Fixing Things 7-6-08
In the July 8, 2008 issue of Fortune magazine was a feature story titled “How They’ll Fix the Economy,” in which both candidates for President (John McCain and Barack Obama) were interviewed. Besides illustrating the basic differences between the two candidates (which is the real point of the story), the article also showed something else: people think the economy is broken. This is simply another case of man’s hubris, another example of man thinking that he can control that which is clearly beyond him.
This is a common theme for humanity. Man is, by his very nature, a creative and domineering creature – this is how he was made. But adapting and changing the environment around him, domesticating animals and plants, and pushing the limits of his voracious appetite for discovery are all a far cry away from being in control of the world around him. And there are several great examples to demonstrate this point.
Back to the economy; both candidates are trying to show how they will “fix” the economy. But the economy is not broken! It cannot be – the economy is, of course, the environment wherein we all exploit resources and engage in the activities of our lives. Everyone, from the billionaires to the homeless engage in economic activity. It is so complex a system that no person (or even collection of people) could possibly run it; think about how many transactions and decisions are made in this country every day. It is too big; it also is a force of nature (granted, it’s a force of human nature, but a force nonetheless). Now, the President could try to implement policy to change certain aspects of the economy (such as the growth of the stock market or the price of commodities like oil), but the system is not broken; if anything, it is man’s policies that are broken.
Another great example of the hubris of man is the environmental movement. For years this movement was complaining about global cooling and the horrors of everything from nuclear power to overpopulation and food riots. Now, the proponents of that movement complain about global warming. In the 1970’s they were predicting that in the year 2000 we would have food riots, but instead we had more food than we knew what to do with and the only riots we had were in toy stores by parents wanting the “Tickle-me Elmo doll”. These people epitomize the view that man has power in this world. After all, they are causing food shortages in the world by forcing (through political and economic means) food producers to convert into fuel producers – law requires gasoline to be blended with ethanol and large government subsidies encourage corn producers to sell corn as ethanol rather than as food. All of this because man feels that he somehow affects this planet in a real way. Because hurricanes, floods, temperature changes and erupting volcanos just didn’t occur prior to the industrial revolution of the 1800’s.
Now, these questions are fine for social and political discussions, but what really concerns me is that the same hubris tends to infect the church. We did not start the church, if the church is the “New Testament” church – Jesus did! I also remember reading something about Jesus being the head of the church, so we are also not in charge of the church. So, if we did not start the church, and we are not in charge of the church, what makes us think that we can either break or fix the church? Now, we can break individual Christians, certainly; and we can break individual congregations (sometimes that seems to be a favorite pastime for some people). But we cannot do anything to harm the kingdom of God! On the reverse side of the coin, we cannot fix the church! This is the problem in many of our congregations today – there is a struggle between the people who fear we are breaking the church and the people who are trying to fix the church!
The first group of people need to relax – the church is not going to break! It has been through far harder times than today, and God has proven himself faithful. All we need to do is grow in the truth and teach the Bible to everyone who will learn, having no tolerance for sin but all compassion for the lost sheep. And the latter group need to grow up and realize that the church is not broken! It remains culturally relevant because it is composed of people. Remember that it is God who fixes us, not the other way around.
-Charles Peterson