A common refrain heard when listening to the song about high gas prices it the amount of profit "those greedy oil companies" are making. Just this week, Neal Cavuto argued with Sen. Dick Durban about oil prices and the only thing Durban could focus on is the profit made by gas companies. Oh, how Neal tried to make the point that the government's take on a gallon of gas is 5 times that of the oil companies - and the government doesn't risk a thing - it just sits there with its hand out - and proposes a "windfall profits tax" to take even more. But to no avail - Durban's approach is single sided - hurt the gas companies.
What a terrible idea! Government officials have got to get it through their heads - if you remove the profit incentive, you'll remove innovation.
How the heck did we get to the place in our society that we are angered when someone makes a profit!? I'm sure its part of the politics of Hatred, Envy, Laziness, Blame that I discussed in an earlier article. It is a complete reversal of the American mindset that produces innovation, growth, and prosperity.
Profit is good! It is the fuel that drives innovation. Remove the incentive created by profit and you'll remove all the creative human endeavors that come from people trying to make a living by finding profit opportunities.
Think about profit this way - it is a financial expression of human need. A bunch of people need something in their lives - such as fuel. Another group of people realize that they could make a profit by using their abilities to meet that need. They form a company, pool their resources, take huge risks, put it all on the line in the hopes of "harvesting" the profit that was made available by the human need to power one's automobile. They didn't have to take those risks, but they saw an opportunity to profit and were willing to give it a shot - good ol' American innovation.
Other groups then see the profits that are being made and say, "hey, maybe we could sell better fuel cheaper than they do and take some of their profits." So the search for profit creates competition as well. This forces all parties to strive to increase efficiency and quality in the hopes taking profit from their competitors.
The beauty of the profit based free-market system is that it produces excellence. Those with a product they would like to sell, in the hopes of making a profit, offer it to the marketplace. Individuals in need of that product compare the various offerings, noting the distinctions in quality, benefits, features, and price. The products that get chosen are those that offer the most value to the consumer - excellence. So the makers of excellent products get the profit and the makers of mediocre products eventually go out of business. Excellence is the bridge between human need and human ability.
Two things make the process work. 1) Freedom and 2) the pursuit of profit. These are the two sides of the economic system. Companies bring their products to the market in order to make a profit. People come to the market to get their needs met and freely choose the products that have the most value (excellence). Freedom allows competition - competition creates excellence. The result, people have their needs met in increasingly excellent ways and others make the profit necessary to live their own lives and meet their own needs. It is a beautiful system and we're all engaged in it every day. Every one of us is working day in and day out to make a profit.
Unfortunately, the politician nurtures and exploits the darker side of human character - in this case, envy - to claim that those who meet our need (to drive cars) with their ability (producing fuel) in an excellent way (fuel on every street corner at a reasonable price) are making too much profit. If Dick Durban gets his way, in order bring more of your money into government coffers and ensure his reelection, he will stoke the fires of envy in the human heart and destroy the fuel of human innovation - profit.
As a nation we need to celebrate those that make a profit - for those that make a profit are the ones who have met our needs most effectively. They are the ones who have brought the most excellence to the market. Let's praise them and celebrate them rather than destroy them in the public square.
The Beauty of Prices
Prices! Prices! Prices! It's the only thing I hear on the news today. The price of gas is too high!
I disagree completely! Do I like paying the high price of gas right now? No - I wish it was a quarter per gallon. But wanting the price to lower is one thing and making an argument that the price is too high is another. Saying the price is wrong, whether too high or too low, suggests ignorance about the role of prices. So let's talk about that.
Prices are not high or low because someone is trying to take advantage of you or because someone is evil. Actually, someone is always willing to charge too much for a product - that motivation will never go away. Don't you wish you made twice as much in your job? I sure do, but having that motivation doesn't make it possible. I charge for my labor what the market will pay. Any more than that and the market stops paying me and goes elsewhere for my skills.
The same is true for gas stations. There are about 10 stations within 3 miles of my home. I regularly drive by them all and know exactly which ones charge most and which ones charge least. I typically go to the cheapest unless one of the more expensive ones has a hot dog or something else that I want. Point being, the gas station can’t gouge because I’ll just go somewhere else.
You might say – but the gas companies all work together to keep prices high. Actually dozens of government inquiries (including one going on right now initiated by President Bush) have investigated the oil companies for that very thing, and each time the oil companies were exonerated. They are not colluding! They are competing – just like they are supposed to do.
So what is price? First of all, price is a reflection of market realities. The price a person charges for a product will always include all the costs that went into providing that product to the marketplace. Costs such as research and development, advertising, raw materials, production and labor, transportation, the retail environment – oh and lets not forget – taxes. These all must be paid for by the price charged to the consumer.
Every company is putting its best minds to the problem of reducing all of these costs in any way possible so as to gain an edge on the competition and drive more business to its doors and more profit to its shareholders. They can’t charge less than their costs for long without going out of business. They can’t charge much more than a reasonable profit because they’ll lose to the competition. So the price cannot be whatever the company wants it to be – it is tightly, tightly held in its given place by market realities – natural economic forces that are amazingly difficult to manipulate.
Second, price regulates the disparity between supply and demand. This is such a critical point and I hope you’ll read that sentence again and think about it. Why do we rarely have shortages of fuel in America? Or food, or cars, or TVs, or clothing, or toilet paper? Because prices of all these things are permitted (by the government - let's hope it stays this way) to fluctuate freely, thus regulating the disparity between supply and demand. When prices are controlled artificially, without fail you will have either shortages or surpluses. For example, when rent controls are put in place by local governments, two things happen: 1) People are less willing to provide rental units because they can’t cover their costs (supply goes down), and 2) People line up to rent units the units that are still on the market at artificially low prices (demand goes up). However, there is now a disparity between supply and demand. Less supply, more demand = shortage of rental units. So now we’ve got less housing on the market and more homelessness.
Oh and guess what – something else has to step in to regulate the difference. Getting a rent controlled apartment becomes an issue of “who you know” rather than “can you pay.” Do you think that possibly opens the door to discrimination? By the way, a decrease in discrimination is also a result of free markets – my gas station doesn’t care if I’m white or black, Christian, Muslim, or Jew – “can I pay?” is the only thing they care about. Added to that - I don't really care what ethnic group provided the gas, as long as it works in my car.
When the price of gas rises, people conserve. So without any government program or involvement, without being convinced by the President’s “Addicted to Oil” speech, people choose to figure out a way to buy less gas. I personally traded in my SUV (16 MPG) for a mid-size sedan (30 MPG). Not due to any other social pressure except the desire to save money on gas. Oh, and I also drive a little slower now too.
Okay, back to prices. Third – price allows resources to flow to where they are most needed. Let’s use Hurricane Katrina as an example. People were enraged that there were “hucksters” buying generators in neighboring states, driving them down to the coast and then charging twice as much as retail for those generators. “Those evil price gougers!” They even wanted to pass laws making such behavior illegal. Ok, let’s think this through. People took time off of work to buy and transport some generators that were desperately needed on the coast. There are now generators for sale that weren’t available a few days before – and we want to pass laws to prevent this?! There is so much wrong with that thinking I don’t know where to begin!
Consider this: the “high” price of the generator encouraged people to go out of their way to provide them. The “high” price of the generator kept people from buying them who didn’t really need them at the moment and had other options. Recognize this dynamic? Supply and demand were equalized – AND – resources went where they were needed most (from neighboring states to those most in need). These same principles work for every commodity – gas, water, labor, housing, you name it.
Do you know what the real threat is? Government involvement. The government erects roadblocks at every step for the oil companies. Environmental regulations affect exploration and extraction, limits on where they can drill, regulations about formulations, taxes. Every roadblock affects price by adding costs. If you want to do something about gas prices – tell the government to get out of the way. That is a market reality that we can affect. Freedom works – let’s try it!
So back to our initial point – the price of gas isn’t too high. It is exactly where it should be given market realities and the consumer demand for fuel. More importantly, fuel is exactly where it should be as a result – in the tanks of those who need it most. That is the beauty of prices - they almost magically adjust to prevent shortages or surpluses and at the same time ensure that precious resources go exactly where they are needed most. Amazing.
Subject areas: Oil Prices, Price Gouging, Hurricane Katrine, Addicted to Oil
I disagree completely! Do I like paying the high price of gas right now? No - I wish it was a quarter per gallon. But wanting the price to lower is one thing and making an argument that the price is too high is another. Saying the price is wrong, whether too high or too low, suggests ignorance about the role of prices. So let's talk about that.
Prices are not high or low because someone is trying to take advantage of you or because someone is evil. Actually, someone is always willing to charge too much for a product - that motivation will never go away. Don't you wish you made twice as much in your job? I sure do, but having that motivation doesn't make it possible. I charge for my labor what the market will pay. Any more than that and the market stops paying me and goes elsewhere for my skills.
The same is true for gas stations. There are about 10 stations within 3 miles of my home. I regularly drive by them all and know exactly which ones charge most and which ones charge least. I typically go to the cheapest unless one of the more expensive ones has a hot dog or something else that I want. Point being, the gas station can’t gouge because I’ll just go somewhere else.
You might say – but the gas companies all work together to keep prices high. Actually dozens of government inquiries (including one going on right now initiated by President Bush) have investigated the oil companies for that very thing, and each time the oil companies were exonerated. They are not colluding! They are competing – just like they are supposed to do.
So what is price? First of all, price is a reflection of market realities. The price a person charges for a product will always include all the costs that went into providing that product to the marketplace. Costs such as research and development, advertising, raw materials, production and labor, transportation, the retail environment – oh and lets not forget – taxes. These all must be paid for by the price charged to the consumer.
Every company is putting its best minds to the problem of reducing all of these costs in any way possible so as to gain an edge on the competition and drive more business to its doors and more profit to its shareholders. They can’t charge less than their costs for long without going out of business. They can’t charge much more than a reasonable profit because they’ll lose to the competition. So the price cannot be whatever the company wants it to be – it is tightly, tightly held in its given place by market realities – natural economic forces that are amazingly difficult to manipulate.
Second, price regulates the disparity between supply and demand. This is such a critical point and I hope you’ll read that sentence again and think about it. Why do we rarely have shortages of fuel in America? Or food, or cars, or TVs, or clothing, or toilet paper? Because prices of all these things are permitted (by the government - let's hope it stays this way) to fluctuate freely, thus regulating the disparity between supply and demand. When prices are controlled artificially, without fail you will have either shortages or surpluses. For example, when rent controls are put in place by local governments, two things happen: 1) People are less willing to provide rental units because they can’t cover their costs (supply goes down), and 2) People line up to rent units the units that are still on the market at artificially low prices (demand goes up). However, there is now a disparity between supply and demand. Less supply, more demand = shortage of rental units. So now we’ve got less housing on the market and more homelessness.
Oh and guess what – something else has to step in to regulate the difference. Getting a rent controlled apartment becomes an issue of “who you know” rather than “can you pay.” Do you think that possibly opens the door to discrimination? By the way, a decrease in discrimination is also a result of free markets – my gas station doesn’t care if I’m white or black, Christian, Muslim, or Jew – “can I pay?” is the only thing they care about. Added to that - I don't really care what ethnic group provided the gas, as long as it works in my car.
When the price of gas rises, people conserve. So without any government program or involvement, without being convinced by the President’s “Addicted to Oil” speech, people choose to figure out a way to buy less gas. I personally traded in my SUV (16 MPG) for a mid-size sedan (30 MPG). Not due to any other social pressure except the desire to save money on gas. Oh, and I also drive a little slower now too.
Okay, back to prices. Third – price allows resources to flow to where they are most needed. Let’s use Hurricane Katrina as an example. People were enraged that there were “hucksters” buying generators in neighboring states, driving them down to the coast and then charging twice as much as retail for those generators. “Those evil price gougers!” They even wanted to pass laws making such behavior illegal. Ok, let’s think this through. People took time off of work to buy and transport some generators that were desperately needed on the coast. There are now generators for sale that weren’t available a few days before – and we want to pass laws to prevent this?! There is so much wrong with that thinking I don’t know where to begin!
Consider this: the “high” price of the generator encouraged people to go out of their way to provide them. The “high” price of the generator kept people from buying them who didn’t really need them at the moment and had other options. Recognize this dynamic? Supply and demand were equalized – AND – resources went where they were needed most (from neighboring states to those most in need). These same principles work for every commodity – gas, water, labor, housing, you name it.
Do you know what the real threat is? Government involvement. The government erects roadblocks at every step for the oil companies. Environmental regulations affect exploration and extraction, limits on where they can drill, regulations about formulations, taxes. Every roadblock affects price by adding costs. If you want to do something about gas prices – tell the government to get out of the way. That is a market reality that we can affect. Freedom works – let’s try it!
So back to our initial point – the price of gas isn’t too high. It is exactly where it should be given market realities and the consumer demand for fuel. More importantly, fuel is exactly where it should be as a result – in the tanks of those who need it most. That is the beauty of prices - they almost magically adjust to prevent shortages or surpluses and at the same time ensure that precious resources go exactly where they are needed most. Amazing.
Subject areas: Oil Prices, Price Gouging, Hurricane Katrine, Addicted to Oil
Hatred, Envy, Laziness, Blame
There is a politics of hatred, envy, laziness, and blame that is an absolute cancer consuming the possibility of good in the world. Not only does it seek to destroy what is good, it removes the possibility of developing the opportunity for good. There are many examples of this mindset. Here are a few: hatred of the successful companies that bring us the products we use on a daily basis such as Exxon and Wal-Mart. Terrorism is fueled by hatred. Most leftist politics are fueled by hatred for President Bush - the list goes on.
Politicians eager to advance in their careers are openly willing to capitalize on this cancerous growth. Without regard for the health of the nation, they respond to these cancerous attitudes by passing destructive laws in an attempt to get votes.
Consider the issue of gas prices. Politicians are responding to those that "hate those greedy oil companies". Nobody likes high prices, but are the gas companies to blame? Without the gas companies we’d have no gas! The politicians want to punish gas companies with a “windfall profits tax.” Who does that help?! The politician only! Gas prices are what they are because of the cost of doing business – buying crude, refining it, shipping it, building gas pipelines and gas stations. Should we add another cost on top of all that? Profit margins for gas companies are around 10%, which is less than most businesses. A significant price of gas is taxes already. The government actually makes about 5 times as much as the gas companies do on each gallon sold. Should we add more costs to the companies trying to provide you with fuel? You’ll be the one that pays the "windfall profits tax", not the gas companies! But it is the politics of hatred, envy, laziness, and blame that makes possible the enactment of laws that drive prices for all commodities higher. Why don’t we instead pass laws that reduce the burden on the gas companies, like laws that make it easier to develop domestic sources of energy?
Hatred, envy, laziness, and blame all work together. They are the ingredients of failure. They work together to prevent a person’s success, and they work together to take away the prosperity that comes from the success of others. When a person is full of hatred, they can’t see any good in those they hate. The object of that hatred in the hater’s mind becomes the one to blame for every failure that they face. Rather than looking at reality objectively, determining the reason for their own failure, they blame another. Rather than celebrating another person’s success and expressing gratitude for the environment that allowed for that success, they envy their prosperity and seek to do it harm.
These harmful human characteristics make it impossible to see opportunity. Instead of seeing potential around them, they see oppression. They see the actions of others and label them as evil. The black man who blames racism for his lot in life can’t see the opportunities around him because his focus is on something he can’t change – the attitude of others. Is there racism in the world? Certainly – will it erect a stumbling block at times? Sure – but does that mean success is impossible for the black man? No way! Every body has obstacles to their success. It is up to the individual to face those obstacles and find a way over, under, around, or through them. Nobody is going to do it for you!
Hatred, envy, laziness, and blame also prepare the mind to allow any injustice against the hated - such as what happened with the Jews during the holocaust. When you hate another person, when you are envious of what they have (because they must have obtained it unjustly), when you don't want to do the work they did, and when you blame them for your failure - you place no limits on what kind of evil can be done to that person. Logically - evil deserves no leniency. For this reason, Islamic terrorists have no problem slamming airplanes into building filled with people or cutting off the heads of innocent workers and missionaries. To the terrorists, the object of their hatred is so evil that such extremes are justified.
There are certain human character traits that built America. Ingredients, if you will, of a prosperous, healthy America. These human characteristics are the exact opposites of the cancerous ones: love, gratitude, hard work, and responsibility. Freedom is dependent upon these attitudes. So is prosperity. Let’s develop these attitudes personally and encourage our lawmakers to respond to these rather than hatred, envy, laziness, and blame.
Politicians eager to advance in their careers are openly willing to capitalize on this cancerous growth. Without regard for the health of the nation, they respond to these cancerous attitudes by passing destructive laws in an attempt to get votes.
Consider the issue of gas prices. Politicians are responding to those that "hate those greedy oil companies". Nobody likes high prices, but are the gas companies to blame? Without the gas companies we’d have no gas! The politicians want to punish gas companies with a “windfall profits tax.” Who does that help?! The politician only! Gas prices are what they are because of the cost of doing business – buying crude, refining it, shipping it, building gas pipelines and gas stations. Should we add another cost on top of all that? Profit margins for gas companies are around 10%, which is less than most businesses. A significant price of gas is taxes already. The government actually makes about 5 times as much as the gas companies do on each gallon sold. Should we add more costs to the companies trying to provide you with fuel? You’ll be the one that pays the "windfall profits tax", not the gas companies! But it is the politics of hatred, envy, laziness, and blame that makes possible the enactment of laws that drive prices for all commodities higher. Why don’t we instead pass laws that reduce the burden on the gas companies, like laws that make it easier to develop domestic sources of energy?
Hatred, envy, laziness, and blame all work together. They are the ingredients of failure. They work together to prevent a person’s success, and they work together to take away the prosperity that comes from the success of others. When a person is full of hatred, they can’t see any good in those they hate. The object of that hatred in the hater’s mind becomes the one to blame for every failure that they face. Rather than looking at reality objectively, determining the reason for their own failure, they blame another. Rather than celebrating another person’s success and expressing gratitude for the environment that allowed for that success, they envy their prosperity and seek to do it harm.
These harmful human characteristics make it impossible to see opportunity. Instead of seeing potential around them, they see oppression. They see the actions of others and label them as evil. The black man who blames racism for his lot in life can’t see the opportunities around him because his focus is on something he can’t change – the attitude of others. Is there racism in the world? Certainly – will it erect a stumbling block at times? Sure – but does that mean success is impossible for the black man? No way! Every body has obstacles to their success. It is up to the individual to face those obstacles and find a way over, under, around, or through them. Nobody is going to do it for you!
Hatred, envy, laziness, and blame also prepare the mind to allow any injustice against the hated - such as what happened with the Jews during the holocaust. When you hate another person, when you are envious of what they have (because they must have obtained it unjustly), when you don't want to do the work they did, and when you blame them for your failure - you place no limits on what kind of evil can be done to that person. Logically - evil deserves no leniency. For this reason, Islamic terrorists have no problem slamming airplanes into building filled with people or cutting off the heads of innocent workers and missionaries. To the terrorists, the object of their hatred is so evil that such extremes are justified.
There are certain human character traits that built America. Ingredients, if you will, of a prosperous, healthy America. These human characteristics are the exact opposites of the cancerous ones: love, gratitude, hard work, and responsibility. Freedom is dependent upon these attitudes. So is prosperity. Let’s develop these attitudes personally and encourage our lawmakers to respond to these rather than hatred, envy, laziness, and blame.
Blessing
It's sad, but true - a lot of people believe that if there is a God, He's angry with them. Somehow, in their minds, God is upset with them, with most people actually, and that He wants them to be "holy" - which translates into - "bored, unexciting, quiet" - you know - Holy. And since God is mad at them, he doesn't want any good thing for them. As a result, people don't really want to get to know Him.
What a terrible understanding of God. I like to think of God as the perfect Dad. It helps me to get my head on straight about the way He thinks about me and His desires for me.
First of all - is He mad at me? Well, I have screwed up big time in life and He certainly could point out a whole lot of areas in which I've fallen short. But as a good dad, God realizes that I'm His child, and still learning. The Bible says, "For He knows our frame" (Ps 103:14). God knows my strengths and He knows my weaknesses. He made me! He better know me! So, yeah, we've made some big mistakes, but God realizes that and expects that. He desires good for us anyway. Don't you for your children? They mess up, sure, but do you reject them as a result? Of course not, and how much more patience does God have than you? The Bible says His mercy never ends! "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. " (Psalms 106:1) Wow - that is a lot of patience.
So what about all the stuff we've done wrong? It's covered! Jesus came, lived, and died, and rose again to cover all that stuff. Jesus came so we could quit thinking about all we've done wrong and get on with life. Sure, we've messed up - quit worrying about it, learn from it, do better next time.
So as the perfect Father, God is not mad at His children. He is however hoping that we can get more out of life. He wants good for us. Life operates according to principles. Cause and effect. As the perfect dad, with perfect understanding of the world, He knows cause and effect. He knows how we should live in order to get a great life - He wants us to have a great life. He also knows that many of our choices (which we are free to make) leads us away from that great life. He desires our obedience because He knows that if we'll follow His lead, we'll get somewhere great. Obedience to God's leadership produces wonderful things!
God wants wonderful things for us. All of us. Even those who don't believe in Him! The Bible says, "‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." (Ezekiel 33:11) He wants life, even for the wicked. Doesn't a good father want his wayward children to see the error of their ways so that they can change and live a good life?
Oh - and what about this "holiness" business? Does God intend that we have no fun, that we lead dull lives of church attendance and prayer meetings? I think we have this image in our heads of the life God desires for us based on paintings on the walls of ancient churches. Who says that is holiness? The word holiness means to be set apart. It really means: to be His. "I am loved by God so I choose to love Him back - I am His." Holiness is not about kneeling for hours on concrete floors - or whatever painful image we tend to have of holiness.
So what does God actually want from us? Life! He wants us to live abundant lives. He created us to live. So how do we get this abundant life? By having a relationship with the One who created us so that He can teach us how to find life. He knows how to get it. He made everything and the laws under which everything functions. He knows how to have a good marriage. He knows how to get a raise at work. He knows how to build a home. He knows how to invest. He knows how to raise children. He knows how to have fun. He knows what it takes to have great sex. He knows how to make a great steak. He knows life - and He can teach us how to live it to the full. Knowing how to live life to the full starts with knowing Him.
And when we know Him, our lives will change. We will become the kind of people that make a difference in the world. Through a relationship with God we'll affect the world for good. People will learn from us that in God, you can have great relationships - in God, you can enjoy your work - in God, you can succeed financially - in God, you can find happiness. When the world sees you, they'll want the life you've got and will listen to the message you tell them about God. Its a big circle - God draws people into a relationship with Him by blessing those that are already His.
So what does God want from you? He wants to have a relationship with you so that He can teach you how to live a great life. Then He wants you to live a great life so that others can learn from you that having a relationship with God leads to a great life. That is holiness.
So God desires good for us, blessing not cursing - so choose life!
"I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live" (Deut 30:19)
What a terrible understanding of God. I like to think of God as the perfect Dad. It helps me to get my head on straight about the way He thinks about me and His desires for me.
First of all - is He mad at me? Well, I have screwed up big time in life and He certainly could point out a whole lot of areas in which I've fallen short. But as a good dad, God realizes that I'm His child, and still learning. The Bible says, "For He knows our frame" (Ps 103:14). God knows my strengths and He knows my weaknesses. He made me! He better know me! So, yeah, we've made some big mistakes, but God realizes that and expects that. He desires good for us anyway. Don't you for your children? They mess up, sure, but do you reject them as a result? Of course not, and how much more patience does God have than you? The Bible says His mercy never ends! "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. " (Psalms 106:1) Wow - that is a lot of patience.
So what about all the stuff we've done wrong? It's covered! Jesus came, lived, and died, and rose again to cover all that stuff. Jesus came so we could quit thinking about all we've done wrong and get on with life. Sure, we've messed up - quit worrying about it, learn from it, do better next time.
So as the perfect Father, God is not mad at His children. He is however hoping that we can get more out of life. He wants good for us. Life operates according to principles. Cause and effect. As the perfect dad, with perfect understanding of the world, He knows cause and effect. He knows how we should live in order to get a great life - He wants us to have a great life. He also knows that many of our choices (which we are free to make) leads us away from that great life. He desires our obedience because He knows that if we'll follow His lead, we'll get somewhere great. Obedience to God's leadership produces wonderful things!
God wants wonderful things for us. All of us. Even those who don't believe in Him! The Bible says, "‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." (Ezekiel 33:11) He wants life, even for the wicked. Doesn't a good father want his wayward children to see the error of their ways so that they can change and live a good life?
Oh - and what about this "holiness" business? Does God intend that we have no fun, that we lead dull lives of church attendance and prayer meetings? I think we have this image in our heads of the life God desires for us based on paintings on the walls of ancient churches. Who says that is holiness? The word holiness means to be set apart. It really means: to be His. "I am loved by God so I choose to love Him back - I am His." Holiness is not about kneeling for hours on concrete floors - or whatever painful image we tend to have of holiness.
So what does God actually want from us? Life! He wants us to live abundant lives. He created us to live. So how do we get this abundant life? By having a relationship with the One who created us so that He can teach us how to find life. He knows how to get it. He made everything and the laws under which everything functions. He knows how to have a good marriage. He knows how to get a raise at work. He knows how to build a home. He knows how to invest. He knows how to raise children. He knows how to have fun. He knows what it takes to have great sex. He knows how to make a great steak. He knows life - and He can teach us how to live it to the full. Knowing how to live life to the full starts with knowing Him.
And when we know Him, our lives will change. We will become the kind of people that make a difference in the world. Through a relationship with God we'll affect the world for good. People will learn from us that in God, you can have great relationships - in God, you can enjoy your work - in God, you can succeed financially - in God, you can find happiness. When the world sees you, they'll want the life you've got and will listen to the message you tell them about God. Its a big circle - God draws people into a relationship with Him by blessing those that are already His.
So what does God want from you? He wants to have a relationship with you so that He can teach you how to live a great life. Then He wants you to live a great life so that others can learn from you that having a relationship with God leads to a great life. That is holiness.
So God desires good for us, blessing not cursing - so choose life!
"I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live" (Deut 30:19)
God is Good
"Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." Ps 136:1
For a man to have faith, to trust, in another person, he must believe that the other person is going to bring good to him and not harm. If we do not believe that another person has our best intentions in mind, we will be constantly wary of them, looking for ways that they might be planning to take advantage of us.
Most of us have spent our lives doubting the trustworthiness of people. We’ve been hurt many times. Our ability to trust another has been damaged. For many people, this taints their ability to trust in God. They see in God the characteristics of people who have hurt them. The person who says, “My dad was always so angry” often sees God as always angry.
If we are going to grow in our faith, we must first come to grips with the goodness of God. If we believe that God is always angry with us and that we are on the verge of punishment, then it is hard to feel close to Him and desire communion with Him.
Jesus Christ came to free us from the tyranny of always worrying about the wrath of God. Face it, we don’t meet the standard, we haven’t been good enough. In fact, we can’t be good enough to “earn” the love of God. Jesus Christ came to bring us back into communion with Him, to set us free from a constant awareness of our sin. He wants us to have a relationship with God and not worry about our unworthiness. That will come later.
God is the standard of goodness; the standard of excellence. We know good when we see it and we know evil. There is a movement in our hearts when we see something noble, something selfless, something kind. We are moved by such acts of goodness. There is a reason our hearts respond to these demonstrations – we are made in the image of God. Our emotions are patterned on His emotions; our awareness of good and evil is patterned on His awareness of them. Our hearts respond like His does. There is a lot that we can do to either silence or magnify this awareness; the heart can become hard, but it can also become more sensitive.
God wants us to learn to see His goodness. I believe that understanding the goodness of God is the starting point for choosing a relationship with Him. If we can learn to see that He desires good for us, and not harm, we can begin to bring our concerns to him. We can also learn to surrender to Him the choices that we know aren’t good for us – learning how to turn from sin, knowing that doing so is the way that God brings blessing into our lives.
For a man to have faith, to trust, in another person, he must believe that the other person is going to bring good to him and not harm. If we do not believe that another person has our best intentions in mind, we will be constantly wary of them, looking for ways that they might be planning to take advantage of us.
Most of us have spent our lives doubting the trustworthiness of people. We’ve been hurt many times. Our ability to trust another has been damaged. For many people, this taints their ability to trust in God. They see in God the characteristics of people who have hurt them. The person who says, “My dad was always so angry” often sees God as always angry.
If we are going to grow in our faith, we must first come to grips with the goodness of God. If we believe that God is always angry with us and that we are on the verge of punishment, then it is hard to feel close to Him and desire communion with Him.
Jesus Christ came to free us from the tyranny of always worrying about the wrath of God. Face it, we don’t meet the standard, we haven’t been good enough. In fact, we can’t be good enough to “earn” the love of God. Jesus Christ came to bring us back into communion with Him, to set us free from a constant awareness of our sin. He wants us to have a relationship with God and not worry about our unworthiness. That will come later.
God is the standard of goodness; the standard of excellence. We know good when we see it and we know evil. There is a movement in our hearts when we see something noble, something selfless, something kind. We are moved by such acts of goodness. There is a reason our hearts respond to these demonstrations – we are made in the image of God. Our emotions are patterned on His emotions; our awareness of good and evil is patterned on His awareness of them. Our hearts respond like His does. There is a lot that we can do to either silence or magnify this awareness; the heart can become hard, but it can also become more sensitive.
God wants us to learn to see His goodness. I believe that understanding the goodness of God is the starting point for choosing a relationship with Him. If we can learn to see that He desires good for us, and not harm, we can begin to bring our concerns to him. We can also learn to surrender to Him the choices that we know aren’t good for us – learning how to turn from sin, knowing that doing so is the way that God brings blessing into our lives.
Freedom
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Galatians 1:1
We were made for freedom. God's every interaction with us is on the basis of freedom. He doesn't force us to do anything. He would like a relationship with us, but He does not force Himself upon us. We are free to choose Him, and free to reject Him. We are free. The hallmark of any mature relationship is the freedom to choose that relationship. Whether discussing marriage, friendship, work relationships, business relationships, or our relationship with God, choice makes the relationship work.
Why is it then that we choose the relationships that we do? The mature, healthy individual chooses relationships on the basis of mutual benefit. God wants us to choose to have a relationship with him on that basis as well. He gets something out of it, we get something out of it.
So what do we get out of it? One of the more obvious answers is eternal life, but I don't think the mature individual chooses God on that tenet alone. We still have a life to live here, our entire existence can't be focused just on eternity. Do we get anything out of having a relationship with God now?
It is a common misconception among Christians and non-Christians alike that God for some reason doesn't want us to enjoy life. Many believe that God's desire for our lives is that we become holy and that somehow, enjoying our lives is inconsistent with the idea of holiness. Furthermore, many believe that God takes pleasure in our sacrifices, rather than pleasure in our joy. But Jesus Himself said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10
I believe that God would much rather see us full of joy than full of sorrow. Wealthy rather than poor; God prefers success over failure. Psalm 35:17 says, "Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant." A God who loves His children is a God who wants to see them experience good all their lives. It is God's heart to bless, not bring harm. Our choices often bring us harm, that is not God's heart, He would rather see us learn how to make good choices, and as a result be blessed
God wants us to choose a relationship with Him because it is the beginning of an awesome life! Not necessarily a life of church attendance and ministry work, but a life fully lived, in whatever form that takes for you.
We were made for freedom. God's every interaction with us is on the basis of freedom. He doesn't force us to do anything. He would like a relationship with us, but He does not force Himself upon us. We are free to choose Him, and free to reject Him. We are free. The hallmark of any mature relationship is the freedom to choose that relationship. Whether discussing marriage, friendship, work relationships, business relationships, or our relationship with God, choice makes the relationship work.
Why is it then that we choose the relationships that we do? The mature, healthy individual chooses relationships on the basis of mutual benefit. God wants us to choose to have a relationship with him on that basis as well. He gets something out of it, we get something out of it.
So what do we get out of it? One of the more obvious answers is eternal life, but I don't think the mature individual chooses God on that tenet alone. We still have a life to live here, our entire existence can't be focused just on eternity. Do we get anything out of having a relationship with God now?
It is a common misconception among Christians and non-Christians alike that God for some reason doesn't want us to enjoy life. Many believe that God's desire for our lives is that we become holy and that somehow, enjoying our lives is inconsistent with the idea of holiness. Furthermore, many believe that God takes pleasure in our sacrifices, rather than pleasure in our joy. But Jesus Himself said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10
I believe that God would much rather see us full of joy than full of sorrow. Wealthy rather than poor; God prefers success over failure. Psalm 35:17 says, "Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant." A God who loves His children is a God who wants to see them experience good all their lives. It is God's heart to bless, not bring harm. Our choices often bring us harm, that is not God's heart, He would rather see us learn how to make good choices, and as a result be blessed
God wants us to choose a relationship with Him because it is the beginning of an awesome life! Not necessarily a life of church attendance and ministry work, but a life fully lived, in whatever form that takes for you.
The Roots of Ideology
So why does someone become a liberal, a conservative, a democrat, a republican. What are the character traits that produce our political ideology? The concept of the political left and right is a fairly challenging one to identify and articulate. In general people fall one way or the other, almost regardless of the issue. Those that are politically left on one issue tend to be left on every issue. The same goes for the right. This explains why there are two prominent parties in the United States – Democrats and Republicans. Why there are two descriptions for those leanings – liberal and conservative. It even explains why we use a two sided designation – left and right. What is the root of this two-sided reality? Is there a cause of political ideology?
I’ve heard explanations for this tendency, suggestions that one side can face the truth and the other can’t – of course the definition being defined by a person on the side that can face the truth. Others suggest the division comes from a distinction between the haves and the have-nots. It might be tempting to say that it has something to do with race or class, or possibly even religious affiliation. Each of these, though, can be quickly dispatched with by a quick review of the members of the left and right. We find people who can face the truth on both sides. We find rich and poor on both sides. We find people of every race on both sides. We even find people on both sides of every religious affiliation.
I believe the answer is deeper, something in our makeup, something beyond our circumstances, something beyond the physical; something spiritual. Not spiritual in the religious sense. By religion I mean the system that people form around their spiritual beliefs. I mean spiritual in the relational sense. Huh?
To me, the essence of spirituality is relationship. By way of illustration, consider that all of the 12 step programs help people to recover from destructive behavior by admitting 1) their own powerlessness over their own lives and behavior, 2) that a power greater than themselves could restore them to sanity, and by 3) turning their lives over to God as they understood him. These admissions recognize human weakness and look to another for strength. They find resources for living by relating to some higher power — by placing trust in this higher power. It’s a relationship – you have to place trust in something or someone – that is what makes spirituality relational.
All people, even those not struggling with addiction, face hardship, uncertainty, failure, etc. We live in a world where things are happening all around us that we have no control over. Most things happen to us. As human beings, we are powerless to prevent these challenges. Markets change, accidents happen, people do things to hurt us, the unexpected happens, people die, businesses fail. Our choices move our lives in a given direction, but most of the time our choices are in response to things that happen to us, responses to opportunities that presented themselves to us. I certainly believe that that least among us can succeed wildly, as a product of their choices, but along the way they will face many challenges. We are weak; this world has the ability to toss us to and fro. We are powerless over so many of these circumstances and as a result, vulnerable – a condition that produces fear. It is a person’s response to these challenges that I want to discuss – and show as the root of a person’s political ideology. Before I present this thinking, I want to emphasize that I’m generalizing significantly. It will be easy to find examples of people who don’t fit the mold, who are motivated by other factors such as group think, family and peer pressure, social expectations, etc. So my rationale is a general tendency that will gradually present itself as people grow, shrug off social pressures, and become more honest with themselves and their motivations.
In everything we face, we have a choice – our response. Steven Covey pointed out in “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” that between stimulus and response there is a freedom to choose, a distinction that separates us from the animals. I want to consider the spiritual element though, not the physical response. Before we make physical choices and actually do something after a given stimuli, our heart moves. Spiritually, something happens. We have a spiritual response before a physical one. This spiritual response is either a reaching outward or reaching inward. It’s a determination of whose resources upon which to draw; either those belonging to our higher power or our own resources. It is a response that says, I can relax, though I am weak, my higher power can deal with this – or, I’m lacking what I need right now. One produces a heart of confidence and security, the other produces fear and insecurity. This spiritual response sets the stage for our physical response. Our physical response will either be based in a security that comes from trust in something more powerful than ourselves or based in the insecurity that comes from knowing our own weakness and trying to provide for ourselves out of that weakness.
Again, I want to stress, this is a relational issue, not a religious issue. A religion can’t help you, but a higher power can. For the purpose of this discussion, I’m not concerned with who this higher power is, only that a person trusts that this higher power exists and is available for help in time of need. This trust in some kind of higher power also has another aspect. The belief that this higher power has good in mind for them and will work to make things better.
So to sum up my theory: We are not gods; we are not all knowing or all powerful. Our humanity makes us vulnerable to unforeseen circumstances. Political ideology is a result of the spiritual response to our humanity. The response to weakness is the deciding factor in who goes left and who goes right.
I believe this hypothesis helps us to understand many of the behavioral characteristics we observe in ourselves and in our fellow man. Let’s examine these human tendencies.
The physical responses – gaining power over others. Gaining power in general. The natural response to a feeling of being out of control is to try to gain that control back.
In an organization, this tendency to fight fear by taking control will manifest as a manager trying to micro manage every activity within their responsibility – and quite a bit outside. The person who trusts in a higher power is more likely to push responsibility down and allow subordinates the opportunity to make decisions.
Those on the right, except where motivated by group think or a desire to be accepted by other members of the right (or other socially motivated pressures) believe essentially that things will work out. You see the product of this belief everywhere. They tend to trust people when people are working to take care of themselves. They tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. They tend to have more grace and give people space to make mistakes and to recover from them. Why? Because a higher power has allowed them to make mistakes and sees to it that they recover, learn, grow, and do better next time. They believe in the freedom to make mistakes because they have made mistakes. The trusting heart says, “I have no need to fear because though I am weak, my God is strong.”
This has another side – these people take responsibility for their choices. They take the blame for their mistakes because in so doing, they are no longer victims and have the power to overcome. These believers are overcomers. They learn and move on. As a result they believe that others should also reject a victim mentality, learn from their own mistakes, take responsibility for their own lives, and move on.
They believe in the golden rule – doing unto others as you want other to do to you. Although they will be generous with their own property to support that which they believe in, they don’t want their property taken from them to give to causes they don’t believe in – especially for those who claim to be victims. Consequently, they don’t insist that property be taken from their fellow man to support their own causes.
The people we presently label as conservative, the political right, or republican tend to believe in themselves, believe in their fellowman, and believe in the goodness of a higher power help make difficult circumstances work out for good. Those who do not trust in a higher power over their own powerlessness have a protectionist response. They often find another person to blame when things go poorly.
Beneath every political position are layers, much like an onion, that when peeled back reveal deeper beliefs about the person holding those views. People have their political affiliations due to deeply held core beliefs that they may not even be aware of. Keep peeling back the layers though, and you’ll eventually find a heart that either believes and trusts in God, or a heart that does not.
I’ve heard explanations for this tendency, suggestions that one side can face the truth and the other can’t – of course the definition being defined by a person on the side that can face the truth. Others suggest the division comes from a distinction between the haves and the have-nots. It might be tempting to say that it has something to do with race or class, or possibly even religious affiliation. Each of these, though, can be quickly dispatched with by a quick review of the members of the left and right. We find people who can face the truth on both sides. We find rich and poor on both sides. We find people of every race on both sides. We even find people on both sides of every religious affiliation.
I believe the answer is deeper, something in our makeup, something beyond our circumstances, something beyond the physical; something spiritual. Not spiritual in the religious sense. By religion I mean the system that people form around their spiritual beliefs. I mean spiritual in the relational sense. Huh?
To me, the essence of spirituality is relationship. By way of illustration, consider that all of the 12 step programs help people to recover from destructive behavior by admitting 1) their own powerlessness over their own lives and behavior, 2) that a power greater than themselves could restore them to sanity, and by 3) turning their lives over to God as they understood him. These admissions recognize human weakness and look to another for strength. They find resources for living by relating to some higher power — by placing trust in this higher power. It’s a relationship – you have to place trust in something or someone – that is what makes spirituality relational.
All people, even those not struggling with addiction, face hardship, uncertainty, failure, etc. We live in a world where things are happening all around us that we have no control over. Most things happen to us. As human beings, we are powerless to prevent these challenges. Markets change, accidents happen, people do things to hurt us, the unexpected happens, people die, businesses fail. Our choices move our lives in a given direction, but most of the time our choices are in response to things that happen to us, responses to opportunities that presented themselves to us. I certainly believe that that least among us can succeed wildly, as a product of their choices, but along the way they will face many challenges. We are weak; this world has the ability to toss us to and fro. We are powerless over so many of these circumstances and as a result, vulnerable – a condition that produces fear. It is a person’s response to these challenges that I want to discuss – and show as the root of a person’s political ideology. Before I present this thinking, I want to emphasize that I’m generalizing significantly. It will be easy to find examples of people who don’t fit the mold, who are motivated by other factors such as group think, family and peer pressure, social expectations, etc. So my rationale is a general tendency that will gradually present itself as people grow, shrug off social pressures, and become more honest with themselves and their motivations.
In everything we face, we have a choice – our response. Steven Covey pointed out in “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” that between stimulus and response there is a freedom to choose, a distinction that separates us from the animals. I want to consider the spiritual element though, not the physical response. Before we make physical choices and actually do something after a given stimuli, our heart moves. Spiritually, something happens. We have a spiritual response before a physical one. This spiritual response is either a reaching outward or reaching inward. It’s a determination of whose resources upon which to draw; either those belonging to our higher power or our own resources. It is a response that says, I can relax, though I am weak, my higher power can deal with this – or, I’m lacking what I need right now. One produces a heart of confidence and security, the other produces fear and insecurity. This spiritual response sets the stage for our physical response. Our physical response will either be based in a security that comes from trust in something more powerful than ourselves or based in the insecurity that comes from knowing our own weakness and trying to provide for ourselves out of that weakness.
Again, I want to stress, this is a relational issue, not a religious issue. A religion can’t help you, but a higher power can. For the purpose of this discussion, I’m not concerned with who this higher power is, only that a person trusts that this higher power exists and is available for help in time of need. This trust in some kind of higher power also has another aspect. The belief that this higher power has good in mind for them and will work to make things better.
So to sum up my theory: We are not gods; we are not all knowing or all powerful. Our humanity makes us vulnerable to unforeseen circumstances. Political ideology is a result of the spiritual response to our humanity. The response to weakness is the deciding factor in who goes left and who goes right.
I believe this hypothesis helps us to understand many of the behavioral characteristics we observe in ourselves and in our fellow man. Let’s examine these human tendencies.
The physical responses – gaining power over others. Gaining power in general. The natural response to a feeling of being out of control is to try to gain that control back.
In an organization, this tendency to fight fear by taking control will manifest as a manager trying to micro manage every activity within their responsibility – and quite a bit outside. The person who trusts in a higher power is more likely to push responsibility down and allow subordinates the opportunity to make decisions.
Those on the right, except where motivated by group think or a desire to be accepted by other members of the right (or other socially motivated pressures) believe essentially that things will work out. You see the product of this belief everywhere. They tend to trust people when people are working to take care of themselves. They tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. They tend to have more grace and give people space to make mistakes and to recover from them. Why? Because a higher power has allowed them to make mistakes and sees to it that they recover, learn, grow, and do better next time. They believe in the freedom to make mistakes because they have made mistakes. The trusting heart says, “I have no need to fear because though I am weak, my God is strong.”
This has another side – these people take responsibility for their choices. They take the blame for their mistakes because in so doing, they are no longer victims and have the power to overcome. These believers are overcomers. They learn and move on. As a result they believe that others should also reject a victim mentality, learn from their own mistakes, take responsibility for their own lives, and move on.
They believe in the golden rule – doing unto others as you want other to do to you. Although they will be generous with their own property to support that which they believe in, they don’t want their property taken from them to give to causes they don’t believe in – especially for those who claim to be victims. Consequently, they don’t insist that property be taken from their fellow man to support their own causes.
The people we presently label as conservative, the political right, or republican tend to believe in themselves, believe in their fellowman, and believe in the goodness of a higher power help make difficult circumstances work out for good. Those who do not trust in a higher power over their own powerlessness have a protectionist response. They often find another person to blame when things go poorly.
Beneath every political position are layers, much like an onion, that when peeled back reveal deeper beliefs about the person holding those views. People have their political affiliations due to deeply held core beliefs that they may not even be aware of. Keep peeling back the layers though, and you’ll eventually find a heart that either believes and trusts in God, or a heart that does not.
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