Covenant Presbyterian Church

After a week of economic turbulence, I am quite comforted in the knowledge that my mother in Washington D.C. is guaranteeing the soundness of my investments and bailing out institutions that would otherwise fail. The reality, of course, is that you and I, the American people, are part of a financial scam. What else would you call it when a very small handful of men, without any vote of the people, can make cumulative guarantees that would almost double the size of our federal debt overnight, with the cavalier justification, “Well, these institutions are necessary to our system.” Says who? We are witnessing one of the most high-handed expansions of the size and scope of the federal government since 1861, the removal of the last façades of a free market system. In a truly free market, institutions whose portfolios are riddled with debt instruments and dependent upon investment strategies of such speculative faith that a religious zealot is an atheist by comparison, justly fail. I know that the Clark Howard’s of the world, along with just about every other conservative pundit, will tell us that the system is “fundamentally sound.” Or, “Now is a good time to buy.” Or, “Well, the stock market requires long-term patience. Bumps in the road are to be expected.” More honest men in the financial world are frankly admitting “it’s the worst it’s been in seventy years, and we have no idea what will happen next. We cannot tell you what to do.”

I can remember my parents feeling the squeeze of the Carter years: high interest rates, inflation, very tight money, and a lean household budget. Then, President Reagan, a front man, for an actor could not possibly have pulled this off by himself, introduced “Supply-Side Economics.” Do not worry about the national debt. Keep spending, keep supply high, demand will keep pace through the free availability of goods and easier access to money, i.e., debt, and we will stave off disaster. Who knows, the common wisdom said, but what we will pay off the national debt through the increased tax revenue, even while lowering the tax rates. Looking back, I think that “Reagan” actually did at a federal level what tens of millions of Americans are doing every day. He issued a national credit card with easy terms, an ostensibly low required minimum, no limit, and the hope of unending supply of jobs and money, with the goal of never really having to pay off the balance. We can now see that the system has been fatally diseased for a long time; “Regan” simply bought us a few more years through a high dose of furious spending and debt. It is like a sonship theology preacher I heard recently: If I knew Jesus was coming tomorrow, I would max out my credit cards and buy a Mercedes. Bad theology (antinomianism) is not limited to the church, you see. It is also reflected in the broader culture by bad, evil fiscal policy.

What is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to say to these developments, for we are not only personally impacted by them in the pocketbook but also have a duty, as the pillar and ground of the truth, to bring the eternal truths of Scripture to bear upon the events of our time. Do we have a “thus says the Lord,” or shall we simply follow the popular wisdom? Hang in there, better days and a return to profitable investments are sure to come. One simple question: upon what do we base this optimism? The answer reveals a great deal about our faith and our true gods. We trust our government. It will not do to say that we trust “the free market,” for it does not exist. When the Russian government shuts down its stock market and the fed has the authority to do so here if it becomes necessary to stave off a total collapse, is the market really free? I hope you can answer this question for yourself without too much reflection. The popular wisdom is participation in a shell-game in which the only ones to truly profit are the financial wizards who meet behind closed doors, shuffle derivatives among themselves, walk off with millions, and laugh at the rest of us for being part of this fraudulent system.

Here is the most obvious aspect of the fraud. Fiat money. Do not tell me about the fractional reserve system. Our money is worthless. The only reason it continues to “operate” is an uneasy public confidence backed by the unreliable promises of the federal government. The Bible is filled with warnings against and condemnations of such currency. The specific language of the Bible reflects this, for every direct reference to “money” is the English translation of “silver,” in both Hebrew and Greek. The warnings against an “unjust weight” heighten the requirement for hard currency, for “hardness” is not enough unless purity and consistency are also present in the coinage. “You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure you shall have” (Deut. 25:4). “A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work” (Prov. 16:11). Interestingly, this proverb is immediately followed by: “It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the throne is established by righteousness” (Prov. 16:12). And for the money-seizing men of wealth, we read: “The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for you have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses” (Isa. 3:14).
Our “money” is an abomination to the Lord for the simple reason that it is not based upon a just weight and balance, i.e., it is unbacked, manipulated, and utterly devoid of any worth beyond the promises and purposes of corrupt, unprincipled men. No “economy” built upon such a foundation can last. The Lord will see to it that it fails. I hear nothing of this, even from most Christians during this time. All is confidence in the system, trust the market, government will secure order. The most important component of the current fiasco is the judging hand of the living God. Is God faithful and consistent, never-changing? Our money, investments, and future planning must reflect his character, his glory, his “heaviness,” which is the literal meaning of the Hebrew word for “glory,” chabod.

Yet, even Christians are paralyzed by recent events. Without a doubt, we have imbibed many of the beliefs and goals of our unbelieving culture. We lead generally discontent and covetous lives. The thought of gain often leads us to participate in a system that is intrinsically corrupt. We may not be, but we are willing users of a system that definitely is. We, in many respects, are gambling our futures – on corporations that are not always ethical, on a system that calls “debt” an “asset,” and on currency that lacks any intrinsic value beyond the whims of fiscal manipulators. This is Russian roulette. If we play the system, we cannot complain if we lose, and we certainly may not justly expect government to bail us out. And if we happen to win, it is not because the system is sound. It is because we were “lucky,” at least for a while. This is not to say that the Lord will not bless corporations that practice at least common grace principles of economics. To the degree that you participate in the system, only choose these.
We also have accepted the idea that there is a period of time in which I should not have to work for my living, when I can live upon my past earnings. In itself, this is not necessarily sinful, for profit, savings, and investment are the blessings God brings upon a faithful people, but the entire concept of retirement and the means we utilize to achieve it must be rethought. Is the concept itself biblical? And even if it seems to be a necessity due to our society’s preference for “fresh youth” over “sober age” and our commitment to the white collar system, should we gamble at the tables of a fiat economy, hoping that we can pull out before the end comes? Would you sit at the gaming table and wager your future upon an uncertain deck of cards, the spin of a wheel, or the results of slot machine? Better to trust in the Lord’s promises. Better to lead more frugal lives, place your profit in tangible assets, and avoid giving over your (the Lord’s money) to the manipulators and scammers.
Perhaps this is the area where the current fiasco presses upon us in the most practical terms: lifestyle. We must wholly reject our culture’s idea that a certain standard of living is deserved. We have imbibed too much of the comfort mentality, buy what you want when you want, easy terms, certain income streams, etc. The Lord is undoubtedly calling us to recognize that we can make do with less, take immediate steps to withdraw from the make-and-spend mentality, develop financial patience, even in times of emergency, and insulate ourselves as much as possible from the consequences of fiscal speculation through savings, tangible assets, and consistency in tithing. If we set our affections on things above, as our Savior commands, and embrace his call to measure our life not in terms of our possessions, we will be able in large measure to recognize that our current age of “things” is the attempt of a dying culture to pretend it has something of substance. Underneath the image of wealth, there is nothing – nothing of substance, nothing lasting, nothing that will survive God’s sifting judgment.