Budgets in Crisis

Yesterday I read this by Pete at Without Wax:

“What a sad thing it would be if during this economic crisis all the world saw was a bunch of churches worried about meeting their own budget and a bunch of well off Christians only being concerned about their own personal financial set backs.”

Part of me doesn’t like his comment because church budgets greatly affect my life. Rose and I are able to do most of the things we do because of my job at a church.

But most of me really loved what Pete said. The #1 thing I hear people talking about the economy and rightfully so, we are in a crisis that shows no signs of getting better, only getting worse.

Within the story of the Bible I see God showing up in the midst of need. When I look at most American churches and most American households the need is typically very minimal, at least on the financial end.

Out of all the negatives the economy presents us with, the key positive for me is that people are in need, and I worship a God who rescues the needy that call out to him. God has given Christians a WIDE OPEN DOOR into many hearts. I can’t help but wonder if we aren’t so focused on ourselves that we haven’t seen that yet (I say that mostly to myself).

What do you think of Pete’s quote?