Okay, if you have read even one of my blog entries, you know I am not really a writer. I actually do mortgages professionally. The other day I was telling a customer what I was able to do for her. The rate she qualified for was in the low 6% range for a 30 year fixed rate loan. Her reply,” Well, another company is giving me 4% for a 30 year fixed.” “They might be telling you that to get your business” I said, “but that’s not really possible right now.” Her response, “ALL things are possible with Christ.” I didn’t really say anything back to her. I just started banging my head on my desk and muttered, “Nooooo…not another one!!!!”
The verse she is referring to of course is Philippians 4:13. It is one of the most encouraging verses in the entire Bible and one of my personal favorites. In our day and age, however, it has also become one of the most distorted verses. I think you can find it at the bottom of every one of those emails. You know those emails I’m talking about right? The ones that make you tear up by showing pictures of beautiful sunsets, daffodils, and doggies flying fighter jets, and then tell you if you don’t forward the email to everyone in your address book your little kitty-cat will die tomorrow. But, of course if you do forward it to everyone in your address book, you’ll win at least a million dollars in seven days because “all things are possible with Christ.”
What’s funny to me is the verse is almost always used when somebody wants something. Hmmm…that’s exactly what Paul seemed to be saying. In fact if you aren’t aware of the background, Paul wrote this when he was about to upgrade his trusty old work mule for a racing donkey. He was then going to take his speedy donkey down to the track and use it to parlay his single drachma into 500 bushels of wheat and 250 gallons of olive oil because all things were possible with Christ. You don’t believe me? Let’s look at the full text of Philippians 4:11-13: I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Boy… and I thought I was greedy!
I really am a believer of supporting Christian causes. I will go out of my way to buy books written by Christians, listen to music with Christian lyrics, or even eat overpriced popcorn at movies with a Christian message (anyone know if that Reddenbacher fellow was a believer?) As much as I want to help promote the kingdom, I still refuse to take the vow of suckerhood. There is nothing wrong with being trusting, but I don’t think Jesus healed the blind just so they could then have the wool pulled over their eyes by so-called “Christian” businesses.
I actually used to work at one of these places. For obvious reasons, I’m not going to give any details on it, but I thought it would be great to work for a “Christian” company. It didn’t take me long to realize that most of the people that worked there weren’t Christians. Hmmm…I wondered why they would want to work for a “Christian” company if they themselves weren’t followers of Jesus. “Like shooting fish in a barrel” one co-worker told me. “I always charge the max fees because they never shop me” another one said referring to his trusting Christian clientele not doing any type of due diligence in the form of comparison shopping. At first I rationalized it was okay for me to be there as long as I continued to do conduct my business with integrity. However, I had to leave when I was admonished for charging what still amounted to more than any secular company would charge. I was actually called out of training that I was leading to be told, “We don’t do loans for free here!”
This is obviously not the case with all “Christian” companies and I really don’t want to taint legitimate Christian business owners. However, during my time there, I did discover that it is a lot more common that most people know. Apparently, we Christians seem to be prone to being overly trusting, blindly believing, or just plain gullible. I think Satan has got a special place in hell for those falsely using Jesus’ name to take advantage of us suckers, but it is time to wake up and stop making it so easy for them to take advantage of us. We are giving new meaning to the old saying, “The devil played them for fools.”By the way, if you care about your kitty even a little bit, you’ll forward this blog to everyone in your address book!
