Financial Crisis Bailout

Not sure what you all think about the financial crisis and the proposed $700 billion dollar bailout our government things is the “right thing to do." This is a major issue that we, yes, we as Christians must wade into and share or voice on this. The injustices are tremendous. We, the taxpayers will bail out those giant financial companies and mortgage companies. Those that made terrible decisions based on greed who put millions of people in homes that they could not afford causing mass foreclosures and financial decay.

It feels to me that we’re bailing out organizations that deserve to face the consequences of their decisions.

It feels to me that we’re calling our global brothers and sisters to continue suffering at the expense of our desire to remain “wealthy" and not pay the price for poor decisions. $700 Billion would wipe out major preventable diseases, curb hunger, and get help the millions of those suffering in our local neighborhoods.

We have people in tremendous poverty in our country that spans all generations and races.

It seems to me that we’d rather save those who have at the expense of those who don’t have. Those in poverty will only get pushed further into poverty and make all our jobs who actually care, even harder.

Non-profits and social services will pay the price as our funding and our assistance will go away.

I don’t know what the solution is. Whatever it is, it’s going to be painful for us all. Maybe it’s a sign that we must begin living radically different.

Here is an article that I think you should read…It’s a bit long, but raises questions I need to ask of myself and I think you might to.

Devinder Sarma frames the contrast in priorities in STWR (Share The World’s Resources):

The one trillion dollar bailout package that President Bush is promising could have wiped out the last traces of poverty, hunger, malnutrition and squalor from the face of the Earth - if only our global leadership prioritised the poor with the same level of urgency as the financial crisis

It is shocking to me how silent American churchianity has been in the midst of this collapse.   America’s Pastor has not said one word in the last 20 days about what is happening to people’s homes & their retirement, as well as the $1 trillion plan for financial PEACE.  Mainline leaders have been silent as well, ironic given how much of their funding comes from the very investment bankers who drove this collapse.  Those who tout themselves as traditionalist or orthodox have been fairly silent, despite their emphasis on free markets as an idea that is almost Biblical.

Think about how many sermons were preached in all types of pulpits after the attacks of 9/11.  Whatever end of the pew you sit on, your probably heard a preacher talk about America, security and faith after that fateful day in 2001.

This past Sunday, how many preachers talked about the crisis the world finds itself in right now ?  How many talked about security and faith and priorities ?

People of faith who have talked openly about the risks of this prosperity system have been labeled Marxist, liberation purist, even Commie pinkos.  There is some bitter irony in seeing good folks belittled when they warn of these clouds on the horizon.  But when the storm comes, look at the solutions - shock therapy, with no questions allowed.  Losses underwritten by big government, with the business that made these decisions allowed to progress on.

A little more than a year ago, Brian McLaren published his bravest book yet, Everything Must Change.  I suspect it did not sell as well as tales of Neo or new idea of evangelism or faith.  McLaren spotlighted the crisis we face in prosperity, equity and secuirity, all springing from a crisis in the way religions frame their stories.  This book was met with scorn, personal attacks and a level of push back that makes emerging church battle look like pre-season football.

It grabbed me so hard that for a few weeks, I basically turned my blog over to the book.

What fascinated me was not how McLaren framed these problems, but rather the manner is which he stayed with it as something that God and all of us care about passionately.  He channels some of the energy that a woman who blogs at the Feminary picks up when she recently wrote:

"The address of the kingdom of God is the here and now. The Kingdom is now or never."

Given this crisis in the prosperity system, McLaren does not suggest that Jesus calls us to unplug the system or wallow in guilt.  Instead, he suggests that Jesus calls us:

“to seek the common good, not simply the selfish interests of our ego, family, religion, race, nation or species “

The common good only makes sense if we are living in a kingdom of God that is here and now, not some getaway vacation after our death.  If all of this is only rehearsal or a life-long exam, then the common good is an altruistic after-thought, an extra credit assignment that we rarely get to.

It is tempting as Jesus followers to opt out of grappling with the complex issues that face us.  It is easy to claim that smarter people must have the answers.  It is comforting to go back to daily Scripture reading or some “approved" activity of faith.  But the choices we make right now are how we are faithing our lives - and McLaren challenges us in  a way that I yearn to hear from more people of faith (heck, maybe even a pastor or two):

1. Without faith, our action won’t be sufficient or sustainable.
2. Required actions will vary based on context, but the faith issue is universal.
3. True faith will be expressed in action … and that action flows naturally when the faith issue is dealt with.