How the Economic Crisis Should Change
You
By Howard Dayton
Watching
the ups and downs of the stock market can be unnerving. Since September, the
emotions of the American people have been on a roller-coaster ride that rises
and falls with good news one day and bad news the next.
We’re all hoping for stability, but even if we escape a prolonged depression
like that of the 1930s, we need to walk away 
from
this crisis as changed people. Financial analyst Kevin Duffy notes that in
the years building up to the crisis, the borrower was “a willing dance partner
to the lender’s lead.” Duffy says that in June 2006, as many as 29 percent
of mortgages taken on in 2005 were “already underwater.” The warnings were
there, but our financial recklessness continued. (1)
Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac were among the major partners in the dance. Although both
entities were profit-driven corporations owned by shareholders, they also were
government-sponsored enterprises. As a result, they “reaped the rewards of the
private sector while enjoying the security of the public sector. Seemingly
insulated from all harm, they became reckless. They constructed a giant pyramid
of debt on a very small base of capital.” (2)
This
year, we’ve witnessed one disaster after another as the seeds we planted in
previous years bore their bitter fruits. And, in the midst of our own crisis,
we may not have noticed the declines also taking place in countries like India,
China, and Russia.
In
the world of mutual funds, the Eaton Vance Greater India fund recorded gains as
high as 114 percent in 2003, 45 percent in 2005, and 55 percent in 2007,
according to Morningstar’s Gregg Wolper. “The typical
For
decades now, the philosophy of many in the industrialized world has been “me”
and “more,” and people in other nations have adopted this thinking. But one
thing we should learn from our current crisis is that this philosophy is a
failed promise which often leads to disaster.
In
an October 18 column, Fox News writer Nancy Colasurdo said she read on a
message board that a woman broke up with her fiancé after he was laid off from
his Wall Street job. “What does this economic downturn mean for the
gold-diggers who had hoped to stake a claim on one of those high earners?” she
asked. “Or for the women who had already snagged one and have now seen their
net worth dwindle into the danger zone? And what about the men who sought the
money and power in hopes of building material wealth to attract these
one-dimensional relationships? How will they all define or redefine themselves?”
(4)
Let
me repeat an oft-repeated statement: “Money can’t buy happiness.”
In
March, Science Magazine published an
article on three studies dealing with the effect of income on happiness. (5) The first study, involving 632 Americans,
showed a direct relationship between happiness and spending money on others.
Another
study involved a test group of employees who received bonuses. Those who spent
more of their bonus on others experienced greater happiness.
Finally,
there was an experiment involving people who were given $5 to $20 and told to
spend the money by 5 pm that day. They were randomly assigned to spend the
money on themselves, to buy a gift for someone else, or to make a charitable
donation. You guessed it: The people in the latter two groups ended up with a
higher rate of happiness.
Brian
Hurlbut, author of Making it Count:
Putting Meaning Back in Business and Relationships, is encouraging people
to use the financial crisis as a wake-up call. “Get your eyes off yourself,” he
says. “Others need you. You need others. Focus on those around you and give to
their needs—whether emotional or financial.” Hurlbut says he’s not downplaying
the importance of good self-preserving decisions. But, he says that once we’ve
shored up our dams, we need to offer to help on someone else’s. (6)
When
is your dam shored up? When you have enough. And, it’s critical that we all
determine how much is enough. “Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is
meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 5:10 NIV).
In addition, we need to put our trust in God, not government. Writing
for the Cato Institute, Johan Norberg says that after a 
financial
crisis, we typically hear demands for new controls and regulations to keep
it from happening again. But Norberg says the problem with regulation is that
it’s “always a response to the last crisis. …The next possible crisis and
its causes are so far unknown, and our regulations may have no effect or even
make them worse.” Norberg says our best way to prepare is to become flexible
and ensure that people and institutions are ready to “learn and adapt as soon
as new information is available.” (7)
How
do we become flexible? The answer is to become financially free and depend on
the Lord. Government is not our Savior, Jesus is.
And,
if you’re still tempted to depend on the government, think again, because the
mortgage meltdown is “cheap compared with the coming fiscal firestorm fanned by
unfunded Social Security and Medicare costs. Together, these programs hold
unfunded obligations totaling $41 trillion—60 times larger than the Wall Street
bailout.” (8)
Our
country desperately needs God, and we need to live in such a way that people
want to know more about Him. Will you now live out His financial principles for
your life? Will you be a changed person?
For
practical advice on how you can experience this changed life and become
financially free, plan on attending Crown Ministries Journey to True
Financial Freedom Seminar. The seminar will be held at Twin Oaks Presbyterian
Church on January 17th 2008.
(1) Duffy, Kevin (2008, October 8). Looting
the Responsible. Ludwig von Mises Institute.
(2) Surowiecki, James (2008, July
28). Sponsoring Recklessness [Electronic version]. The New Yorker,
84(22), 27.
(3) Wolper, Gregg (2008, September
30). The Meltdowns You Might Have Missed. Morningstar.com.
(4) Colasurdo, Nancy (2008, October
15). Tough Times Test Character, Relationships. FOXBusiness.com.
(5) Dunn, Elizabeth W., Aknin, Lara
B., Norton, Michael I. (2008, March 21). Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness
[Electronic version]. Science Magazine,
319(5870), 1687-1688.
(6) eReleases Newsbureau
(2008, October 10). Bryan Hurlbut,
Author of ‘Making It Count,’ Says ‘Best
Investment Is a Wake-up Call’.
(7) Norberg, John (2008, October 7).
Regulators
Cannot Avert Next Crisis. The Cato Institute.
(8) Riedl, Brian M. (2008, September
29). $700 Billion Bailout? You Ain’t Seen Nothin’. The Heritage Foundation.
Howard
Dayton founded Crown Ministries in 1985 and developed a remarkably effective
small group financial study. Crown Ministries merged with Larry Burkett’s
Christian Financial
Concepts in September 2000 to form Crown Financial Ministries, the world's
largest financial
ministry. For 32 years, Crown has been
equipping millions around the world to learn, apply and teach Biblical financial
principles. They are Christ-centered and Bible-based, offering teaching resources
including small group studies, one-on-one budget coaching, church and business
leadership tools and multi-media learning systems for all ages. Those impacted
by Crown’s teaching report that marriages are strengthened, debt is reduced,
and savings and generosity are improved as they enter a closer relationship
with Christ. This article was supplied by Crown Ministries. For more info
regarding Crown visit their website at www.Crown.org.
