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Bible Teaching On Recession. by Opeomoope: 8:38am On Sep 25, 2016 |
The big question in the business world
these days concerns whether or not we are
in a recession. If we are in a recession, the
next biggest questions are when and how
do we pull out. If we can answer these
questions correctly in today's economy, we
can make a fortune.
From a Biblical viewpoint, however, we must
ask ourselves whether or not we are
experiencing God's economic curses. A
recession is a temporary period of reduced
economic activity or a cyclical slowdown.
God's economic curses may or may not look
like reduced economic activity or cyclical
downturns due to market manipulations.
God says that He will send economic curses
if His people rebel against Him:
Cursed shall be your basket and your
kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of
your body and the produce of your land, the
increase of your cattle, and the offspring of
your flocks.... The alien who is among you
shall rise higher and higher above you, and
you shall come down lower and lower. He
shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to
him. (Dt. 28:17-18, 43-44)
According to Deuteronomy, our economy
has been under "economic curses" for quite
some time, even during the prosperous
years preceding the recession. As an
example, our national debt alone, not
counting all of the consumer and other
kinds of debt, is over $6,000,000,000, which
translates to over $21,000 per citizen, and is
increasing at a rate of over $1,000,000 per
day.
Sometimes we do not feel like we are
experiencing economic curses due to our
current macroeconomic policies. Just as a
troubled business owner may continue
borrowing because he does not want to
face the facts about his current financial
situation, today's civil authorities prefer to
ignore the dangers and gratify the current
desires of the people through market
manipulation tools such as regulation,
interest rates, and debt. In the long run,
however, both the individual business and
the greater economy will end up bankrupt.
The Solution
The Bible does not necessarily indicate how
to get out of a recession as much as it does
how to stay out in the first place (Dt. 28:1-2).
In order to get out from under God's
economic curses and experience His
economic blessings, we must get to the root
of the problem, which is disobedience to the
law of God:
But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey
the voice of the Lord your God, to observe
carefully all His commandments and His
statues which I command you today, that all
these curses will come upon you and
overtake you. (Dt. 28:15)
Since disobedience to His law is sin, the only
answer is to repent by turning back to God's
law (Jn 3:4; Ac. 3:19).
Repentance does not just mean pointing the
finger at the state for its unbiblical economic
policies. When a society suffers economic
curses, we can safely say that all God-
ordained institutions have sinned and must
repent. Then long-term economic recovery
will be on its way.
The Family
God has given the institution of the family
the responsibility of material stewardship,
which can be exercised through business
and trade (Pr. 13:22; 2 Cor. 12:14). Since
business, trade, and household financial
management is such an important
component of our economy, the focus on
microeconomics rather than
macroeconomics will have the lasting
impact. Therefore, the institution of the
family must repent of the following sins:
Coveting: Most of the average family's debt
burden is an economic curse on coveting,
for we desire what we cannot have,
thereby becoming a slave to the lender
(Ex. 20:17; Pr. 22:7; 1 Cor. 7:23).
Irresponsibility: Another form of slavery is
fearing entrepreneurial activity and
thinking like a short-term employee,
which Christ justly condemned in His
parable of the minas (Lk. 19:20-27). This
irresponsible and faithless fear is
prevalent in our Christian circles, as we
would rather become servants/slaves
(employees) by showing-up to work for
forty hours and getting a pay check at the
end of the week instead of taking
responsible dominion through
entrepreneurial enterprise or self-
employment (Pr. 12:24).
Gambling: On the other hand, we have
dreamers who take risks without hard
work, always looking for the free lunch
(Pr. 12:11). Prosperity comes through
combining entrepreneurial spirit and hard
work (Pr. 14:23).
Self-sufficiency: One of the greatest sins
that seems to be growing among
Reformed circles is the need to be self-
sufficient, which is an unbiblical doctrine.
God encourages a large division of labor
through excellence in specialization (1 Cor.
12:4-18; Rom. 12:4-. This is a key Biblical
concept to economic prosperity.
Sabbath breaking: Not only must we rest
on the Sabbath, we must shut down our
businesses and discourage any economic
activity other than issues related to Biblical
necessity, charity, and worship (Neh.
10:31; Mt. 12:1-14; Lk. 6:6-10). Then we
will be ready to work a full six-day
workweek instead of the typical four and
half days (Ex. 20:.
The State
Unlike the family in its proactive economic
activities, the state must return to its Biblical
limits of being God's restrainer of evil. The
civil government's power, the sword, should
be used only to protect its citizens. Hence,
our current civil government would have to
repent by taking these economic actions:
Economic philosophy and practice: The
state must return to a true and Biblical
free market economy in philosophy as
well as practice. We must repent of our
current socialistic and fascist economy by
properly obeying the eighth
commandment (Ex. 20:15). This means
ending all business regulatory practices
and privatizating all industries (i.e.,
banking, currency, transportation,
education, and retirement benefits).
Regulatory law: After removing all of our
unbiblical regulatory law, we must replace
it with Biblical contract law. Different
parties would be free to negotiate their
own terms aided by the enforcement of
Biblical civil law (i.e., against bribery and
deception) and without regulatory
interference.
Financing: Unbiblical government
financing must be eliminated, whether it
is the graduated income, excise, property,
death, unemployment, worker's
compensation, Medicare, Social Security, or
capital gains taxes, as well as debt
financing and theft through inflation.
Property ownership: The abolition of
property tax will return private property to
its rightful owners (citizens), who are
currently renting from their landlord, the
civil government. Additionally, the civil
government must sell all its property (i.e.,
land and gold) to the new free market and
use that money to start paying off its debt
(Dt. 17:16-17).
The Church
The church is the institution that must call
for and lead in repentance. If the church
falls, all other institutions follow. Likewise, if
the church is holy and pure, reformation in
all areas of life will follow. The church must
remember the following:
Lack of influence: The church is God's
instituted rock, the center and foundation
for all of life (Mt. 16:18-19). God's
economic blessings will not come unless
His church lays the foundation.
Theology: Proper theology is absolutely
critical to the long-term economic
prosperity of any culture. For example,
Biblical economic prosperity is rooted in
proper long-term optimistic eschatology,
the focus on future generations versus
self, the concentration on Christ's
dominion versus current gratification, and
freedom versus slavery.
Leading by example: If the church is not
repentant, why should we expect any
other institution to repent? The ministers
of God must first repent, so they may also
lead by example (Lk. 6:39-42).
Emerging from God's Economic Curses
If we truly want God's pleasure and thereby
His economic blessing, we need to think
long term, because it certainly will not come
overnight. Though the Biblical prescription
for getting out of a recession is not as
complicated as most bureaucratic
economists think it is, it is not a magic bullet
either. The Biblical remedy for coming out
from under, and staying away from,
economic curses is simple, but it requires us
to humble ourselves and repent, that we
may truly love God (Is. 57:15; Jn. 14:15).
We must individually repent and continually
pray for cultural repentance at all levels,
engage in our own economic activity and
political action, educate our neighbors and
future generations, and pray that God's rock
will once again become the salt and light in
our economy. |
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