The Change We Need
By Kendall Wingrove (10/27/08)
Presidential candidates and media pundits have repeatedly warned that 2008 is the most important election in America’s history. Whether voters choose a maverick or a community organizer, they desire someone that will help us emerge from these difficult times.
As we entertain grand visions of a brave leader whisking us away to the promised land, everyone ought to look in the mirror and get a good glimpse of the real problem.
The fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.
To be sure, federal policymakers in the executive, legislative and judicial branches have made horrible decisions and taxpayers are outraged. The so-called experts have repeatedly dropped the ball or turned a blind eye to difficulties until they’ve exploded into crises.
The shortcomings of the public sector are matched by corruption in the private sector. Some on Wall Street have been feeding at the trough in high style. As they gambled with the life savings of shareholders, these arrogant manipulators lavished in the luxury of their subsidized dream world. Protected by golden parachutes and severance packages, their greed has put several prestigious financial institutions on life support and threatened our entire economy.
But as we resent the fat cats in the executive suites, and point our fingers at the pork barrel politicians who build bridges to nowhere, it’s important to remember they aren’t much different than us. We've been fellow travelers on the road to bankruptcy.
For decades, our nation has lived beyond its means, turning the Great American Dream into a Great American nightmare. Consumers buy items they can't afford and pile up debts they are unable to pay. In the ceaseless quest to acquire more toys, and accumulate them quickly, instant gratification trumps patience and sacrifice.
Harvard professor Niall Ferguson recently said that household debt rose from about 50 percent of GDP in 1980 to a peak of 100 percent of 2006. “In other words,” Ferguson said, “households now owe as much as the entire U.S. economy can produce in a year.”
As we continue spending with wild abandon, perhaps voters think a new president will wave a magic wand and command our deficits to instantly disappear. While a principled chief executive can make a pivotal difference, even the most trustworthy steward must have an informed citizenry that understands restraint and believes in some ethical code.
Instead of legislating our way out of this mess, it's time to realize that the solution has been around for 2,000 years. The change we need is Jesus Christ.
While we drown in debt and beg for bailouts, Jesus offers a peace that can calm the storms of life. In John 14:6 he said: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
Earlier in the book of John, it chronicles how Jesus went to Jerusalem and found men around the temple selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting around exchanging money. He drove them from the sacred area, scattering the coins of the moneychangers and overturning their tables.
According to Jesus, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. The real value is found in a person's soul. The day of reckoning has arrived and all must ask: Does the almighty dollar merit worship, or is it in God that we trust?
A few years ago, a Calvin College sophomore I knew challenged America's obsession with material goods. "It's a value set that we've all been conditioned to accept," said the student. "For me, education is primarily a mission for God's glory." He rejected the viewpoint that the most accomplished graduates are those holding prominent jobs and earning the largest salaries.
"Fulfilling success comes only through service to King Jesus," he explained. "That means I could be a success in his eyes and never make a cent."
Some might say my young friend is idealistic and maybe even unrealistic. But if more adopted his beliefs, maybe our self-absorbed society wouldn't be on the verge of economic and moral collapse.
By bending our knees at the foot of the cross and opening our hearts to the good news of Christ, our country could find healing and redemption. Change is never easy, but God keeps extending the offer. Repentance is the road less traveled and in a modern world full of dead ends, Jesus is the bridge to somewhere.
A new occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue might make a difference, but a sovereign leader with a heavenly address is the real answer. If we sought His will rather than our own, it would be an era of great awakening.
The cynics say it will never happen. I have the audacity to hope otherwise. Americans can change.
Yes, we can.
Kendall Wingrove
Kendall Wingrove is a free-lance writer from East Lansing, Michigan.
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