Christians And The Free Market System

Isaiah 41:17 ‘When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue failteth for thirst, I Yahweh will hear them, I the Elohim of Yisrael will not forsake them.’

We live in a selfish world. Greed is written on everything. The supposed “free-market” system is not “free” at all. In fact, it is dependent on ‘competition.” And what is the definition of “competition?”

The very first definition of “competition” in the dictionary reads, an “effort to obtain something wanted by others; rivalry.”

The Bible has a word for this effort to obtain something wanted by others.

Exodus 20:17 ‘Thou shalt not covet. . .’

Of course Christianity has long been excusing covetousness when ‘competition’ is legalized by neutral government policy that allows unregulated sellers and buyers to agree on the price.

But what happens when everything is for sale, and everything has a price? What happens when a population are looked down upon and demeaned because they can’t afford even the basic necessities in life?

Matthew 26:11 ‘For ye have the poor always with you. . . ‘

They’re not going anywhere and no system of economics or politics is going to change that. There is always going to be people in need.

Christians need to wake up to their calling in Christ. Too many Christians seem to believe that their faith doesn’t require anything of them but to be a good citizen of a regulated society; whatever that society may be.

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In the Middle Ages, good and faithful Christians willingly took up the sword and ran into the sands of the Levant to massacre Muslims. The same battle cry is going up today. The war on terrorism is the latest holy crusade.

In America’s colonial period, good and faithful Christians naively justified slavery. Preachers and politicians alike preached that slavery was a right guaranteed by the Constitution, a part of the “free-market” system. If there was a demand for slaves, then there were no regulations against supply it. Human rights were “white-European-rights,” and equality was something that could wait because the finances of slaveholder states were more important.

“Most minister were convinced that the preservation of the Union depended upon enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law . . . Clergymen were tremendously influential . . . but their efforts might have amounted to little without the support and cooperation of economic interests in the large cities of the North. Businessmen . . . used their influence to quell agitation over the slavery controversty . . . merchants . . .(feared) that the abolitionist movement would result in secession of the southern states. – The Slave Catchers – pg 70-71

People felt that “the entire economic and social structure of the country would collapse if the abolitionists had their way. . . (saying that the Fugitive Slave Law was) the only means of safeguarding the Union.” - The Slave Catchers – Pg 73

Greed is calling out again for an unrepresented working class. Why not? Good, law-abiding conservative-minded Christians once thought it nothing to deny certain people human rights when safeguarding the economic and social structure of the country was at stake.

From colonial days right on through the turn of the century, Christian Americans justified the wholesale slaughter of tribal men and women for the good of a growing and prosperous nation. There a rich and prosperous method of containing this unwanted element of society – the reservation system. People that wanted to change the reservation system were seen as a threat, a danger to the “entrepreneurs who were making fortunes funneling bad food, shoddy blankets, and poisonous whiskey to the thousands of (Native Americans) trapped on reservations.” – Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee – pg 362

Today, the rich want to tear down regulations that will allow them to “funnel” bad, substandard, defective and unhealthy goods to the people who want have enough spending power to demand better. As we can see right now, poverty, homelessness and unemployment and a concerted emphasis on sin monitoring (credit ratings), traps people in financial reservation.

People think I’m crazy when I speak of “forgiving debt.” If you take a moment to view debt as the ‘financial reservation’ it is, you will hear the language of unmerciful creditors come through in the language of the Old West, where many worried that if Indians were allowed to “walk away as free American citizens, this would set a precedent which might well destroy the entire military-political-reservation complex.’ – Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee – pg 362

No matter how you look at it, conservative-minded people are always quick to protect the current system, whatever the system, no matter who is getting injured or imprisoned by.

How many conservatives look back to the 30s, 40s and 50s as the good old days?

That was the age of ‘red-lining.’ “Federal officials in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, actually discouraged banks from making loans in urban areas with large black, Latino, working class, or Jewish communities.” – Prison Nation – pg 53

Many historians believe this practice of red-lining helped lead to the urban poverty of the 60s and 70s, and the need for a protest-minded population to violently and peacefully demand changes the wealthy and powerful had no intention of providing.

Today we have a system that initially invested in urban areas and in poorer sectors of society but sent their jobs and employment opportunities overseas for cheaper labor. They then laid the blame on the poor for taking hold of the fiscal opportunities offered to them.

I wonder, how is this any different than shady global businesses that pay to ship prospective employees to jobs overseas and then hold their debt against them, paying them barely enough to survive while they work long hours like an indentured servant. And if you don’t think this type of thing happens today, check out Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay and the slave-trade they sponsored. (Jack is currently free and teaching people about business and ethics – go figure)

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Matthew 10:8 ‘Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.’

As long as you keep working and “thinking” you earn and deserve everything you get – you are not acting Christian. You are being selfish. Selah.

1Corinthians 6:19-20 ‘What? Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of Yahweh, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify Yahweh in your body, and in your spirit, which are Yahweh’s.’

Let this sink in. “YOU ARE NO YOUR OWN.”

Can you absorb that?

Everything you are and everything you do and everything you have is HIS. No matter how hard you work, you don’t earn anything. Everything you have is for edifying the body of Christ – not you and your worldly responsibilities in the world. You have to be willing to sacrifice everything to gain everything.

America and the system of Free Trade it promotes have put a price on everything, and everything is owned by someone. The rich own the land and the lakes, they charge you for the food you eat, the water you drink, the place you need to sleep; and Christians everywhere seem to be okay with this. Why?

Christians have been sold on the idea that ‘competition’ isn’t coveting, that wanting something others have, is not coveting; it’s all just good business practice and when the whole world is doing business in this way – a one world order – peace and prosperity will cover the earth.

In Matthew 14:15-21, Yahshua freely fed five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fishes. Now, it doesn’t matter if everyone believes this or not – but it does matter if Christians do. If Christians can’t believe this, then they really aren’t the temple of the Holy Spirit and are Christ in name only. They have no power and don’t comprehend the power.

There is more than enough to go around in this world and the best economy is the one that makes sure everyone has what they need when they need it. To justify coveting through the free market system is the same as justifying crusades, slavery, reservations and red-lining.

Most Christians today encouraging the free market system as the salvation of the Union, the Holy Land, and society in general, would have fought in the crusades, would have rebuked the abolitionists, would have returned slave to their slave owners, and would have supported red-lining.

Until you learn to hear and stand up for the cries of the poor and the needy, you’ll continue to fall for the lies of the rich and the powerful.

Christ was the one born in a manger because there was no room at the inn. As an adult He had no occupation, no livelihood, and no place to lay His head. As a Savior He was a criminal condemned to crucifixion. He was a healer who ate and drank with publicans and sinners. He preached forgiveness, mercy, kindness and charity.

In your life, in your occupation, in your economy, and in your politics, how similar to Christ are you?

Romans 15:1-2 ‘We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let everyone of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.’

From what I’ve seen of the “free-market-system,” everyone needs to bear their own infirmities, lift themselves up, and do what’s best for their house and home. Praise “God” and screw everybody else.

Nice philosophy people. Too bad for you Christ doesn’t agree.

Romans 15:3 ‘For even Christ pleased not Himself, but as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell on Me.’

Amen