The economy is crumbling. Investments are withering. Fear is mounting. But you don’t have to sit there feeling helpless—there is something you can do to turn our country’s financial crisis into a life-changing investment opportunity.
Financial Crises Trigger Relational Crisis
Escalating economic pressures are triggering an intense emotional upheaval in our nation. According to an October 21 CNN poll, "Seventy-five percent of [Americans] surveyed said they are angry about the way things are going. Two-thirds of those questioned said they’re scared about the way things are going and three in four said the current conditions in the country are stressing them out."
The anger, fear, and stress expressed by most Americans are all ingredients for serious conflict, and the tidal wave of emotion is already taking a huge toll on human relationships—some of it deadly. On October 14, the Associated Press reported a surge in financial-related suicides and murders: "In Los Angeles last week, a former money manager fatally shot his wife, three sons and his mother-in-law before killing himself. In Ocala, Fla., Roland Gore shot his wife and then set fire to the couple’s home, which had been in foreclosure, before killing himself…. Mental health hotlines are jammed, counseling services are in high demand, and domestic violence shelters are full."
Financial pressures, like any stressful situation, squeeze the human heart. What comes out when our hearts are squeezed might surprise us, though it shouldn’t. This current crisis reveals hidden fears and relational weaknesses, and it also triggers behavior we normally suppress.
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Financial pressures, like any stressful situation, squeeze the human heart.
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All too often we take these fears and frustrations out on those closest to us, lashing out in anger and blaming them for our struggles. Before we know it, we have escalated a financial crisis into a relational crisis.
For most of us, that relational crisis won’t be as dramatic as the headlines above, but the crisis is no less real. Hopelessness sets in as retirement plans are in shambles. A declining 401k might trigger an intense argument in the kitchen when a husband clamps down on spending and his wife throws his sports car payment in his face. Family strife increases as children moan over a canceled vacation or fewer indulgent gifts. Left unchecked, these tensions can turn a home into a battleground and eventually spiral into an "I can’t take it anymore" divorce.
That’s not all. Business slowdowns can create similar pressures in the workplace, triggering layoffs, contract defaults, and increased litigation. As a business friend observed to me yesterday, "When the economy is bad, drama is everywhere." Churches and ministries are also reporting upheavals, including staff layoffs and lawsuits between members whose business relationships are unraveling in step with the economy. All these tensions find their way back into our homes and families and expand the likelihood of relational crisis.
Practical Advice for the Christian: Prime Time to Invest in People
Whatever you do to alter your family budget or investment portfolio, let me encourage you to look beyond your own situation during this crisis. This is an ideal time to invest aggressively in the lives of the people around you. A listening ear, an encouraging word, and a little wise counsel can literally save a marriage from divorce, a co-worker from being fired, a church from splitting, or a business relationship from exploding into litigation.
I would like to offer three practical ways you can invest in other people during a time of crisis.
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God promises repeatedly to meet all of your needs.
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First, don’t panic or give in to fear.
You won’t be a help to others if you are bound by fear yourself. So where are you placing your trust? How can you demonstrate God’s work in your life in the midst of this crisis? God promises repeatedly to meet all of your needs (e.g., Matt. 6:25-34 [show]Matthew 6:25-34
[25]"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26]Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27]And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?(1) [28]And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29]yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30]But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31]Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' [32]For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33]But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
[34]"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)
Footnotes
1. [6:27] Or 'a single cubit to his stature'; a 'cubit' was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
; Phil. 4:19 [show]Philippians 4:19
[19]And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (ESV)). Think often about these promises yourself and share them with others, so that together you can say, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid" (Psalm 56:3-4 [show]Psalm 56:3-4
[3]When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
[4]In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?).
And if, as you reflect on your own heart and response to the crisis thus far, you realize that you have given in to fear and have inappropriately pointed the blame at others, be quick to confess that to God and to others, practicing the principles of peacemaking in your own life. (If it has been a while, visit www.Peacemaker.net to refresh your memory of the "Four G’s" and other conflict resolution principles relevant to times like these.)
Second, be salt and light by intentionally reaching out to those around you. Few people in our nation are untouched by the situation. I am absolutely certain that you are surrounded by hurting people who are crying out for answers, though they may not be quick to admit it. Notice worried looks and gloomy words. Don’t be brushed aside by a statement like, "Oh, I’m fine." Imitate Jesus: gently press in, ask personal questions, listen patiently, buy lunch, and show you care. As people open up, draw them out slowly, avoid simplistic answers, share honestly and openly of your own struggles, search together for wise choices and changes, and pray for those in need.
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Remember that the ultimate "bail out" has already taken place.
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Third, give hope and guidance through the gospel.
Regardless of what happens with the $700 billion the government is using to try to turn the situation around, remember that the ultimate "bail out" has already taken place. Like the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18 [show]Matthew 18
[18:1]At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" [2]And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them [3]and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [4]Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
[5]"Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, [6]but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,(1) it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
[7]"Woe to the world for temptations to sin!(2) For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! [8]And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. [9]And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell(3) of fire.
[10]"See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.(4) [12]What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? [13]And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. [14]So it is not the will of my(5) Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
[15]"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. [16]But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. [17]If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. [18]Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed(6) in heaven. [19]Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. [20]For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
[21]Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" [22]Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.(7)
[23]"Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.(8) [24]When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.(9) [25]And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. [26]So the servant(10) fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' [27]And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. [28]But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,(11) and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' [29]So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' [30]He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. [31]When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. [32]Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. [33]And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' [34]And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,(12) until he should pay all his debt. [35]So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." (ESV)
Footnotes
1. [18:6] Greek 'causes... to stumble'; also verses 8, 9
2. [18:7] Greek 'stumbling blocks'
3. [18:9] Greek 'Gehenna'
4. [18:10] Some manuscripts add verse 11: 'For the Son of Man came to save the lost'
5. [18:14] Some manuscripts 'your'
6. [18:18] Or 'shall have been bound... shall have been loosed'
7. [18:22] Or 'seventy-seven times'
8. [18:23] Greek 'bondservants'; also verses 28, 31
9. [18:24] A 'talent' was a monetary unit worth about twenty years' wages for a laborer
10. [18:26] Greek 'bondservant'; also verses 27, 28, 29, 32, 33
11. [18:28] A 'denarius' was a day's wage for a laborer
12. [18:34] Greek 'torturers'
, we owed a debt that we couldn’t possibly pay. That debt was paid by another: "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32 [show]Romans 8:32
[32]He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (ESV)). Jesus’ death and resurrection tore down the barrier between us and God, opening a pipeline from heaven to meet all our needs. He also exposed the futility of blaming others for our struggles; he modeled the humility, kindness, and forgiveness that we can imitate as we turn financial tensions into opportunities to build deeper relationships. This is our only hope as we face a falling economy and relational crises.
So no matter what the economy does in the days ahead, your investment in the relationships around you can change others’ lives forever. There is no stock on Wall Street that can deliver such a generous, secure, and eternally compounding return.
Ken Sande is the president of Peacemaker Ministries and author of numerous resources on conflict resolution, including The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict. Please visit www.Peacemaker.net for principles on conflict resolution and personal reconciliation, as well as information on educational resources, hands-on training, and building a culture of peace in your church.
PO Box 81130 • Billings, MT 59108 • www.Peacemaker.net • 406-256-1583
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© 2008 Peacemaker Ministries, www.Peacemaker.net. Reprinted with permission.
