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Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Religion 101: Seeking a diviner economy

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a divine economy out there -- an economically bullet-proof, recession-resistent world where the God-fearing were protected from things fiscally unpleasant?

Having the economic wherewithal to avoid the economic misery we see before us these days -- and in which many of us find ourselves entangled -- is a tall order, indeed, but perhaps not an impossible one if a person truly understands what it is he or she seeks.

Possibly the question for many shouldn't be so much about improving the economic indicators as it should be about looking inward. A soul search, if you will.

The recession a decade ago followed the collapse of America's technology bubble and was caused largely by a huge overinvestment in the U.S. business sector. Then the experts focused mostly on corporate profitability.

In today's record-setting slump economists are less concerned about the traditional indicators than they are with the weak banking system and risky financial markets.

Nightly business reports tell us the experts closely watch terribly inflated housing inventories and prices, as well as overspent credit card markets and record unemployment.

The U.S., probably more than any major world economy today, seems to think that more is better when it comes to "stuff."

We are a society and an economy that consumes far more than it needs -- or can afford.

he foreclosure signs hanging from best-laid plans all across America attest to that fact. The acres and acres of glutted rental storage units in thousands of cities all across the country attest to that fact.

But where is God in all of this?

There's nothing inherently wrong with money or with the needs it supplies.

But as the Bible counsels, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33).

In other words, don't overdo it in the "things" department. More is not necessarily better. Money and the stuff it buys should not be a person's primary goal in life. God should be, and He then takes care of the rest. There is a balance that operates in the Spirit-based life -- "...he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack ..." (Ex. 16:18).

"Let your moderation be known unto all men," The Good Book tells us. "The Lord is at hand. My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:5, 19).

Spending habits do need to be adjusted, we have every evidence of that. The greed and avarice that are being exposed by the recession are a call to higher ethics on both the business and personal levels.

Perhaps the greatest part of the answer when it comes to having enough is to simply not have sought too much in the first place. To have sought, if you will, a higher or divine economy rather than more of the lower sort.

Religion 101 runs every Saturday written by a different religious leader each week. John Spitler is a member of First Church of Christ Scientist, 1207 E. 21st St., Merced.