Integrity and the "Credit Tsunami"

Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve, facing tough questions from Congress, acknowledged partial wrong in his efforts to deregulate. He refers to the current economic crisis as "a once-in-a-century Credit Tsunami."

I am no money expert and I am not sure about deregulation or regulation both are a two-edged sword. Nonetheless, let me state unequivocally that neither deregulation nor regulation is at the heart of our financial crisis. At the very center of the problem is humanity! That's right human beings like you and me. Unfortunately, many of these humans are governed by an insatiable appetite for wealth and an unquenchable thirst for power acting more like animals than they do humans. They give the human race a bad name!

What is lacking in humanity whether it is up on Capitol Hill, or over on Wall Street, or down home on Main street is INTEGRITY. While many on Main Street are yelling for prison terms (and rightly so) for those who are guilty on Wall Street and Capitol Hill. The sad truth is, if they were on Wall Street or Capitol Hill they would have been just as guilty. Regardless, of the guilt of the greedy power-brokers and the financial gurus and even though they may buy themselves out of serving time in prison - they remain human though they act like wild animals.

However, one day, like all the rest of us, they will face the Judge of all humanity in eternity where there will be no unsolved mysteries as to who is guilty and who is to blame (Ezekiel 18:20). If men and women lived with this in mind, regulation or deregulation would not be an issue, INTEGRITY would rule the day - "a man's word would be his bond" regardless of race, socio-economic classification, or whether he worked on Main Street, Wall Street, or Capitol Hill.

“Making Ourselves Richer. . .”

"It’s an essential paradox: In shared sacrifices we made ourselves richer."

--Ken Burns

The above quote is from a recent interview with Ken Burns a well-respected historical documentary film maker. Mr. Burns has made a new documentary on WWII which he says focuses on “the so-called ‘ordinary man’s’ experience of combat.” When asked, what we should remember about the Second World War, he replied, “It’s an essential paradox: In shared sacrifices we made ourselves richer. And I don’t mean just in some sentimental, emotional or communal way. We made ourselves richer, paradoxically, by giving things up. We became financially, materially richer.”

It is impossible to deny the paradox. We are a richer nation and materially more prosperous because of the shared sacrifice of those brave men and women who served and died in the war. Yet, there is a downside to that material prosperity as well. Shared sacrifices as a nation for only financial successes (possessions) and personal liberty still leaves us as a very lonely people. As Burns notes, “Today we are all independent free agents. We drive in our own car alone. We surf the Net alone. We watch TV alone. And yet we yearn for community.”

Please understand that the paradox of sacrificing to be made richer is not a phenomenon of the Second World War. It is a biblical principle. It is no doubt one of the most radical concepts of the First Century ever taught by Jesus. “He who loves his life will lose it, and he hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and there where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him my Father will honor.” (John 12:24-25).

The world’s existence – the physical universe – reveals far more than just a material existence brought about by random chance or even shared sacrifice. It reveals a power and intelligence that exceeds a collective wisdom and power of all the ages of human existence. It cannot be successfully refuted that as old as man is he has longed to pay tribute to that power and intelligence. It is the Bible alone that tells us of the One power and intelligence, who is not just a prime mover, but a personal Creator.

God demonstrated the very paradox of immeasurable gain through sacrifice by sending His only begotten Son to the cross. God’s desire in creating a man was to create man in a way that man would of his own volition serve and “pay tribute” to Him. Thus, God made man a “free agent” – endowed him with free will. It was a risk God took – a sacrifice if you will – knowing that He created man who would reject, defy and in every way rebel against Him in the most heinous or indifferent way. Truly, man has rebelled openly, secretly and in the most abject way. All the shared sacrifices of a nation or people cannot reconcile man to God. It is clear from scriptures God took the initiative and risk only because of the cross which He bore in mind before a single divine breath was ever drawn to speak the world or man into being (1 Peter 1:20).

The Bible reads, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He might taste for everyone. For it was fitting for Him (God), for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:8-9). This salvation could not be purchased by the shared sacrifices of human blood shed on the battlefield of war. It was the single sacrifice of the sinless Lamb of God which atones for our rebellion and offers us the freedom of an unfettered access to God, which remains the true yearning of the human heart. This yearning, as it leads us to know God through His word, provides us with that fulfillment of community among His true people who are willing to lose their lives for His sake that they might find true life in serving and following Christ. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Now that’s a sacrifice with which you and I need to share – it will make us richer beyond our greatest expectations in and from this world!