As I write the world financial crisis continues to rage
around us and we are now being warned that it is no longer simply a
matter of a crisis in the banking system. The ‘real’ economy is now
beginning to be affected and we are probably entering in to a financial
recession in which many will lose their jobs, some their homes and in
which businesses will fail. And, as is usually the case in these
circumstances, while wealthy and comfortably-off people will face
difficult times because of all this, poorer people are likely to face
real hardship. It is to be hoped that Governments will do their best to
protect vulnerable members of society from the worst effects of the
recession should they indeed come to pass.
But without in any way minimizing the suffering that this crisis may
bring, it does seem to me that it has provided us with an opportunity
to reflect on the way in which our society works and how we order our
lives. In the last few decades our way of life seems to have been built
more and more upon ‘high fliers’ making a fast buck out of all kinds of
financial dealing and methods of investing, with almost everybody else
living on credit. This has enabled most people to live pretty well and
to expect always to be able to do so. Maybe the present situation is
giving us all a dose of reality.
As Christians this situation surely provides us with opportunities to
review our way of life from the perspective of the Gospels – the sort
of values Our Lord teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount for example.
And we also have much to learn from the Old Testament. Whilst a lot of
consideration has been given recently to what the Bible has to say
about sexuality, very little attention is given to what it teaches
about financial dealings. A society largely based on credit and on the
investing of money with the hope of gaining interest perhaps ought to
reflect on such verses as:
‘You are not to exact interest on anything you lend to a fellow
countryman, whether money or food or anything else in which interest is
charged’ (Deut 23:19) or
Psalm 15 which having posed the question as to who is worthy to dwell
in the house of the Lord includes among them those who ‘do not lend
money in hope of gain’.
Of course I’m not so stupid as to think that we are bound, in the very
different circumstances in which we live in the 21st century, to take
literally commandments given to the people of ancient Israel. It’s all
much more complicated than that. Indeed I value the dividend I get from
shares I own and the interest paid on my savings in the bank as much as
anyone else. But when we reflect on the values of the Bible as a whole,
and in particular on what it has to say about the whole business of
financial dealings and the way we relate to financial matters and
possessions in general, then maybe we shall begin to rethink our values
and resolve to life in a more simple and straightforward way and to
encourage our society to do likewise. Have a look at Matthew 6: 19 – 34
and see how Our Lord would really like us to live.