Turning green, are we?

So often we see the effect and spend most of our time combating the symptom rather than the cause.  If we have pain, we say we need asprin.  If we are broke, we think we simply need to make more money.  If we are overweight, we need a pill to be invented to block the fat on the food we eat.

What if instead of fixing the byproduct, we instead addressed the root of the symptom?  What should actually happen when we have pain?  We need to fix the broken ankle that's causing it instead of covering it up with asprin temporarily.  If we are broke, we need to stop spending money on video games, cell phone bills and coffee shops instead of simply getting more work.  If we are overweight, most of us should begin to eat differently or exercise more often instead of hoping for a pill to fix the symptom.

You see, no matter what you do in response to the problem, if the action or attitude that caused the symptom never changes, the symptom will always return.

Today?

Bailouts, money, stuff.  These are the topics of politicians in Washington, anchors on the 6 pm news, employees at water coolers, and moms at soccer games.

Our problems are mostly symptoms.  We have been living in sin for far too long and because of that sin, our present lifestyles are impossible to maintain.

This sin is not isolated to a movement or religion.  For believers in the way of Christ, it's a problem of the emergent church and the mainline denominations, the megachurch and the little chapel down the road.  It's time we were honest with ourselves and each other and confronted this sin that hounds us at every turn.

Sin? You're saying that this can't be the result of sin, right?

I would submit that it is.  There is a sin that has put us in the economic crisis we find ourselves in today. This is the sin that makes us always want that next thing, that nicer outfit, the newer car.  It's the sin that made us buy the house we really couldn't afford, and the car that we shouldn't be driving.  It's the one that makes us justify the $400 cell phone with the $100+ bill every month.

And until we address the sin issue, we will continue to build an economy that only works if we keep consuming stuff.  One that only works if we constantly want new clothes, new computers, new......

You get the point.

And now what happens when we all get nervous and cut back on our spending?  Well, people that manufacture the stuff we buy now don't have anyone to consume it.  People lose their jobs-unable to pay their bills, they foreclose on the homes.  And instead of having savings for the rough times, we find ourselves with closets full of stuff.  With storage units, garages and attics full of stuff.  It's hard to get rid of your old stuff. Mostly because everyone likes new stuff.  It has that smell, you know.

And when it comes to having a bunch of stuff, this time around, everyone got in on the game-Christians and non-Christians alike.

We all wanted to buy more stuff. Not just iPhones and new clothes. Some tried to make a quick buck on a preconstruction investment property that now they can't unload.   Some took out equity lines on their home to pay off credit cards that had balances from buying stuff.  Others?  You can probably list a few examples that I haven't mentioned.

This sin has a simple name.  Greed.  And what happens when the church struggles with greed?  What happens when believers think it's ok to do what the good ol' King James Version calls coveting?  What happens when we forget to be salt and light to a bland and dark world?

This.