I have been thinking a lot about this over the past few weeks as I have watched my parishioners lose jobs and income, and as I have watched our nation finally begin to reap the harvest of debt overload. Though my wife and I have worked hard to pay down our debt, the hole that I allowed us to dig has made it all the more difficult. I am sure that the national macroeconomics will mirror my family's microeconomics: we piled up a lot of unnecessary and unsecured debt; it's going to take us a while to get out of this.
As I was preparing my homily last week on Ephesians 5 and the Christ's call to "wisdom" I couldn't help but think of the national financial crisis to which I and so many millions of others were participants. A passage from 1 Timothy 6 struck me particularly hard. It effectively calls overextension what it really is: discontent. And discontent is--deep down--idolatry.
Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. --1 Tim 6.6-10 (ESV)
2 comments:
Hi Lance, I'm enjoying your blogs, partly because I know we share a common interest in politics!
It's interesting to me that the phrase "personal responsibility" is lost from our national discourse these days. Perhaps, that is because the "party of personal responsibility" was grossly irresponsible with the nation these last several years!
Idolatry hits the nail on the head, especially when it comes to the housing crisis. How many young families/couples are house poor because they were convinced they needed and deserved a 3,000 square foot new construction home in a nice new subdivision rather than older, smaller home, in a still nice but older and more established neighborhood? In New Jersey, they do not build homes for middle class folks. I grew up in a small 4 bedroom (small bedrooms) ranch home in Detroit w/ only one bathroom. I saw a study once that showed how the average-sized American home increased from something like 1200 sq ft in the 40's-50's to over 2000 today.
My question is why, especially when the rest of the world lives in much less? Is idolatry the only answer?
Dan Grams+
Good question.
1. Personal Responsibility. Both Sen's. McCain and Obama have spoken about the personal responsibility issue, though Sen. McCain has spoken more of governmental authorities' responsibility. There was, I thought, a very powerful section of Sen. Obama's convention speech about personal responsibility. Remarkable, as you noted, that it's not coming from the GOP, but--as Sen McCain has said repeatedly--the GOP has "not governed well."
2. Is Idolatry the Only Answer?Obviously, idolatry is the core answer, as all sin stems from the first commandment, but idolatry is of course not the only answer. Malfeasance is part of the answer, as is irresponsibility, laziness, greed, incompetence, etc.
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