godthoughts.net

It seems many in this fine country have swallowed the pill of greed quite deeply.  Many think they are entitled to bunches and bunches of money, sometimes just because they can.  Wall Street firms, in the last few months (while in the midst of tanking and sending our entire economy on a tail spin) gave out Billions of dollars in bonuses.  Professional athletes are receiving inconceivable amounts of money to play a game.  People continued to believe the greatest Ponzi scheme ever by Bernie Madoff because they were getting such great returns.  Many bought houses they could nowhere near afford, more house than they needed, simply because they were allowed to.

I wonder what would happen if the highest pay rate that anyone in America could attain was $5 million a year.  That would include bonuses, stock options, delayed payouts, etc.  No one could earn more than $5 million a year.  That’s plenty of money to keep talented people on staff.  That’s plenty of money to still get a jet if you so desire and make that much.  That’s plenty of leeway room for people to get rewarded for good work or building great businesses.  But that would be the cap–$5 million.

So, for instance, corporate America could take the tens of millions of dollars they are paying executives now in pay and bonuses and pour it into making their companies great, into making sure their workers and employees have decent health coverage, into making dependable products, into being greener.

So, for example, pro ball teams could take the hundreds of millions they are paying their collective rosters and pour it into their communities where they play, into better food at the arena or stadium, into lowering ticket prices so more people could actually afford to come and watch.

So, for example, entertainment stars could take the millions they make on fees, royalties, back-end deals for movies and so forth, and pour it into making the schools in Los Angeles, Hollywood, and New York better and have better teachers, into anything remotely productive.

$5million.  For the rarefied few who would actually make that much (I would assume quite a bit less than 1% of the population), that is still plenty of money to do what they are already doing.  Everyone who is living large could still live large.

When people see such greed and waste on TV, while they are waiting to see if they can make this  month’s rent, it can’t be healthy for the country.

So, that’s my proposal.  $5 million cap for any year is all you would be able to make.

Yeah, no one will go for it.

It used to be that most anyone could, or would, step in and teach children in church (ie, Sunday school, or vacation bible school, etc.).  Then, as the Christian curriculum business kicked into gear, people began to say that they didn’t know enough or were afraid they’d say something to the children that would lead them astray.  So the publishing industry gladly supplied everything they needed. Leader’s guides, dvd teaching helps, props, and more.

This same phenomena also occurred in adult studies.  While sweeping generally, about the time Willow Creek took off and enlightened everyone that small groups were the way to go, there, omigoodness, was a need for small group studies.  Because no sensible adult could ever possibly lead others in reading a passage of Scripture and talking about it.

The curriculum/study guide business only propped up the shallowness of what churchgoers were learning in the last 20 years or so.  If churches had actually been discipling the folks pouring through their doors, there really wouldn’t be a great need for such guides.  People would naturally take on leadership of groups instead of saying, “Oh, I don’t know enough about the Bible to do it.” 

The irony is that the study guides and even entire Bibles (with study notes and helps and articles and commentary all built in) are so structured that you really could lead a small group or teach children, etc. and not know Jesus at all.  It’s that dumbed down and laid out for you.

With all the “helps” available, you don’t really need to “know” Jesus, you can get by with knowing “about” Jesus.  The plethora of guides and studies only testifies to the fact that churches, particularly “attractional” churches are doing a poor job of actually enabling/helping people be/become disciples, responsible for their own spiritual feeding.  Instead it’s “Hey, read this guide and you’ll know about Jesus (or whatever hot topic is needed).”  And I’ve created my share of study guides and Bible helps!

In Matthew 7 Jesus says that some people who claimed they were working for Jesus will hear the words, “I never KNEW you.”  The word there is ginosko.  It’s the same word Jesus uses in John 10 when he speaks of the sheep will “know” his voice.  It’s the same word that Mary uses in Luke 2 when she says she can’t be pregnant because she has never “known” a man (KJV).  Know.  Not know about, but know. Passionately, intimately, relationally Know.

Have our churches been producing people who Know Jesus, or merely know about Him?

The insurance company that insures everyone in our conference recently sent out a brochure telling us that we can get a fancy Virgin Healthmiles pedometer and then as we walk more steps, we get points and we get cash for so many points.  I can get up to $300 just for doing what I do anyway, which is exercise and move around and be active.  What a great deal.

It occured to me, however, that I probably wasn’t their target market.  They want people who are sedentary to get up and moving.  And they think that bribing those people will do it.

It might get a few but if threats from their doctors won’t work, and ultimatums from their spouses or family doesn’t work, then why would a few hundred dollars?

So, if they won’t get healthier so our overall insurance premiums would be lower, then I guess I’ll keep walking and get my cash.

I did not vote for Barack Obama.  But I should have.  When it came to voting day, I felt like I should have just flipped a coin, that’s how on the fence I was.

I tell you this because on Inauguration Day, I got tears in my eyes watching Obama get sworn in as the 44th President of the USA.  You see, while in seminary, my wife and I attended and were very much involved with an interracial church in Kentucky (yes, Kentucky).  It was there that we confronted our prejudice and stereotypes, confessed them.  We developed deep relationships with folks there, and learned a great deal of insight into what it meant to live as a Black person in America, from the Black folks there (everyone, including the bi-racial pastor, used the terms Black folk and White folk).  We learned about White privilege, that we never were aware of.

So, when I saw Obama on the platform as the President, a wave of emotion rolled over me.  Wow, what we all talked about back in Kentucky had now come to pass…King’s dream had come true in some measure.  The most powerful position in the world is now occupied by a person, who, some 180 years ago, was only seen as 3/5 human.  Unfreakingbelievable!  It had finally happened!

I think this nation has fundamentally changed, in its very fabric and essence.  A Black man is President. Our so-called “powerful” economy has been exposed by greed to show that it rested (all of it) on a very thin thread of credit that was propped up and held together by false promises, shifty paperwork, and bundling of financial service and products that was pathetic.  We put our trust in the financial powers and they have been exposed as brainless greedmongers.  Owning a home was seen as a birthright, practically.  Now it may become a privilege.  America was the place where you could bootstrap yourself to financial success, but now a new business(and many old ones) can’t even get a line of credit.

We have become accustomed to quick fixes, like pain relievers in any facet of life.  If there’s pain, let’s hurry up and get it over with and move on.  Our collective national pain will not go away quickly. This fact in and of itself will change the understanding of what it means to be American and what it is to be America.

Life ahead will be fundamentally different than it has been.  What do you think?

For my loyal 6 worldwide readers, I am back in the blog.  Mid-December through now were quite pressed.

I will be posting more regularly.