System Error

Last week, I was sitting with a group of women in a Bible study. We were sharing some of our recent struggles.

Repeatedly around the circle, many talked about financial struggles and how they were living paycheck to paycheck. One of them shared that she wished she could take her kids on a vacation. but she knew they couldn’t afford the missed work. let alone vacation expenses. Another shared that her car kept needing more and more maintenance, and they weren’t sure how they were going to be able to keep paying for it. Another shared about some unexpected medical bills that they didn't have the money for.

I thought about the statistics I’ve read on how the majority of American families are increasingly unable to afford their basic needs. A recent CBS poll found that two out of three Americans are stressed about finances, and three out of four say their incomes can't keep up with rising prices. I have also heard it said that most people in America are just one bad stroke of luck away from homelessness. That certainly seemed true in this group.

What was interesting was their attitude about it. They expressed faith and trust in God that He would see them through. A few even said they felt as though their financial struggles were a test from God to see if they would continue to have that trust in Him. Certainly, this is a belief that helps people hold onto hope. I have heard words like this in the Church before. God will provide. God takes care of His people. Difficult times are merely tests.

There are Bible verses to support this belief. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us to pray for our daily bread. In Matthew 6, He tells us not to worry about what we will eat or how we will dress. Philippians 4:13 says, "And my God will meet all your needs."

God meets our needs. Not always our wants. But our needs.

Still, we all know sometimes things don't work out the way we think they will. We get loans to meet unexpected expenses. We end up in huge amounts of debt. We take another job. We worry about losing everything.

There is also Biblical evidence for God testing us through trials and tribulations. Think about Abraham called to sacrifice Isaac, for example, or, of course, what happened to Job. Trials can be used to strengthen our faith.

But I couldn't help but wonder, as I heard them speak, if there wasn't more going on.

I have written before on this blog on how poverty very often is linked less to poor choices and more to a lack of available, good choices. Poverty is linked to systems designed to keep the poor poor. Systems that make it very difficult for people to rise out of poverty, even over their lifetime. In fact, only 13% of individuals who have lived in poverty for seven years or longer will ever be able to escape it. 

The statistic that mentioned how more and more families are not making enough to make ends meet was accompanied by a statistic stating that the top 1% of billionaires in our country have seen their wealth increase by billions of dollars over the last year. In particular, over the last six months. Billions of dollars would make a huge difference for the poor but don’t make much of a difference to billionaires who already have too much. More than they could ever spend or need in their lifetime or their children’s lifetime or their children’s children’s lifetime.

If we as Christians see our financial struggles as spiritual, rather than systemic, as a discipline issue rather than a policy issue, doesn’t that change our response? Don’t we then see it as something we need to work out on an individual basis, like a heart matter where we need to pray and trust more, as opposed to a community matter we need to work on through advocacy and civil protest or a policy problem that we need to take up with our elected officials?

It makes me wonder where this ideas comes from. Did the wealthy elite find a way of infiltrating the thought that poverty can be prayed out into our churches in order to keep people from objecting to the systems that keep them poor?

I think about Joel Osteen and his "health and wealth gospel" church. He himself is a millionaire, having made a ton of money from his church, yet even as he has mansions and private airplanes and all of these fancy toys, most of his congregation continues to live in poverty. Feels like a giant scam to me. He’s not the only mega preacher who’s made a ton of money off this type of preaching, either.

What if poverty is not a spiritual issue? Or at least, not solely a spiritual issue? What if our financial struggles are not always trials sent by God, but the consequence of decisions made by our government? After all, living paycheck by paycheck is increasingly more difficult when prices are going up because of tariffs. Living paycheck by paycheck is increasingly more difficult when our health insurance and the cost of healthcare are rising because of cuts to Medicaid and social services. Living paycheck to paycheck will become increasingly more difficult as our electric costs increase.

In our Capitalist system, 2.5 TRILLION dollars are transferred from 90% of our country to the top 1% EVERY YEAR. This whole concept of "trickle-down economics" clearly does not work. Instead, we are stealing from the poor to satisfy the rich.

Yesterday, I watched the new "Fantastic Four" movie, which came out this month. The "bad guy" in "Fantastic Four" is Galactus, also known as the Devourer of Worlds. Galactus has an insatiable hunger that torments him so much, he seeks an heir to take it on so he can finally rest. It reminds me of the rich. How much do they need before they will finally be satisfied? Before they finally say it's enough? Before they are moved to share with the rest of us??

God can certainly teach us lessons and strengthen our faith from our life circumstances, regardless of what they are. This is true. It is also true that many of our life circumstances are caused by the brokenness of this world and of our systems. Such as, in many cases, poverty.

Personal discipline, trust, and faith in God are all essential to our lives as Christians. However, we shouldn’t miss the fact that there is more than just spiritual warfare at work here. There are earthly American systems that are directly leading to many of our financial struggles.

Therefore, as Christians, as a Church, don’t we have a responsibility to help? After all, we are called to help the poor. Handouts help in the short run, but if we truly want to see a difference, we need to advocate for better for families. What and who we vote for and the policies and politicians we support make a big difference when it comes to changing circumstances for the poor. Maybe, for example, it's time to tax the rich??

It’s funny how conservative preachers warn God will judge America for its "declining" morality, but rarely do they warn of a coming judgment for the things God actually judged people for in the Old Testament, like failing to take care of the poor, profiting from others' misfortune, and oppressing our fellow human beings. After serving idols (like riches, for example?), failing to take care of the poor is the second most common thing that God's people are judged for.

I think God is going to judge the Church in America for failing the poor and our oppression of the least of these. We are failing our calling.

Wake up, Church. 

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