Here's a stimulus package for you...

With all the talk of economic stimulus and corporate bailouts, it has gotten me thinking a lot about what Christians and the church as a whole can learn from our recent financial meltdown. Here is what I think: We rely way too much on the federal and state government's to provide people with the types of things that the church or other non-profit organizations should be able to provide. What is our government set-up to provide its citizens? The answer is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It seems more and more that we Americans have this sense of entitlement or have certain expectations for what the government should be doing for us. Why do we expect the government to provide us a job, a house, money for food, or medicine? Should the federal government really have to do all of this? I certainly don't think so! This should be and needs to be done by the church or other nonprofit organizations. Maybe the money that the government pours into programs to meet these social needs could be spent in other places and we could make our government smaller at the same time. I look at an organization like Young Life that provides mentoring to teenagers. In the Holland area alone, this organization reaches hundreds of students every year and has an annual budget of around $200,000. Would a federal sponsored program be able to reach those kids? Yes, but it would probably cost millions. (Note: I haven't done much research on this....it's just a hunch.) So, let's start thinking of ways that we can get back to a smaller government. Let's start being more grassroots about our politics. Let's start living into the principals that Jesus taught us to, "love your neighbor as yourself." If we have a need in our community, let's meet that need and find ways to get at the root of that problem. Let's teach people to fish and not just hand-out a fish or two. Let's not rely on the government to put a band-aide on our problems. It's time to speak up, act out, and do our part. This is not a time to sit back and wait for our government to fix our problems.

I am sure that I will have more later. I would love to hear your comments!