Linked Out

    Last week I distractedly clicked on a Facebook link I thought had been shared by a friend. It showed a despondent looking picture of President Obama. I figured if something made Obama sad, it would probably make me happy.  It turned out to be one of those sponsored links promising, in this case, tips for surviving the upcoming economic disaster.  I do not doubt that there will be a collapse of American economy. It would be foolish to believe our nation will be the only one in history that hasn't destroyed itself by printing more money to pay its debts. Economies are governed by natural laws just like everything else in the universe. I passed the time alternating between sorting through boxes and being irritated while the speaker droned on promising survival tips but providing only example after example of his premise. However, I was unwilling to shut it off because it would mean the hour I spent waiting for the tips had been totally wasted.  As expected, he did not disclose his specific method of preserving resources in a collapsed economy. Those are in a free newsletter, which no doubt leads to a program which is not free. In other words, part of his wealth preservation formula is to fleece people on the internet.  But he did hint that the secret was to invest in hard assets such as silver, gold and land.
     By divine coincidence we have been studying Matthew 6 in BSF this week, so I was uniquely prepared to recognize that the analyst's method was a prime example of what Jesus said not to do.  Mt. 6: 19, 20a says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. . "  Prepping for doomsday has become a cultural phenomenon that even Christians have become caught up in, and the internet is an ideal forum to spread and support it.  To spin the old soda jingle, "I'm a prepper, he's a prepper. . .Wouldn't you like to be a prepper too?"  It sounds prudent, even like good stewardship.
    The problem is that God is apparently not a prepper and doesn't want us to be a prepper too. God does not need to be, He is as much in control on "doomsday" as any other day. In my last couple studies of Matthew, I noticed that Jesus spends half the book warning the residents of Jerusalem about the coming siege.  He does not tell them what to pack, he tells them not to pack and, more importantly, when to leave.  Jesus wants to save their lives, not their stuff.  I try hard to be a good steward of the blessings God has given me both as an act of obedience and because, most often, the means God provides to take care of our old age is our young age.  There is nothing wrong with gathering emergency supplies as long as we remember that, as  Christians, we would be obligated to share them with our saved and unsaved neighbors should they be needed.  Some preppers are prepared to defend their possessions at gunpoint.  I have not yet found a verse to back up that sentiment. Besides, in desperate times, what you need is food and hard assets don't taste very good.
     Back to Matthew 6--God has not promised us silver, gold and land, what he has promised are food and clothes. Since God knows what we need and has promised to provide it, Jesus encourages us not to worry--actually, he commands us not to worry. Moth and rust may not be as much a threat to our current assets as thieves, scams and economic collapse, but 100 percent of the time, the penalty for our earthly withdrawal is 100 percent of our assets. Paul Harvey used to preface some of his news with, "So you don't run out of things to worry about. ." and thanks, in part, to the internet we will not have that problem. To spin another jingle, "Silly Christians, prepping's for pagans".