Middle Class

Hey So i just watched this CNN Video on, "What is the Middle Class?"  People had various definitions and ideas about what the middle class is, and what we can do about it. (That is to strengthen it, not eliminate it)  The most striking thing is the outlook of these people.  They all worry that things will be very difficult for their kids. They worry that America is crumbling, and that it's only a matter of time before things get significantly worse.

The question is, what do we do?  How can we bring hope in the midst of this despair?  The answer does not lie in top down solutions and efforts.  Generally once power is established in the hands of the few change and growth becomes more difficult not less.  However, when the Gospel takes hold in the lives of the few, then  many cultures change and grow and expand. People on the small scale begin to make changes to the world around them.  This week I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" one thing he said was there was a certain threshold in communities that once a certain level of stabilizing people (generally educated) people in a community there were dramatic decreases in crime and teen birthrates.  But if you drop below the threshold things skyrocket.  These communities may have the same funding and police presence and authority structure, but it's the neighbors and individuals in the community that make the difference. 

So I think the church needs to let people know that Christ is where hope lies. That as we work together and live out the call to be like Christ that our communities will change for the better, then our states will change and then our country will change.  The problem is that for us to do that the church needs to step away from our "me first" culture and begin to serve.  We aren't going to accomplish anything if we just ask others to change our communities. No, American politics and secular humanistic philosophy is set against the underlying beliefs of Christians.  We believe people are fundamentally selfish and sinful.  Most other religions and secularists think that is more the exception than the rule.    This article basically presents the humanist position, but is countered by George Marsden with a great deal of sense.  Anyway,  my point is the Church needs to be the agent of hope and change and let's leave politics to ride our coattails, just like the whole roman empire did. 

Amen