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Now is a unique time in the country and in the world. The economic crisis is shattering what the first world holds so dear: security. Who knows how far it will go, but what it does is take away, or at least calls into question, the foundation we hold so dear.
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As believers in Christ this can be a shaky time, but more than that hopefully a pruning time. This is a time to evaluate where our allegiances and hopes lie. In the economy of Wall Street or the economy of God? In protecting our first world abundance or identifying with the majority of the world who lives off of the price of a few lattes a week? Times of suffering are always a test for the church. And this time of economic suffering is a particular test for the church because Christians have bought into this system of economic security as much as the rest of the world. We have exchanged God for money, and it's gotten to the point where the lines have become so blurred we justify our own idolatry.
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However, now is the time for Christ followers once again to be shaped, filled, and sent out. When the world crumbles, the church ought to be the one to stand firm. We are the ones who have the chance to build upon the rock...Christ...and not crumble even when it looks like everything else is. This is a time for the followers of Christ to be a voice of hope. This is a time for the followers of Christ to be a voice of critique. "Even though you may want to worry, have peace." "This is a chance for us all to discover life outside of abundant and rampant materialism." This is a time to be prophetic and priestly.
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Let CNBC and the rest do the finger pointing at one another. Let us be the ones who point in a different direction...not to the falling markets, but to the risen King. Of all times we can identify as we lose jobs, 401k's, and the like along with the rest of Americans and perhaps the world. But it is in this time when the world systems falter that we proclaim the God who hears the cries of those in distress. May this be an opportunity for our voices to rise, and for us to identify with those who live daily with the economic uncertainty we now face.
