Most of the adult Bible Study groups at our church will be studying a lesson from LifeWay's Bible Studies for Life curriculum. This month the lessons are drawn from the book of Nehemiah. What a great leader Nehemiah was!
The first page of this week's lesson explains what it is about:
"Internal injustices, magnified by external opposition and work demands, threatened to compromise the rebuilding task. Nehemiah learned that to successfully step up and serve the Lord, he had to act with justice and encourage others to do the same" (p. 44 - Life Values curriculum for Empty Nest Adults).
Oh, how I wish President Obama's administration and our Congress would be in Sunday School this week. This lesson, based on Nehemiah 5:1-16, speaks to a great injustice the leadership of the people were committing. During a time of crisis (they faced great famine) the leaders were putting their people under such financial strain that they were literally losing their children into slavery -- creditors taking the children because the parents couldn't meet their mortgage payments. This was because taxes were raised to exorbitant levels to finance corruption and pet projects. Sound familiar?
Our nation is in a financial crisis due to greed and corruption. Some of the blame falls with governmental authorities who are more concerned with being reelected and maintaining their positions of power than they are for the people they were elected to represent (not rule over!). Some of the blame falls to corporate "big wigs" who commit corporate "rape" of one company after another. They sit on each others boards and treat one another with ridiculous contracts that provide obscene amounts of money even if the company is floundering due to poor leadership. But before we lay all the blame on "them" we need to consider that "we" are to blame as well. Most Americans are so caught up in materialism that we are prepared to sell our souls to the credit and mortgage companies. There are those who applied for mortgages they could never hope to pay (particularly in bad times), others bought automobiles far more expensive than what was practical for their families, and then there are the thousands, if not millions, of Americans who have maxed out not one, but multiple credit cards. Greed is alive and well in our world, and in the United States in particular.
What's going to be the outcome? I seriously doubt if we learn much of a lesson from recent events. Look how quickly we forgot the outrage of 9/11 and the subsequent calls for God to bless America! As soon as the economy strengthens (assuming it will) and the pressure is off, it will likely be much like before. However, we forget one major issue - the massive debt we are leaving to our children. Eventually, those who are our creditors (China, Japan, and other nations who hold trillions of dollars of our debt) will come to collect. What do we think will happen if we tell them, "sorry, we don't have it"? Very possibly, these nations will rise collectively against us to extract their payments. Could it result in the political or economic enslavement of our children? I think it very likely.
What can we do? This is much more than a political issue. It is most certainly a moral and ethical disaster which must be addressed strongly by those who recognize the dangers we face. Because of the way our country functions, much of this will have to be addressed politically. However, Christians can do a lot to make a difference. First, put your own financial house in order. Second, teach the truth of God's Word to your children, you friends, and anyone else who will listen -- change the priorities of your life to reflect those of our Lord! Third, get involved in the political process and demand that your "servant-leaders" use some common sense or be replaced.
And by the way, attend Bible Study regularly. It's amazing what you can learn!
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