“It’s the economy, stupid.”

Really?

Political policy?

Voter strategy?

How’s that working for you, America, the past decade?

Are you better off than a few years ago, with that emphasis?

How’s that working for you, church?

Has your influence on the culture expanded?

Prosperity, abundance, apathy, dependence, disaster . . . in America?

 

“Set free by the fire” sounds un-American, in our life experience.

We’ve come to expect a high standard of living as a birthright in this country.  And the church has bought into materialism to the point of ineffective—blending in with the economics of the world.

This is not typical—not in history—not in the church.

“Some through the water, some through the flood;

Some through the fire, but all through the blood;

Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song

In the night seasons, and all the day long.”

At this point I hear no one warning Christians to stop putting their money into the future of this world.  It is finally becoming obvious how shaky and uncertain that may be.  Actually, Jesus told us (and it’s written down in everybody’s Bible) to not lay up treasures on earth, where “moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal.”

How quickly His words can become true, after we ignore them for decades, thinking we have beat the system (the system that He warned us would fail).  “Moth, Rust, Thieves”—recession, collapse, crooks, dictators.

We have bought into the repeat of history, thinking we know better, thinking we have insured everything, thinking we have guaranteed income for the rest of our lives if we just get the right advice and make the right investments.

“But God said, ‘You fool.'”

And American Christians say, “I don’t want to hear that.  Shut up.”

God’s response will be clear soon enough.

Some Christians will be set free from financial bondage to this world, through “fire” that burns away everything that is not invested directly in the kingdom of God.

Some Christians, and many who claim Christianity, will fall away from faith when they see their “stuff” burned up.

SET FREE—from your stuff—your treasure and your heart in heaven

or

BURNED UP—with your stuff—your treasure and your heart on earth