I recently listened to some “prophets” talking about the fate of the world. I use the word “prophets” in quotes simply because they weren’t what I would call prophets at all. Traditionally a Prophet’s job is to receive and interpret God’s word to people. Having nothing to do with a word from God, these folks would best be called doomsday predictors.
They all had a pretty short timeline for the demise of life as we know it. That’s about all they shared in common; the reasons for our soon-coming end were as different as the speakers themselves. For the most part I wrote off their conversation. I’m not too worried about what will happen one day. I’m much more concerned with making each day I have as good and Christ-honouring as possible. That Jesus-serving desire, however, made one of the reasons for humanities doom really stand out for me.
According to one of the so-called prophets, the greatest risk to our future is our global economic system. He says that the way we deal with money is not healthy and cannot be sustained. This is where my interest both piqued and waned at the same time. Yes, he caught my attention with the idea that what we do with money is not good, but no, he did not keep my attention because I started off in my own direction.
As far as I’m concerned our whole economy is based on a sinful, therefore unhealthy, premise. Putting a financial value on things is a very slippery slope leading to a bad place. Putting a financial value on human beings is even worse. Add to that the fact that everything about our economy is based on making money, and it’s pretty clear that the path to the hot, uncomfortable place furthest removed from heaven is paved with money, cheques, bonds, stock options and other similar things.
There is nothing at all right about any and all financial systems. Yes, it’s convenient to put a value on things so that we can exchange them with one another, even if they are otherwise hard to compare. But at the same time, there is something inherently and Biblically wrong with putting a value on things and seeking to make a profit from them.
According to one self-proclaimed prophet, our greatest fear is our economic system. Its collapse is imminent and will cause untold grief to humanity. Well, that’s no surprise. When you build something on sin, it’s guaranteed to fail. It’s that simple. No enterprise, whether it’s financial, physical or faith-based, can work when it is based on principles contrary to what the Bible says. Go against God’s commandments and all you get is guaranteed failure. Of course, go along with them and you can bet your bottom dollar (irony intended) that success will be equally guaranteed.
They all had a pretty short timeline for the demise of life as we know it. That’s about all they shared in common; the reasons for our soon-coming end were as different as the speakers themselves. For the most part I wrote off their conversation. I’m not too worried about what will happen one day. I’m much more concerned with making each day I have as good and Christ-honouring as possible. That Jesus-serving desire, however, made one of the reasons for humanities doom really stand out for me.
According to one of the so-called prophets, the greatest risk to our future is our global economic system. He says that the way we deal with money is not healthy and cannot be sustained. This is where my interest both piqued and waned at the same time. Yes, he caught my attention with the idea that what we do with money is not good, but no, he did not keep my attention because I started off in my own direction.
As far as I’m concerned our whole economy is based on a sinful, therefore unhealthy, premise. Putting a financial value on things is a very slippery slope leading to a bad place. Putting a financial value on human beings is even worse. Add to that the fact that everything about our economy is based on making money, and it’s pretty clear that the path to the hot, uncomfortable place furthest removed from heaven is paved with money, cheques, bonds, stock options and other similar things.
There is nothing at all right about any and all financial systems. Yes, it’s convenient to put a value on things so that we can exchange them with one another, even if they are otherwise hard to compare. But at the same time, there is something inherently and Biblically wrong with putting a value on things and seeking to make a profit from them.
According to one self-proclaimed prophet, our greatest fear is our economic system. Its collapse is imminent and will cause untold grief to humanity. Well, that’s no surprise. When you build something on sin, it’s guaranteed to fail. It’s that simple. No enterprise, whether it’s financial, physical or faith-based, can work when it is based on principles contrary to what the Bible says. Go against God’s commandments and all you get is guaranteed failure. Of course, go along with them and you can bet your bottom dollar (irony intended) that success will be equally guaranteed.
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