American churches have big parking lots. If it’s a successful church, it’s got several parking lots filled with lots of cars. One car per family. Or maybe more. SUVs for the family. Big cars that show our prosperity.
Everybody drives to church. Some people drive a long way to church. In fact, some church staff live a long way from the churches they lead, and they have to drive a long way several times a day and several days a week.
Active church members are driving to worship, children’s activities, sports, Bible study. men’s groups, women’s groups, elders meetings, prayer meetings and so on.
American Christians are typical Americans. They drive a lot. Their lives are, to a certain extent, ordered around the freedom to drive and access to gasoline.
As I write this, gas is about $4 a gallon.
The vast majority of conservative Christians that I know want cheaper gas. They are angry about gas prices. In fact, I’d say that gas is going to become a very important political issue. Candidates will be promising to lower gas taxes, lower gas prices, lower the price of oil, produce more oil and so on.
The gas is just too high, say most Americans. So say most American Christians. They are sure it’s wrong for gas to be this high.
Most of them have no idea what the rest of the world pays, and they don’t care.
Now…..imagine that gas keeps going up. Five, six, seven dollars a gallon.
What will Christians be saying then? What will pastors be preaching about gas prices and gas use? Will pulpits have anything to say?
Will churches change continue to operate on the assumption that everyone SHOULD drive to church to do things for God? Will churches change what they do?
Will anyone be asking, “What does Jesus have to say about gas prices?” “As a Jesus follower, what should I be doing? How should I be responding to high gas prices and the changes this brings?”
I’m sure a lot of people will say “Jesus has nothing to do with gas prices. It’s those evil Muslims that are making the gas prices so high.”
Some people might, however, think about how higher gas prices could change the way we live our lives. They might see the situation, like other times of resource shortages in our nation’s history, as a time when good things could happen.
People might stay home more. They might share more. They might help their neighbor more. They might think we’re in the last days. Or they might think about how we are using God’s world.
Or perhaps they might look at their lives and see how much of it depends on the access to oil, gas, cars, roads and so on.
Maybe someone will ask “What DOES Jesus have to say about gas prices?”
What do you say? Does Jesus have anything to do with gas prices? What would he say to American Christians who are going to make choices that might result in spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on gas so they can continue their “lifestyle.”
What does Jesus have to say to us as gas prices rise and rise, with no stopping in sight?
Your turn:
[...] Jesus Shaped Spirituality has a post and open thread on Jesus and gas prices. Posted by: TommyMertonHead @ 11:51 pm | Trackback | Permalink [...]
[...] Jesus Shaped Spirituality has a post and open thread on Jesus and gas prices. [...]
I would first say that most people want cheaper gas prices, regardless of political leanings. It will become a political point in this year’s campaign, but frankly, nothing will be done that will reduce the prices, regardless of who gets elected. Now that that’s said…
I don’t think gas pricing should be preached on…period. However, that doesn’t mean not noting it and how it may impact giving, whether to the church or to others outside of the church. I also think (although it doesn’t really apply here in rural Idaho) that churches should consider their slabs of pavement and building plans, keeping those that will drive in mind.
I am hopeful that this will cause some of the urban blight to reverse, and instead of the “outcast” living in there abandoned, that it will revitalize the cities. By the way, I’m not speaking of “gentrification”, which pushes the outcast somewhere else.
While I think that, in the short term, it will cause some changes, honestly, I don’t see this being a major change in the long term financially. The perception of things will be the greater engine of change.
I will say that it would be nice if this meant we would spend more time with our neighbors, honestly, it probably means we will spend more time on the Internet.
My probably overly-optimistic hope is that economic issues facing us – the rising costs of both gas and food – have the potential to push us back toward localism, which might just mean Christians are going to have to stop shopping for churches, driving for however long to get to the one with the best programs, and start doing the work of Jesus with the other Christians in their own communities.
Of course, there’s probably much to say about simplicity in all this as well. I wonder if Dave Bruno’s 100 Things Project (recently reported on in Time) will catch on as a result of the rising costs.
Well, this could go in a lot of different directions, but His teaching in Matthew 6:19-34 comes to mind. Among other things He told His disciples not to worry about food and clothes…….the necessities of life, but to seek the Kingdom and Righteousness of God. Perhaps He would tell us not to worry about the price of gas but to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Perhaps Jesus would redeem the situation by using a parable.
“Hang up your keys and follow me”.
Uh, on second thought, maybe not. I am pretty sure he would not be driving an S.U.V. though. I doubt that He would miss the chance to illustrate just how fully we are “owned” by our possessions.
Peace,
John
I wasn’t too clear on that last thought….being owned by our possessions may seem unrelated to gas prices, but think of all the things that are related to that industry.
Sorry,
John
I’m not sure what Jesus has to say about “gas” prices, but it’s certainly true that vast areas of church life have been shaped by, and are wholly dependent upon, the “car culture”.
That’s especially true in the US, but also true in the UK, where the contemporary evangelical approach to the church, particularly within Anglicanism, is to drive to a sufficiently “sound” church rather than walking to the dodgy liberal/Anglo-Catholic establishment down the road. (This in stark contrast to, say, C.S. Lewis’ commitment to the parish system.)
What happens when driving to church ceases to be attractive? Perhaps it will lead to a new localism in church life, which would probably be no bad thing (though for various reasons I doubt it will lead back to the situation before cars). More likely it will just lead to people deciding to go church every two or three weeks rather than every week. Which would be less positive.
(Incidentally, petrol prices here in the UK are comfortably over $10 a gallon. So I can’t tell you how much our hearts bleed when we read about US gas prices. ;-) )
Price of gas in Saudi Arabia- 45 cents per gallon
Price of gas in Venezuela- 16 cents per gallon
The reason we are paying more is because the government wants it that way. Our natural resources are off limits for oil exploration, and environmental regulations are so restrictive that we haven’t built a new refinery in almost 40 years. I heard that Canada is sitting on the equivalent of two Saudi Arabias when the tar sands and oil shale deposits are taken into account. North America could be energy independent if our governments were serious about it.
As to Jesus’ thoughts on the matter, any speculation I could give would only mirror the contours of my own beliefs on the subject
I want to put out a nice little political rant about stupidity about economics and gas prices and government policy and urban legends about oil (*cough*Canadian oil shale*cough*) and and and … , but that has relatively little to do with Jesus.
Hmmm, might that be a lesson to me? What is more important – dealing with politics and debates about gas prices, or dealing with my neighbors and family who are suffering from gas prices. (Even if gas price “suffering” is a pretty minor sort of “suffering”.)
I don’t think the gas price complaining thing is a specifically Christian thing; it’s an American thing.
Jesus might drive and SUV; Jesus might walk everywhere; Jesus might drive an old beater. It doesn’t matter. Jesus would use every opportunity to reach everyone around him, including opportunities from gas price complaining and “suffering”.
Does anyone in here think Jesus has something to say about how I spend $50?
$50 can do incredible things in our world. The choice to spend it on my lifestyle is an expression of discipleship.
My wife and I drive to town once a week if possible. (Sometimes we have to go more, but not often.)
We don’t have much money, but the idea of spending the money to drive 40 miles (round trip) every time I want to go to Wal-Mart does get me into the realm of money and its uses in the Kingdom of God.
Gas prices might get that conversation started with American Christians.
Can a pastor say God doesn’t want you to spend $500 if you can spend $300? And the other $200 can fund missions, etc.?
I think that this raises two issues:
1) American churches are focused on bringing people “in”, not going “out”. The sign of church success is to add more and more functions and services, so the church becomes the one-stop-shop for everything from sports to family. A church down the street keeps adding playgrounds and ball diamonds. They even added a disc golf course.
Everyone is cutting back on driving already. My wife bristles at the thought of driving across town to church. Which brings up the second point:
2) Most people don’t go to church locally. Like in work habits, they drive across town to go to church (I do). Should churches be local? Does being local help the church to have more impact on the community? I think so. The home church movement and emergent movement reflect that to some degree. I would think that we will see a shift to more of that style of worship.
I lost my driving privileges about a year ago, sold my car and started taking the bus. The megachurch, where I really thought that God wanted me to attend, is not on the bus line.
I now attend one of their small groups that I can bike to, and I do that irregularly. I have also become slightly involved in a very liberal church downtown. I like how everyone there who helps the poor seems to know that if it weren’t for God’s grace, they too would be sick, homeless, lonely, hungry, etcetera.
I really do hope that rising gas prices help revitalize the downtowns, and the inner cities. When rich Christians flee these areas every night to get away from poor people it is a poor witness indeed.
I’ve been wondering if Jesus would approach this issue from a stewardship perspective?
I just deleted a paragraph or two because I’m having the trouble finding the words to expound. For some (a very small group of people) a SUV is the best option, but I wonder if Jesus is more concerned with how they use it versus whether or not they own it? I just surprised myself by writing that last sentence.
Anyways, that’s my two cents (pre-coffee.)
cheers
I’m one of the few Californians I know that doesn’t drive. I take public transportation: buses, trains, light rail, ferries, etc. Or I walk. Of course it takes more time, but I consider it time well spent.
Look into the windows of the cars on your average street. Doesn’t matter the size of the car; nearly all of them contain one passenger. Unless they’re on a cell phone, they’re interacting with no one.
On the other hand, walking or taking the bus puts me into contact with far more people than I would ever encounter driving. I meet people that I would have never met otherwise. I talk with strangers.
Frequently the conversation turns to Jesus; not ’cause I force it that way, but because they might ask what I do for a living, or where I’m going (which is frequently Jesus-related) or what my “dangerously overeducated layman” t-shirt means.
If you’re asking what Jesus might do, we already know He talks to strangers, and that He seeks opportunities to do so.
Now, a lot of Christians don’t talk with strangers, so they’d still interact with no one but the people on their call lists. But for those people who complain, “I never get an opportunity to share my faith,” getting out of your car is an opportunity.
Gas isn’t cheap any more. Natural gas, which many buses in California run on, is. A monthly bus pass is $50, which is what it costs to fill your tank. The buses have more people on them lately for just this reason. Hence, more opportunity.
Plus, your kids will learn how to get around without Mom or Dad functioning as a limo service.
Now I gotta go catch the bus to my church.
Now…..imagine that gas keeps going up. Five, six, seven dollars a gallon.
What will Christians be saying then? What will pastors be preaching about gas prices and gas use? Will pulpits have anything to say?
How about:
“END TIME PROPHECY! END TIME PROPHECY! RAPTURE! RAPTURE! RAPTURE! LOOK UP, FOR THY REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH!”
Or:
“GOD WANTS YOU TO HAVE CHEAP GAS! IT’S YOUR SECRET SIN THAT PREVENTS HIM FROM DOING IT!”
Or:
“I REBUKE THEE, DEMON OF GAS PRICES…!”
This is one of a number of areas where the average American Christian in the pew has bought into the larger culture rather than acting from a Kingdom perspective, and the church and its witness is poorer for it.
I have commuted by bike and bus for almost 15 years, and met some of my best friends doing so.
Hard to say exactly what Jesus would do, but I’m pretty sure he would live more simply than a lot of American believers. I’m fairly sure he wouldn’t whine about having to drive a small car, or walk, or ride a bike. And I’m fairly sure he wouldn’t be eager to see his followers send any more money than absolutely necessary to enrich oil-producing countries that persecute his church. I think he might be calling his followers in positions of leadership to lead with vision, including the vision to solve energy problems.
And I know he commands us to be witnesses. For Christians who have chosen to live simply, high gas prices provide a great opportunity to witness and show people that the joy of life in Christ far outweighs the elusive happiness of having more stuff. My fear is that those Christians may be all too rare.
I honestly don’t know what Jesus would have said about gas prices. I know I worry & fret and I shouldn’t, both for myself and for others I know of who have limited resources and have already cut back greatly. I wish I could ditch my vehicle and ride the bus, wish my dh could carpool or bus to work, but we don’t live in an area where it’s possible. So I’m thankful we can afford at the moment to tank our vehicles up, and I try to make careful decisions about where I drive, map out the most efficient route, etc. Oh, and we do attend a local verging-on-mega church about 1.5 miles from our house, which we chose in part because of its proximity.
But this and many other topics of conversations about “how things are going” these days reinforces my appreciation for God’s sovereignty and wisdom in terms of WHEN Jesus lived and walked on this earth… in terms of the clarity of his message. Though of course even then others thought he was talking about political issues, rather than the kingdom of God.
I do think he would have compassion for those who are truly suffering, but I’m not sure how many of us are really really “suffering” yet though I do feel great anxiety and don’t really want our “way of life” to change. But that is my HUMAN self saying that. So I ask for his mercy and a change of heart.
Michael said:
“Can a pastor say God doesn’t want you to spend $500 if you can spend $300? And the other $200 can fund missions, etc.?”
Possibly. However, I think the issue is rather how you spend the $500 vs. the $300.
For example, I’d rather spend the $500 on a local business, where the money is going to a locally owned store, saved in a locally owned bank and re-invested in town and local jobs. For groceries, I think it would benefit a lot of people if the $500 was shipped in from closer (saving gas) than farther.
However, to be blunt, I don’t think Jesus would use high gas prices to encourage bashing others, trumpeting our own selves, our own ideas, and how we are better than those other Americans for not using as much. He seemed to have little tolerance for boasting. If we save 10 gallons taking the bus or walking to the store and then head out to brag, it’s worthless.
What on earth was God doing burying all that oil in those Arab nations?
Perhaps Eugene Peterson’s advice, “Go to the closest, smallest church” will take hold. I wish that many of our people could walk to church. We live in very desirable suburbs with a rural feel and look. No side walks, no useful bike paths, and I hope gas prices move us towards neighborhoods, and then neighborhood stores rather than a 15-20 minute trip to box stores or the mall.
Jesus is pretty big on Love Thy Neighbor. Maybe this could keep us on track better…..
Hey, I just thought I’d drop a quick note here to point out something that seems to be missing in this discussion: the effect that rising gas prices have on everyone, regardless of whether you own a car.
It seems that, whenever a discussion on gas prices comes up lately, the focus is on “those people driving gas-guzzling SUV’s,” or “those people who drive across town to go to work/church/whatever” or similar things. However, people seem to forget (or fail to mention) that even if you don’t own a car, walk to the nearest church on Sunday, work from home during the week, and at the most take public transportation to the store for groceries, you will still be affected by rising gas prices.
Why? Because our entire economy runs on oil. How does food get from the farm to your local store (even your locally-grown farmer’s market)? Someone packs it all in a truck and drives it there. What happens when gas prices go up? It costs more money for people to transport food to the stores. In the end, the price of food bought at the store goes up to cover the increased cost of transportation.
In other words, gas price suffering won’t be considered “a minor thing” (as one commenter has said) when people of lower income can’t afford food.
Sure, the bourgeoisie will complain about not being able to afford recreational driving anymore, and we’ll all point at them and say “you shouldn’t be living such a wasteful and indulgent life, anyway! Nya nya nya!” and be righteously indignant about it and not even realize that the poor are criticizing us because we can still afford to eat two or three meals a day.
Maybe we could learn something from what (if anything) European pastors have preached regarding their own high gas prices?
Something that never gets mentioned in these discussions is where the money is going to- to Saudi Arabia to fund Muslim evangelism throughoutb the world, to help he Sudan regime oppress Christians, to help Iran fund Hezbollah in Lebanon- isn’t that immoral? Everytime someone fills their car, anti-Christian forces are getting a big cut. That’s a good reason to drive less.
Gas in the Netherlands costs, as of today, on average, $9.90 per gallon, when corrected for the exchange rate and the liters –> gallons difference. Stop complaining.
Webmonk,
Jesus said nothing about oil prices, but did say something about calling out your brother’ supposed “stupidity.” (*Cough*, don’t do it,*cough*)
How is the “Energy Conservationist” Jesus, or the “Environmentally Responsible Jesus” any less a creation of our culture than the “Republican Jesus” or the “Culture Warrior Jesus”? I think we go wrong when we try to extrapolate WWJS (what would Jesus say) about X, in cases where He never addressed the subject. What we can do is see if Jesus addressed anything that may be related, and if this would effect what we should think and do regarding the subject at hand.
“What DOES Jesus have to say about gas prices?”:
Short answer: Nothing. There was no gas in first century Palestine.
Long answer: HERE
Grace and Peace,
Raffi Shahinian
Parables of a Prodigal World
@Chris, #24:
How many liters per gallon are you assuming?
Everybody:
I come late to this thread but here are some facts and thoughts:
At 3.8 liters/US gallon (as opposed to 4.5liters/UK gallon), fuel in Austria costs around $8/gallon, with standard and premium costing the same and diesel costing more (despite lower tax).
So that’s almost twice as much as in the US, and frankly, the price difference has been higher in the past (I can remember times when a liter over here cost as much as a gallon in the US).
A good deal of the price over here is tax, some of it earmarked for road construction and maintenance, and some of it for environmental measures, but not all of it. Additionally, all four- and six lane divided highways are toll roads paid via an annual sticker. If I want to travel east, north or south from here, within 30-100 miles I hit a border beyond which I need to buy another toll road sticker if I want to travel on decent roads.
The church I attended yesterday has no car park, but about 60% of the folks came by bicycle or on public transport.
I know of a single evangelical church, and only a handful (out of hundreds) of Lutheran/Reformed and Catholic churches in the city of Vienna which have a car park. The single evangelical car park holds about ten cars.
Very few schools have car parks (even for staff), and most large corporations have car parks only for about 40-60% of employees.
All of this to underline that the problems you face in the US are largely specific to your country and its culture, and it is entirely possible to live and do things very differently.
Please spare a thought for people not living in the US. Our currency is currently about 7.85 to the dollar and at the moment the dollar is weak. Should the dollar strenghten, we will be in a lot more trouble than we already are. Food prices have also soared and the poor in our country spend about 80% of their income on food. This has led to riots and deaths.
Christians in America might have problems to get to church. Our problems tend to be bigger.
“What DOES Jesus have to say about gas prices?” I don’t know, but He did say the love of money is the root to all evil.
Well, some facts:
Canada does have a lot of oil, and more is being discovered on an ongoing basis – but our reserves are still less than that of Saudi Arabia. But the US feels the impact because thye’ve been fed fuel-guzzling cars ever since the 50’s and 60’s, when companies like GM bought out trolley lines etc, only to rip them up, so as to foster a car-dependant culture. But it it also tur that large parts of the US (and Canada even more) is much less compact than Europe. And here in central Saskatchewan, in the middle of winter, with snow, ice and temperatures at -50, a 4×4 could make the difference between life and death when you are caught in a blizzard/storm outside of town. But that certainly does not count for say Southern Californa.
These things said, the original question was – WWJS? Well, I’ve been thinking and writing a lot about issues of economy, culture and community of late. It does seem that we have accomodated our theology to gread far too much.
But insofar as Church activities go, I’ve long been of the mind that there are too many of these – of the wrong kind. Too many groups, and too few elements of the ‘normal’ church calendar – 5 different youth groups, but no Matins. We preach family, and then break them up for the purposes of preaching to them – it just doesn’t add up.
I’m in the situation where there is just not any church where I could go within walking distance, that at least offer the Eucharist truly, or have even a resemblence of a liturgy – in all truth, they pride themselves in being anabaptist, with worship bands etc. That is why we have to drive 30 km / 20 miles every Sunday (one direction). But I drive 27 km / 18 miles every day (one direction) to work as well, so, it is not that bad at all.
abmo – the fuel price in Canada, when converted to to your currency (yes, I know) is about the same. The US fuel price gets heavily subsidised.
Funny you should write of this now, because just the other day, a friend and I were talking about her dissertation idea. She’s in history, with Mark Noll advising her. She is interested in the relationship between the American car culture and American religion.
John H. has already hit upon this point, but I figure it’s worth emphasizing: American car culture has affected the way Americans “do” church. For one, I suspect that there wouldn’t be any suburban megachurches. Their absence alone would change the face of American evangelicalism.
Sorry Patrick, I did say that poorly. Those were separate concepts – stupidity about economics, and urban legends. The Canadian oil shale is there all right, it’s just not cost effective to get at. Most reporters and pundits don’t go into that aspect of it, and people who just haven’t heard the whole story certainly aren’t stupid. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise, even though it sort of sounded like that. Sorry.
If I was aiming something at you, I’d go on to say something about speaking the truth or something like that, and then you could come back ….. Wait, stuff like that never happens on the Internet though! :-D
I’m in total agreement with you on the issues that come up with pouring Jesus into a particular mold and extrapolating reasons why He would agree with our position.
I really appreciate Patrick Kyle’s comments #s 9 and 25.
I just re-read my comment, and realised that it was full of typo’s – safe to say, the greater the intensity with which I write, the more errors there are – must have felt pretty strong about this yesterday!
Patrick Kyle said:
“The reason we are paying more is because the government wants it that way. Our natural resources are off limits for oil exploration, and environmental regulations are so restrictive that we haven’t built a new refinery in almost 40 years. I heard that Canada is sitting on the equivalent of two Saudi Arabias when the tar sands and oil shale deposits are taken into account. North America could be energy independent if our governments were serious about it.”
I wonder whether statements like this come because people don’t know, or because they don’t want to know. Hosea 4:6.
The idea that domestic oil production could lower gas prices back to the good old days is a fantasy. There is no basis in reality for that statement. Best case scenario, if we open up offshore drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and drill ANWR, is that we get a couple of years’ worth of oil ten years from now. That is a ton of money if you’re an oilman looking to drill, and could feasibly create some jobs, but is not any kind of solution for the consumer who wants $1.50 gas again.
The statement that environmental regulations are the reason no new refineries are being built is nonsense. It is almost always more cost-effective to keep on expanding an existing refinery where the utility infrastructure already exists than to go greenfield on a new one, and that is exactly what oil companies have done for 40 years. In fact, they’ve closed a lot of the smaller refineries scattered around the country because that business model has been less efficient than consolidating production in fewer, larger refineries.
You “have heard” that Canada is sitting on all this oil, but what you “haven’t heard” is that it is a classic case of receding horizons. Processing the oil shale is extremely energy- and water-intensive. When oil was cheap, it wasn’t economically feasible to process that oil on a large scale. Now that oil is expensive, it still isn’t feasible, because of course the cost of the energy to get the oil out of the ground has gone up with the price of oil. Maybe at some point in the future, alternative forms of energy will be developed that are much cheaper than oil, so that the shale can be mined economically. However, if those alternative forms become so much cheaper, at that point it makes little sense to extract the oil in the first place. The oil shale is more useful as a talking point to assign blame than it is as an energy resource.
Webmonk,
No problem. One of the problems with the Internet is that people are unable to convey tone, inflection, and physical signals like posture and facial expression unless they are extremely careful(and use emoticons) I am misunderstood all the time because I write bluntly.
Amtog,
Thanks.
One question that I have that is peripherally related is how did owning/driving/desiring an automobile , especially a larger one , slide over into the realm of greed? I was raised in Montana and now live in LA. Without a vehicle you are pretty much dead in the water. It would be impossible to provide for my family. We chose an SUV because we wanted to have a modicum of protection for our children in the case of a wreck.(My wife would not negotiate on this point.) The height of the vehicle also provides a better view of the road and traffic around you, and this fact alone has helped me avoid a couple of potentially serious accidents. Should my motives in getting an SUV or the motives of others be impugned as greed?
Why do people feel the need to label us (US citizens) as greedy and environmentally immoral? The policies of our government and our corporations do not necessarily represent the values of me or my friends, or plenty of people who live here.
Scylding, your point about having to drive to find a church that is theologically and liturgically sound is true. My church is a commuter church. I drive by dozens of churches to get to my congregation. (Yes, I have visited a large portion of them.) Good confessional Lutheranism is in really short supply in SoCal. Some people drive 50 miles one way to get here. Why? Because they can’t abide Purpose Driven, Seeker Sensitive churches desperately seeking to be relevant. For some of these folks we are the last stop on the way to agnosticism. Their hope in Christ has been revived. Why chastise them like the woman who poured perfume on Jesus’ feet? “This gasoline could have been conserved or used to run a tractor on a farm in a starving third world country.”
Jeff,
I’m sure IMonk didn’t post this to facilitate a debate on oil and it’s surrounding politics. However, we could disagree and site competing statistics until the cows come home. I think there is enough evidence out there to call into question a number of your conclusions. A friend of mine is looking into building housing in some of the boom towns springing up around the Canadian tar sand deposits. I base some of my comments on his research into the markets and the willingness of my friend and many others to sink substantial investment dollars into these projects.
abmo,
My heart goes out to you and your people. There is evil built into a system where our financial recovery means doom for others. I don’t think it HAS to be this way, but it is and I am not smart enough to figure out where the trouble really lays. Is it in our govenrments, or the interconnected world financial markets? Is it investors and speculators? Is there really a shortage of basic necessities, or is the shortage an artificial product of corrupt politics and financial skull-duggery? Lord have mercy on us.
[...] few posts you should check out From Jesus Shaped Spirituality on Jesus and Gas Prices. some pretty thought provoking [...]
The underlying issue is first of all peak oil, then behind that the problem of exponential growth in a finite environment, and behind that the way that our culture has turned economic growth into an idol. What the church should be doing is dismantling the idols…
I’ve been writing (and preaching) rather a lot over the last couple of years about what Christians should be doing in the face of this crisis (and we are barely into the foothills of the Himalayas at the moment). My posts are gathered here.
If you only read one of them have a read of this one which is applying Brueggemann’s ‘The Prophetic Imagination’ to the situation.
In the Atlanta area people drive 30, 40, 50 miles to go to their favorite mega church. I have neighbors that drive 45 miles one way to see their favorite evangelical circus. If gas prices stay this way i expect to see a few people find a local church to attend. This could be quite healthy for these people and congregations as a whole.
Jesus rode a donkey but I think it is just as cheap to drive an SUV after what happened to hay prices last summer. No kidding here. My neighborhood had a small fund raiser to help a family who had bought a pony for their daughter and then could not afford the hay.
[...] In the Blogosphere Filed under: In the Blogosphere — trevinwax @ 12:01 am What does Jesus have to do with high gas prices? [...]
Mathew 24; Something my church talked about this Sunday…
Hard times are meant to come and they will. So let us use the time and resources we have wisely to get closer to God and thank Him even through our troubles because it is through troubles that our spirit is refined. Pray now for strength to have victory over the troubles yet to come… this is only the begining.
Also, gas prices shouldn’t concern us. This issue, can be an open door for trusting our God almighty and unity in the community through fellowship, opening more homes for prayer meetings, meeting in different places, carpooling…
While I was there for my niece’s high school graduation a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend an Element Church near St. Louis Missouri. And although it was a bit out of my element, it was a good experience overall. The parking lot at the YMCA was filled with many SUV and high $$ vehicles.
Joe Mcgee was the guest speaker and in his comments, he brought up the gas price issue. He related that a few years ago when gas prices hit seventy cents per gallon his father parked the car and refused to drive it for over two weeks because the economy was about to collapse. Then Joe said, God was on the throne then, and He is still on the throne now.
WWJS? Probably something about our pride, selfishness, greed or laziness. ’nuffs been said…
Peace
[...] days ago, I posted an invitation to discuss Jesus and Gas Prices on this blog. It’s a topic that, to a large extent, will reveal how much we really can engage our [...]
[...] days ago, I posted an invitation to discuss Jesus and Gas Prices on this blog. It’s a topic that, to a large extent, will reveal how much we really can engage our [...]
Hi people,
just want to introduce myself on jesusshaped.wordpress.com, hope this is the right category for that purpose.
Kind regards,
Max