The Divine bail-out: What Jesus would say to Wall St

Given the unchartered global economic waters we now seem to be in, and given everyone seems to have an opinion about what the problem is, I've been thinking about what Jesus might have to say if Wall St was prepared to listen for a few minutes. Surely a crisis of ‘Biblical proportions (as some have said), deserves some thought as to what the Divine might actually be thinking. So here’s a few thoughts about what Jesus would say.

Jesus would say, "Greed is dangerous"
    “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
    Now we all know that materialism is limited and empty, we know there are more things to live for than how many cars you can fit in your garage, but we are still so easily driven by senseless greed.

    Jesus again says in Luke 9:25 

      "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"   That is, there is something soul destroying about the storing up and pursuit of more stuff. What purpose does it serve? How does it actually help you? How can you go on accumulating more while others struggle to survive? What has happened to your soul if you keep pursuing this?

Jesus would say, "Money can’t bring security"
    This is key to greed. Why do we want more and more and ever increasing returns? Because we want certitude, we want a grounding, we want security. And this is linked very closely to status, acceptance, social kudos, self-affirmation and importance.
    For many, the key to success and enjoyment in life is, they hope, economic prosperity. But surely the very fact that people worry about money, is evidence that it is not secure.
So Jesus warns in the sermon on the mount 

        “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Matt. 6:19-20)
     Imagine what Wall St would do with that advice? So many would be out of a job!

Jesus would say, "Give to bless and prosper others"
    The Bible’s picture is to see people freed up from their love of money, because they are to love God and others more, and they use what they have for the blessing and prosperity of others. A radical generosity is what is urged.
    What’s the point of having 100 cars in your garage? You can only drive one at a time. So get rid of the excess, and bless others. What good is being payed 2 million a year if you just buy yet another property that you might visit someday? How does that help anyone? How does it help you?

Problem: You can’t legislate generosity
    Now that’s part of what Jesus would say, but it doesn’t actually do much good because you can’t legislate generosity. You can’t make people live this way, even if they know it’s right.

Problem: We can’t change the human condition
    Jesus ultimately didn’t come to change economic policy, no he came to change something harder than that: the human condition. So what Jesus would say to Wall St is that the way you’re devoted to and worried about money is grounded in a deeper problem.

Jesus would say, "Greed is idolatry"
     Ultimately what people have done is that they’ve put their confidence and hope in something that isn’t worth it and can’t actually help...it's idolatry, and it's diabolical! Idolatry is to build your self-image, your hopes, your future on something that is a God substitute.
We keep thinking money will bring that for us, it calls out to us, it looks so attractive. 

But Jesus says, 

       “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or   he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.(Matthew 6:24)
What a warning this is. You can’t ultimately trust both, one will rule over the other.

So if the condition of the human heart is to forsake God and create idols, and especially money in the west. And if you can’t legislate generosity so people will do what they should with their money what can be done?

The Jesus bail out: Jesus would say, "Get really rich!"
    The only way I can change and see the world as I should is to realise that God offers me something better, richer, deeper and more lasting than Wall St. So the Jesus bail out is to get really rich, by grabbing a hold of what is far more valuable.

Don’t you love this picture we get in Matthew 13:44
     “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
    Jesus speaks about finding something so valuable, its’ worth is incomparable to all you have and you’d easily trade everything to have it. To know Jesus, to know you have his blessing and favour, to be in his family…well that is of far more value and importance than to know Wall St and to have it’s blessing and favour. 

    For Jesus brings and offers all the riches of heaven for eternity for free to us, but at the highest price to him. For he though God, became human and laid his life down, giving up his riches, to forgive our poor, idolatrous hearts. And if this be true, then to be connected to, to be part of the divine bail out is actually the best investment, the most beautiful and safest place to be.

Jesus would say, "What a difference I bring"
    So what is the 'cash' value of all this? Well you can start treating money like money, rather than serving it as your God. It can now be used to bless and love others, it can be used to invest in things of eternal value. Indeed if I understand and am grabbed by the gospel, I want to put my money into the things that matter to Jesus, because nothing now matters more to me. And it means I've truly found happiness, joy, security, certitiude...all the things we long for.

    Money, Wall St. is a brutal master. It will let us down and when you fail it offers no hope. Jesus, will never abuse you like this, cannot let you down, and when you fail will forgive and restore you.

Now there's a bail out plan we need.

Building with the right heart

     I'm still amazed how careful Paul is to ensure people are grounded in Christ before he tells them what they are to do. Several of Paul's letters follow this same pattern, but I am struck by the way Paul does it so prayerfully and earnestly in Ephesians. 

    Of course he longs for Christians to walk worthily before the Lord, but we are simply unable to do this unless we truly know that he is Lord. He longs for Christians to get off the sidelines and into the action of building the church. But he's careful to show the blueprint plans first and ensure they are known and loved.

     Getting to our hearts  

    This is why Paul's prayers is Eph.1:15-23 & 3:14-21 are so helpful for us. He wants us to know the wonder of Christ to our very core or our hearts.   As mentioned on Sunday night, the word 'heart' (1:17 & 3:17) is not used the way we naturally read it. We read heart and think of either a blood pump or of our emotions. But the word is far richer than that. The heart is the seat not only of your emotions, but also of you will and your thinking. So the classic head/heart distinction people often make is actually quite unhelpful.

 Jonathan Edwards (18th century theologian and philosopher) has a really helpful honey illustration on this. He said you can know rationally that honey is sweet and you can have many of your friends testify to its sweetness. But you don't really truly know it until you taste it. Having tasted honey, your rationality and your senses bring you to truer knowledge as to what honey is. In this sense you really know.

  Edwards argued that you might rationally consider that God is glorious, but to truly apprehend the wonder and excellency of God it has to go deeper...to the heart. We've got to move from having an opinion that eg God is gracious and holy, to the point where we truly know and experience the beauty and joy of his grace and holiness.

     The power of the Gospel

    How does this happen? Well you guessed it, the Gospel has the power to move us from knowing something about God, to experiencing his blessing as our God. Forgiveness moves from being something we intellectually 

agree with, to being something we rejoice in.

     Paul longs for us to truly know and experience the wonder of Christ which is why he so often starts by reveling in the wonderful Gospel story. He knows the Spirit of God is at work when the Gospel Word of God is proclaimed and so you will not easily find Paul urging people to do anything in the Christian life unless he has already inspired and affirmed people in the Gospel. His reason? Again, you can't walk worthily of the Lord unless you know him as Lord and have confidence in who he is. 

     

      The idols of our hearts

  Let's think some more on idolatry for a moment. The thing that is fundamentally motivating us in life, the key centre of our identity, is what our hearts truly want to trust. Paul prays and longs for Christ to dwell there and shake away the idolatry (God substitutes) which naturally drive and capture us. The reason we often find we have little traction in the Christian life is because deep down we have failed to grasp the implications of the Gospel. We must centre our life and identity on Jesus because he is the only master who will never abuse us and the only Lord who when we fail - will give us forgiveness. 

No idol, no matter how good they may seem (money, career etc) can or will treat you like that.

     Tim Keller in his awesome new book "The Reason for God" (copies coming soon) runs through some of the more common god-substitutes and suggests, quite controversially  the following: (think these through are see which "idol/s" resonate with you)

• If you centre you life and identity on your work and career, you will be a driven workaholic and a boring, shallow person. At worst you will lose your family and friends and, if your career goes poorly, develop deep depression.
• If you centre you life and identity on money and possessions, you'll be eaten up by worry or jealousy about money. You'll be willing to do unethical things to maintain your lifestyle, which will eventually blow up in you life.
• If you centre your life and identity on pleasure, gratification, and comfort, you will find yourself getting addicted to something. You will become chained to the "escape strategies" by which you avoid the harndess of life.
• If you centre your life and identity on relationships and approval, you will be constantly overtly hurt by criticism and thus always losing friends. You will fear confronting others and therefore will be a useless friend.
• If you centre you life and identity on a 'noble cause" you will divide the world into "good" and "bad" and demonize your opponents. Ironically, you will be controlled by your enemies. Without them, you have no purpose.
• If you centre you life and identity on your spouse or partner, you will be emotionally dependent, jealous, and controlling. The other person's problems will be overwhelming to you.
• If you centre your life and identity on you family and children, you will try to live your life through your children until they resent you or have no self of their own. At worst, you may abuse them when they displease you.
• If you centre your life and identity on religion and morality, you will, if you are living up to your moral standards, be proud, self-righteous, and cruel. If you don't live up to your standards, your guilt will be utterly devastating. 

     Building the church

    Now that is quite a list! But it helps us see how and why Jesus should be at the heart of who we are. And in order to genuinely build the church, with the right motivations and blueprint, we need more than just a list of instructions and expectations. Instructions and expectations won't change me nor do damage to the god-substitutes that are actually running my life. And I'm highly likely to do damage in the church - because at best I'll be there for me, (and ironically, my idols), but I certainly won't be there for you and for Jesus.