With the election of President Obama, the passing of the economic package, and the various bailouts, we have entered into a new age of mutual responsibility and collectivism. We are once again reminded that we are our brothers keeper and it is the role of community to right wrongs and distribute social justice and economic prosperity to all whether they have worked hard for it or not.
Christianity is a religion of discipleship where the indidual makes a conscious decision to follow Jesus Christ and then participate in the community. With the idea of personal salvation comes personal responsibility and accountability. This should flow from the individual life and then be reinforced in community. Faith, morals and responsibility are virtues that must be lived out personally and not just dictated by the larger community.
What I am saying is that personal choices matter in life. Government now desires to be the ones who determine who is responsible for people's well being and prosperity. Our current economic problems are not a failure of community to distribute wealth and resources equally among members, but a failure of responsibility on the part of individuals. Whether it is predatory bankers, people taking on more debt than they can afford or people trying to live a materialistic lifestyle they cannot support, the problem and blame lies with the individual.
Most of us pay our bills, take advantage of opportunities and work hard to give our families a better quality of life, but many do not. Many have racked up unservicebale credit card debt, high car payments and live in houses their income can not sustain. Now government is telling us that those who work hard and meet our obligations must now step in and pay for those who have made irresponsible decisions so they can maintain a standard of living that they cannot support on their own.
We are creating a worldview where people feel entitled to what others have, whether they will work for it or not. This is the problem with giving community the power that should be left to the individual. If someone can live in the same size house as me and have the same possessions and vehicles that I do with half the income I have, then there is something wrong. Why would I be self-reliant when I can have everything I want at someone else's expense?
God has given us all free will to make choices about how we live our lives. When we make bad choices, we should have to live with some of the consequences. When those consequences become painful, it serves to reinforce the making of better decisions. When we absolve people of their responsibility we do not create prosperity but instead reinforce dependency.
God moves in the individual heart to guide, energize and motivate people to become all they can be. To call on community to do what individuals fail to do is not genuine community. Community should reinforce individual responsibility and values rather than be a substitute for them.
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