9.19.2009

Why Capitalism (and a whole bunch of other stuff) Won't Work

Barack Obama has been under a lot of scrutiny lately. Most of it has to do with his health care plan that has conservatives in town-halls getting very, very angry. Obama is all about making sure everyone gets health care and that it doesn't cost too much. The conservatives are all about private health care and having the ability to choose.

One side thinks socialism will work. The other side thinks capitalism will work.

Both sides are wrong.

Why? Because we all have a genetic defect passed down from our earliest ancestor, Adam. Adam is the fellow responsible for bringing sin into the world. Sin is the thing responsible for screwing everything up.

Sin kills things, especially relationships. Why is there no such thing as a perfect marriage? Because there has never been a marriage that hasn't involved sinners. Why has there never been a church that hasn't ended up folding? Because all churches are made up of sinners.

And why has no government lasted for more than a few hundred years? Because those governing and those being governed are all sinners. Sin screws things up.

For millenia men have been promising to have the answer for men's problems, but no one has come up with it. Obama has his national health plan. That's gonna fail. The conservatives have capitalism. That's gonna fail. They both involve sinners.

So what would happen if someone perfect showed up? Could he change the world? Could he show us how to live like no one ever has? Could he, maybe, take away the thing that screws everything up?

Well that guy did show up. They called him Jesus. And he did have a way to fix everything. A way to take sin away. He called it the gospel.

The thing we gotta realize is the gospel changes everything. What's the solution to where I go when I die? The gospel. What's the solution for relationships involving sinners? The gospel. What's the solution for our economy? The gospel.

We can't look to the government to solve our problems. We can't look to the church as a political force.

We have to have the gospel change people. It's the only way this world will get any better.

1 comment:

jaigner said...

You're right, man, but try convincing the religious right that capitalism won't work. Those folks will forget their manners fast.

The point is only one kingdom will endure.

Good thoughts.