. Turns out she was selling magazines. She introduced herself, and between her name and her accent, I decided she was probably Haitian (which is odd, because I don't know that I've been around a lot of Haitians to recognize the accent). As part of her schpiel, she said, "I know it's you buying a magazine, but what it really is is you investing in a life." I kept my eyeroll to myself; even though I didn't want any magazines, I try to be polite to people who sell stuff for a living.
Anyway, as I was looking at the list of magazines, she asks, "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Well, sure, you can ask me a personal question," I told her, in the tone of voice that I hope conveyed I might not give her the answer.
"What was your first job? This is my first job, and I wondered what yours was."
OK, that brought me up short. Of all the questions she could have asked me, I wasn't expecting that one. So I told her that my first real job (not counting all the babysitting gigs I'd done before) was working in a greenhouse. I decided that since we were asking personal questions, I'd take my turn as well. "You have a very interesting accent. Where are you from?"
"Oh, I'm from Haiti."
"Do you still have family there?"
"Yes. My father and grandmother are still there."
At this point I looked up from the list of magazines I was still perusing. "Are they OK?"
"Yes, they're both OK and safe."
"Good. I'm glad to hear that."
I didn't buy any magazines. I told her to come back sometime next week and between now and then I'd think about it. I could tell she was disappointed, but honestly, I don't need or want any magazines. I subscribe to one already, and I barely have time to read it anymore. Magazines aren't something I tend to buy someone as a gift unless I know as specific one to get. So I didn't lie to her. I just had the intention of thinking, "Yeah, I don't need any more magazines. Now, how do I tell her politely so that she doesn't try to wear me down with the rest of her sales pitch?"
Let me tell you what I've really been thinking: first, I told God why I shouldn't feel guilty about saying no, then I said that the whole 'investing in a life' thing was bull. If I wanted to invest in a life, I wouldn't do it by buying a magazine subscription. In my opinion, that was designed by some slick sales manager somewhere who wanted to guilt people into buying magazines. I'm trying to unclutter my life and spend less money, so I don't need another ream of paper lying around collecting dust!
But the more I thought about it, the more I think I made a mistake. I don't know what company this was that she was selling magazines for, but she told me very clearly that she was trying to become a manager, and this was how I could help her. I don't so much care about that - I mean, yeah, I'd like her to do well, but I think there's got to be a better way than going door to door selling magazines. But that's just my opinion, and selling things door to door is a valid way to make money. What I care about is this 'investing in a life' statement. What if she came to America to make some money so that she could take care of her family in Haiti? If I buy a magazine subscription, it could help her become a manager with this company, and she'd be able to send more money to her family. Haitians need all the help they can get right now, and that's how I figure this might have been a missed opportunity for me to be a better steward.
I've been praying for God to help me be a better steward. If you've ever prayed for patience, then you know how this goes - you pray to have it, so God sends you an opportunity to live it. (Can I say that it's sort of like being thrown in a pool without knowing how to swim?) The fortunate part is that even though we miss one opportunity, God keeps sending more your way, and eventually you catch on that this is the way God is training you to do something (at least that's how it is with me, but I'm a "learn by doing" person. Hey, see how I threw that in there, Eric?!). Sometimes it's not pretty, sometimes you miss, but God keeps sending opportunities.
I hope she comes back next week like I asked. I'll find something I like or something as a gift, but I'll do my best not to miss it the next time it comes around.
I do. I try not to let it happen too often because I get a case of the guilts and "what ifs?". And since I think I missed an opportunity last night, I'm living both right now.
Let me give you some background: Three years ago, I took a class that included some study of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I haven't kept a really close watch on either country since then, but have made a mental note whenever Haiti's been mentioned in the news, mainly because it's such a poor country. When the price of food skyrocketed earlier this year, there were riots in Haiti. Since then, Haiti's been on my mind, especially in the past month as the people try to recover from four severe storms.
Last night was a nice night, so the front door was opened to get some fresh air in the house. I was in the kitchen when I heard this noise outside the screen door, and this young woman comes bouncing up to the door saying hello. Turns out she was selling magazines. She introduced herself, and between her name and her accent, I decided she was probably Haitian (which is odd, because I don't know that I've been around a lot of Haitians to recognize the accent). As part of her schpiel, she said, "I know it's you buying a magazine, but what it really is is you investing in a life." I kept my eyeroll to myself; even though I didn't want any magazines, I try to be polite to people who sell stuff for a living.
Anyway, as I was looking at the list of magazines, she asks, "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Well, sure, you can ask me a personal question," I told her, in the tone of voice that I hope conveyed I might not give her the answer.
"What was your first job? This is my first job, and I wondered what yours was."
OK, that brought me up short. Of all the questions she could have asked me, I wasn't expecting that one. So I told her that my first real job (not counting all the babysitting gigs I'd done before) was working in a greenhouse. I decided that since we were asking personal questions, I'd take my turn as well. "You have a very interesting accent. Where are you from?"
"Oh, I'm from Haiti."
"Do you still have family there?"
"Yes. My father and grandmother are still there."
At this point I looked up from the list of magazines I was still perusing. "Are they OK?"
"Yes, they're both OK and safe."
"Good. I'm glad to hear that."
I didn't buy any magazines. I told her to come back sometime next week and between now and then I'd think about it. I could tell she was disappointed, but honestly, I don't need or want any magazines. I subscribe to one already, and I barely have time to read it anymore. Magazines aren't something I tend to buy someone as a gift unless I know as specific one to get. So I didn't lie to her. I just had the intention of thinking, "Yeah, I don't need any more magazines. Now, how do I tell her politely so that she doesn't try to wear me down with the rest of her sales pitch?"
Let me tell you what I've really been thinking: first, I told God why I shouldn't feel guilty about saying no, then I said that the whole 'investing in a life' thing was bull. If I wanted to invest in a life, I wouldn't do it by buying a magazine subscription. In my opinion, that was designed by some slick sales manager somewhere who wanted to guilt people into buying magazines. I'm trying to unclutter my life and spend less money, so I don't need another ream of paper lying around collecting dust!
But the more I thought about it, the more I think I made a mistake. I don't know what company this was that she was selling magazines for, but she told me very clearly that she was trying to become a manager, and this was how I could help her. I don't so much care about that - I mean, yeah, I'd like her to do well, but I think there's got to be a better way than going door to door selling magazines. But that's just my opinion, and selling things door to door is a valid way to make money. What I care about is this 'investing in a life' statement. What if she came to America to make some money so that she could take care of her family in Haiti? If I buy a magazine subscription, it could help her become a manager with this company, and she'd be able to send more money to her family. Haitians need all the help they can get right now, and that's how I figure this might have been a missed opportunity for me to be a better steward.
I've been praying for God to help me be a better steward. If you've ever prayed for patience, then you know how this goes - you pray to have it, so God sends you an opportunity to live it. (Can I say that it's sort of like being thrown in a pool without knowing how to swim?) The fortunate part is that even though we miss one opportunity, God keeps sending more your way, and eventually you catch on that this is the way God is training you to do something (at least that's how it is with me, but I'm a "learn by doing" person. Hey, see how I threw that in there, Eric?!). Sometimes it's not pretty, sometimes you miss, but God keeps sending opportunities.
I hope she comes back next week like I asked. I'll find something I like or something as a gift, but I'll do my best not to miss it the next time it comes around.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Downsizing the Dream (Irresistible Revolution, Part 3)
But we live in a world that has lost its appreciation for small things. We live in a world that wants things bigger and bigger. We want to supersize out fries, sodas, and church buildings (25).
I'm one of those people who falls into the "bigger is better" traps all the time. It's not healthy. I mean, think about it: you want your fries and your coke biggie size? Have you seen the amount of calories in that stuff? And locked in all those calories is the potential for weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, stroke, etc. Physically, it's not healthy.
It's not healthy spiritually either. We can lose our perspective. Bigger churches can allow us to think that everyone lives like us. We spend all our money on building bigger buildings when we should really be using that money to help others. We think we need more space, when the better answer might be meeting together at different times, instead of all at the same time. Bigger things spoil us and make us think more highly of ourselves.
We live in a consumer culture with enough stuff gathering dust on our shelves (32).
I have stuff I don't use. About a year ago, I started cleaning out all this stuff. I think it started with magazines I'd been holding on to for one or two recipes. One day, I decided enough was enough and I cut the recipes out, put them all in one place, and recycled those magazines. Then I recycled old computer magazines that hadn't been looked at for a few years. After that it was toiletries and clothes, some of my son's old toys, and then I went through drawers and got rid of stuff in there.
I try not to think of all the money I spent on those things I was getting rid of. That's money that could have been saved for something obviously more important.
And that's the key: we have all these things we spend out money on, and most of them become stuff gathering dust on our shelves. I'm not against knick-knacks (completely) or books, but some of these things were made just to look pretty. That's their sole function. How do we have enough money to buy stuff that gathers dust, but no money to buy a homeless guy a meal?
So I would suggest we need a third way, neither the prosperity gospel nor the poverty gospel, but the gospel of abundance rooted in the theology of enough (172).
For those of you who don't know what the prosperity gospel is, it's the theory that God wants you to be rich. Some call it "name it and claim it" theology - tell God what you want and claim it in His name.
The prosperity gospel also has been called the "name it and claim it" theology. God wants His people to prosper, evangelists like [Joyce] Meyer maintain. Those who follow God and give generously to his ministries can have anything, and everything, they want.
Meyer spends most of her three-day conferences on lessons in giving, and she is blunt when she addresses what the critics say about her seed-faith interpretation of the Bible. She says that those preachers who believe that to be godly is to be poor are the ones who have it wrong.
"Why would He (God) want all of His people poverty stricken while all of the people that aren't living for God have everything?" Meyer said. "I think it's old religious thinking, and I believe the devil uses it to keep people from wanting to serve God."
Bill Smith and Carolyn Tuft,"The Prosperity Gospel." The St. Louis Post Dispatch, 9/18/03
I don't think God wants us any of us to live in poverty - nor do I think he wants everyone to be rich. I don't think he really wants anyone to be rich when there are hungry and homeless people in the world. It's quite obvious that He has allowed some of His followers to be rich. When God asked Solomon what he wanted, Solomon asked for wisdom. God gave him wisdom, but also made the young king rich beyond even our wildest dreams. But Solomon was the exception rather then the rule, and the Bible is full of people who had what they needed, but they certainly weren't rich.
The point that Claiborne is making is that we need balance. Jesus told us that when we pray we should ask for our daily bread; we should ask for the things we need, not the luxuries we want. God may provide much more than we need, or He may not.
After all, what's crazier: one person owning the same amount of money as the combined economies of twenty countries, or suggesting that if we shared, there would be enough for everyone (344)?
It's crazy to suggest we share. After all, that sounds like communism.
But sharing is better than waste. How many times have you spent money on groceries, only to have a loaf of bread or a head of cauliflower go bad? I have, and I'm ashamed. If I had planned ahead, I wouldn't have allowed that to happen.
This is why we need to share. We have an abundance of resources in America, and every day some of them go to waste because we have a surplus we don't know how to use. The surplus is there because we demand more and bigger, and we demand more and bigger because we've always had more than we need.
Is this really what it's all about? Is that really the American Dream?
We knew that the world cannot afford the American dream and that the Good News is that there is another dream (119).
Irresistible Revolution, Part 2
We have to ask who the invisible people are. Who makes our clothes? Who picks our vegetables? And how are they treated? Growing up, I was told not to wear a t-shirt that advertised a band unless I agreed with what they stood for, but I was never told to do the same with companies I advertised inadvertently. What do they stand for? What gospel do they proclaim?
(Irresistible Revolution, 301)
The change of seasons brings about that incurable urge to shop for new clothes. Well, in most people it does. Personally, I usually despise clothes shopping (for myself), and only do it when I really need something. Even then, I wait.
I need a new pair of jeans. I only have two pairs. One pair fits like it was cut by a toddler, and the other pair I like but I'm not comfortable in them (they're a little too slim cut for my tastes). Since I can wear jeans to work, and because in a few weeks I'm going to have to put my beach-themed capris away until next spring, I need jeans.
But how do I buy clothes and become a better steward? Claiborne brings up a great point here about the invisible people of the world. We don't see how other people are treated in the fit or color of the clothes we buy, but our purchasing choices determine
which companies make money and reinforce how they treat their employees.
Sweatshops still exist all over the world. You've probably heard that Nike, Disney, and Gap (just to name a few) are some of the worst offenders for products made in sweatshops. But did you know sweatshops are in the US? Yeah, that's right, the good old "land of the free and the home of the brave". So even something that's made in America could be made in near-slavery conditions.
Shopping isn't simple, is it? While we want to cut down on what we buy, there are some things we simply have to have.
What about the people who harvest the vegetables and fruit we eat? Consider this article about Burger King:
Burger King Grants Raises to Pickers
By ANDREW MARTIN
Published: May 24, 2008
After a contentious battle that included allegations of spying, Burger King announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement to improve the wages and working conditions of tomato pickers in Florida.
At a news conference on Capitol Hill, the hamburger chain, based in Miami, said it would pay tomato prices adequate to give workers a wage increase of 1.5 cents a pound. A penny a pound will go into the workers’ pockets. The extra half-cent is intended to cover additional payroll taxes and administrative costs for tomato growers.
The 1-cent increase means that for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, the workers will earn 77 cents, instead of 45 cents. That is a 71 percent increase, the first substantial one in decades for the workers. At the old wage, a farm workers’ group said, the pickers typically earned $10,000 to $12,000 a year.
“If the Florida tomato industry is to be sustainable long term, it must become more socially responsible,” said Amy Wagner, a senior vice president at Burger King. She estimated that the wage boost would cost Burger King about $300,000 a year.
In a statement, Burger King’s chief executive, John W. Chidsey, said he was sorry for previous negative remarks directed toward an activist group that has fought on behalf of the pickers, the Coalition for Immokalee Workers. Immokalee is a town in southwest Florida where many of the farm workers live in decrepit shacks and trailers.
Mr. Chidsey praised the workers’ organization as “being on the forefront of efforts to improve farm labor conditions, exposing abuses and driving socially responsible purchasing and work practices in the Florida tomato fields.”
McDonalds and Yum Brands, the parent of Taco Bell, had already agreed to similar deals. But it remained unclear on Friday if workers would receive the pay increase, because Florida tomato growers had resisted it.
The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, which represents 90 percent of the state’s tomato growers, told The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla., on Thursday that it was withdrawing its threat of imposing $100,000 fines on members who provided a penny-a-pound pay raise.
Reggie Brown, the exchange’s executive vice president, told the Florida newspaper that he remained troubled by legal questions prompted by the raise and was advising members not to participate.
Mr. Brown could not be located for comment on Friday.
The announcement was hailed by some members of Congress and by farm workers’ organizations, who had waged a vigorous campaign that included petition drives and Congressional hearings.
Senator Bernard Sanders, an Independent of Vermont, said the working conditions of the tomato pickers were a “national and international embarrassment,” and he praised Burger King for agreeing to raise wages.
“We all know that this has been a long and hard road for Burger King,” he said.
Lucas Benitez, of the Coalition for Immokalee Workers, said he was thankful that Burger King agreed to the wage increase, and he said his group would now set its sights on other restaurant chains and grocery retailers who continue to pay wages his group regards as substandard.
Noting that some of those companies market themselves as being socially responsible, Mr. Benitez, co-founder of the farm workers’ group, said, “It is time for those companies to live out the true meaning of their marketers’ words.
Friday’s announcement was a sharp departure for Burger King, which had vigorously fought increasing its tomato costs. Burger King acknowledged, for instance, that it had hired a private security firm to obtain information about student and farm worker organizations that were demanding price increases. The company has since severed its ties to the security firm.
I'm glad Burger King increased it wages to their workers, but what about other companies. Who do we support when we spend our money, and what does that say about what we believe?
In my Environmental Ethics class, we've been talking about Is vs. Ought. I am a staunch pessimist and talk a lot about what ought to be. The land of what is pisses me off, but we can't ignore it. I think stewardship encompasses a lot of this Is vs. Ought dilemma, in that in moving towards better stewardship, we move from what is to what ought to be - for example, moving from being huge consumers to being moderate consumers.
I stand for what ought to be - a world where people are treated like humans instead of 3/5 of a man. In order to encourage that change, I need to use my purchasing power to support those companies that already have that ethic.
What can you do? What do you stand for?
Monday, September 15, 2008
The aftermath of Ike
As most of you know, this past weekend a little thing called Hurricane Ike blew through Galveston Island and Houston, Texas. If you're in the Midwest like me, you caught the tail end of Ike in the form a very wet Sunday.
I feel bad for the people in Texas who got caught in this and I hope they are able to recover and rebuild. I know there were some people who refused to leave the island, and to be honest, I find it a little more difficult to be compassionate towards them because they were not only able to leave the island, they were mandated to leave it. And honestly, didn't they learn anything from Katrina?
Consider this: while some people in Texas chose not to leave their homes, the people of Haiti, hit by 4 storms in the past month, weren't able to leave.
The whole point of this blog is not only to write (and rant) about my thoughts on stewardship, but to encourage those of you reading this to be better stewards. Right now I want to encourage you to send money to a relief organization that will be helping the people of Haiti recover and rebuild. These poor people had it hard enough before these four storms, and this will only increase their food shortages and poverty.
Where you can help (links go straight to donation pages):
Doctors without Borders
The Greater Good (on the Hunger Site)
World Vision
Please think about what you can do to help. Right now, Haiti and her people need the world's compassion. And if your heart isn't led to help Haiti, then maybe there's another place in the world that you are led to help. Doctors without Borders and World Vision both help countries around the world, so maybe you can help in another place.
I feel bad for the people in Texas who got caught in this and I hope they are able to recover and rebuild. I know there were some people who refused to leave the island, and to be honest, I find it a little more difficult to be compassionate towards them because they were not only able to leave the island, they were mandated to leave it. And honestly, didn't they learn anything from Katrina?
Consider this: while some people in Texas chose not to leave their homes, the people of Haiti, hit by 4 storms in the past month, weren't able to leave.
Relief Operations Under Way In Devastated Haiti
Jason Beaubien/NPR
All Things Considered, September 12, 2008 · Relief operations continue in Haiti for the hundreds of thousands of people affected by two tropical storms and two hurricanes in the last month. Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed and large parts of Haiti remain cut off from the rest of the country.
The international relief operation is focusing on the northern port city of Gonaives, which flooded twice in one week, but many other parts of Haiti are still reeling from this year's hurricane season.
In the Grand Ravine neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, 700 people are living in a school where there is no running water, no electricity, no beds and often no food. People have been packed in here for weeks.
Luita Armand has been sleeping on the cement floor here since late August.
"The only thing we want is for them to rebuild our house," Armand says. "Here it's a school. We can't stay here for a long time. We have to go home. Before we go home, it's very important that the government help us rebuild our house."
Armand fled to the school with her five children just before Hurricane Gustav made landfall on Aug. 26.
Distribution Difficult
One floor below where she sleeps, 122 children are packed into a single classroom waiting for cookies and juice. Unfortunately the cardboard box that's supposed to have the cookies actually contains bottles of bleach, so the kids get grape soda and Saltines.
Evel Fanfan, with a human rights group in Port-au-Prince, is passing out the meager snacks. He says what he needs now is for the government to establish some order in this chaotic encampment so he can distribute more substantive food.
"Some policemen, some people who can help provide security," Fanfan says. "Right now I'd like to get some rice to the kids. But I can't do that. I'm scared the old people just get it."
It's not just these 700 people in this school or the flooded residents of Gonaives who have been hit hard this hurricane season. All across the country — from Les Cayes in the south to Jacmel in the southeast to Cap-Haitien in the north — there are people who lost everything to the storms.
In the parking lot of the main offices of Catholic Relief Services, several dozen people are packing food into large plastic bags.
"We got rice, bread, peanut butter, beans," says Bill Canny, the country representative for Catholic Relief Services. "So it's a packet to sustain a family of five for 15 days. We have trouble getting these to Gonaives — the roads have been closed. But there are plenty of places affected and we are getting it to other parts of the country that are equally suffering from the effects of the hurricanes."
Haiti was hit by Tropical Storm Fay on Aug. 18, and then came Hurricane Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike.
Catholic Relief Services first came to Haiti in response to Hurricane Hazel in 1954. It has grown into one of the largest aid agencies in the country.
Infrastructure And Agriculture Disruptions
Canny says this storm season has been a huge setback for farmers here.
"When the water drops a bit more, we'll be better able to do an assessment, but you can count on a very significant crop loss this year," he says.
Haiti is already heavily dependent on food imports — more than half of Haiti's food comes from abroad. Rising global food prices earlier this year sparked riots in the country and led to the prime minister's ouster.
With the crop losses from these most recent storms, Haiti will have little choice but to remain heavily dependent on food imports for at least another year.
The storms also have delayed the opening of schools by a month. Roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been wiped out. A newly refurbished hospital in Gonaives that was destroyed in 2004 by Hurricane Jean was demolished again this month by Hanna.
"It's not often that a country can be hit by four tropical storms successively," says Abel Nazier, the deputy coordinator for Recent Disaster Management at the Haitian Interior Ministry.
Many Haitians complain that the government did not do enough to prepare for the storms, did not warn people to evacuate, was not able to rescue people who were trapped and now has no plan to get people back home.
Nazier denies all this. He says the death toll, especially in Gonaives, would have been much higher had the government not issued warnings right before Hanna hit.
"We don't have enough possibility in terms of resources — economical resources," he says. "But we have a good national system for recent disaster management."
Nazier says the government does have a plan for getting people back in to their homes, but he says that part of the response won't begin for another six months. Right now, he says, the government is focused on providing emergency relief such as water and food to the thousands and thousands of Haitians who lost their homes in the storms.
The whole point of this blog is not only to write (and rant) about my thoughts on stewardship, but to encourage those of you reading this to be better stewards. Right now I want to encourage you to send money to a relief organization that will be helping the people of Haiti recover and rebuild. These poor people had it hard enough before these four storms, and this will only increase their food shortages and poverty.
Where you can help (links go straight to donation pages):
Doctors without Borders
The Greater Good (on the Hunger Site)
World Vision
Please think about what you can do to help. Right now, Haiti and her people need the world's compassion. And if your heart isn't led to help Haiti, then maybe there's another place in the world that you are led to help. Doctors without Borders and World Vision both help countries around the world, so maybe you can help in another place.
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