AMERICA: It isn't working!

I'm tired of hearing politicians say things like, “We must get America back to work.” Fact is, last time I heard a Presidential candidate say something like that, I was stricken by how faint the applause were that interrupted him.

Problem: As I see it, the Government has made it too easy for Americans to HAVE to work.

Why should we bother working?

A recent study showed the average annual disposable income is lower than the average amount the Fed shells out to recipients of what it refers to as Federal Dependency programs.

Welfare, in other words. Uncle Sam, by continuing in this way, is encouraging Americans to live off the Government Dole rather than work for a living.

Imagine that!

Is THIS the NEW American Way? Man, that sure doesn't line-up with what MY Bible says! In 2 Thessalonians 3:10, Paul writes, “Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: "Those unwilling to work will not get to eat."

Before you read another word, I feel I need to say this: When I was a young father, a coworker and I were terminated on the same day when the ad agency we worked for closed its doors. Together, we drove to the welfare office that very hour and completed the paperwork for the Food Stamp Program - now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the card itself being referred to as Electronic Benefit Transfers (EBT's) - and Unemployment benefits. I had four children and a wife and I didn't know how long I'd be unemployed. My friend was a single mother of two. Though I wound up being unemployed the next six months, in all honesty, I enjoyed the time off and did the bare minimum required by the Government to find another job. In fact, I only got REALLY serious about job hunting when my Food Stamps were about to expire.

In truth, I had very little motivation to look for work. I rationalized I had been working since I was 15 and paid into the system, by golly. I deserved this hand-up and I was “getting mine”! Slothfulness and mediocrity crept into my life and, when I recollect who I was becoming in those days, I'm not very proud nor pleased with myself.

But I didn't know the Lord then. All I knew was the example I'd been shown by the world I lived in. I had become little more than a product of my environment. Years later, when I was tormented by a crippling spinal disease, I worked my corporate job on the 8^th floor until I could hardly walk, even with a cane. I spent my nights sitting in a chair, unable to lay horizontally due to the extreme pain. I went in late almost every day, but I stayed late and my boss appreciated that.

When I finally had to quit my job, on two occasions I had welfare papers in my hand along with all the information I would need to get on Federal assistance... but after praying and seeking God's will, I tossed that information in the trash, convicted to trust HIM alone for my healing and with my future.

God honored that step of faith as, from that day forward, He sent ravens to tend to my needs, kind people with a heart burdened to help me. I saw miracles, too. Many of them. In time, miraculously, my healing manifested. Eventually, my chiropractor told me I had “a textbook spine.” God's been so gracious and good to me!

That being said, I wonder, how many of the 40 Million SNAP recipients receive food stamps who could be working instead? Did you know EBT's are accepted by most Fast Food joints these days? Though I don't agree with legislating what foods people choose to buy with their EBT, A Big Mac and fries just doesn't “feel” right to me.

When Paul wrote about those who won't work not eating, I wonder, what happens when we don't eat? WE DIE, that's what! Was Paul really writing those non-working Believers off as dead meat? I believe he was. He knew they'd get busy when they couldn't think over the sound of their own bellies growling.

I Got Mine!

Many say, “I paid into the system all my life, I have it coming!” Truth is, the system may not even exist by the time our kids retire. Be not deceived! It may not even be there by the time Baby Boomers retire. Goodness knows, we don't put into the system anywhere near as much as we expect to receive since we live for 30 or 40 years longer than when the Social Security system was originated.

Is the Government trying to see how many they can give college loans to? It seems as if they actually WANT kids to graduate with so much debt, they'll work forever just to pay back those loans.

Is it some sort of weird Governmental goal to see how many people they can get on Social Security as early as possible? Personally, I believe we would do well to adjust Social Security for our improved life expectancies; most people DO want to remain productive members of society, don't they?

We don't need to retire so soon. Frankly, I don't plan on retiring at all. Ever! Abraham didn't. Neither did Moses. Me neither! I believe a Follower of Jesus can either re-TIRE, or re-FIRE! I plan on stoking my spiritual fire and making a difference in my world until, well... until I can't.

Just the facts...

It's a statistical fact, half the people in the country receive some form of Government aid, mostly the same half who don't pay any federal income taxes, I might add. Many have become dependent, are using the system's parameters to the max as well as blatantly cheating the system, and will never be in favor of cutting back.

C'mon, man... 99 weeks of jobless benefits encourages people to hold out for the perfect job rather than simply getting busy. We've given our citizens too many motivations to stay at home than to go out to work or start their own business.

During one stretch of unemployment, I made flyers offering my services cleaning ovens. I only got 13 assignments before a “real” job came along, the last client offering me $100 to clean his oven that “looked like hell,” as he said. It did, too! While serving as an Assistant Pastor of a church of 300, never taking a salary in seven years, I once worked three janitorial jobs with three different uniforms, occasionally getting confused as to which one to wear.

Did you know 28% of Federal spending went to “dependence” programs in 1962 while that number's up over 70% today? What are we thinking?!! We're going the way of Greece, people, that's why we need entitlement reform, before it's too late.

So many people believe they're “entitled” these days, convinced somebody “owes them” something! Why bother working when the government benefits are there for anyone who chooses NOT to work?

Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are critical concerns and becoming bigger as Baby Boomers retire, 10,000 reaching age 65 every day. Wouldn't families, churches and charities step in to help if someone's income came to the end after 99 weeks? They USED to.

If we really want to solve this problem, we MUST deal with it. What we're doing now simply isn't working. Since judgement begins in the House of the Lord, Pastors, how are YOU handling this? An old Minister used to encourage young men in his congregation to “get ANY kind of job because you never know who you'll meet as a coworker or customer. I guaranteed you'll meet no one while sitting at home watching TV.”

Yes, we are in awful economic times and, logically, we would have to expect more welfare. Obviously, dependency spending is a huge problem. Seems to me, if we left the money in the hands of the people who earned it, taxed them less and devalued the dollar less, we'd see more free enterprise in action with new jobs and wouldn't need so many government programs.

There, problem solved.

It's beginning to look more and more as though the Government is motivated to control the citizenry, even to the point of shredding our Constitution. But who will want to push back and, in essence, bite the hand that feeds us? All flesh DOES tend to seek after its own comfort, after all.

Work-related Scriptures. The message is clear.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,”
Colossians 3:23 (see Colossians 3:22- 4:1)

Does the Word of God admonish us to work hard while we still can? Ephesians 6:6 tells us, “Work hard, but not just to please your masters when they are watching. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”

In the Old Testament, we read, “...every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God,” Ecclesiastes 3:13. A gift? Work is a gift? Have you ever looked at your job that way?

Sometimes I wonder if, by choosing NOT to work, we are actually waving a white flag. “I tried to get rich, failed... that's it. I quit!”

Maybe the reason so many seem to fail is because they served the wrong boss. Proverbs 16:3 advises us, “Commit your work to the LORD, and then your plans will succeed.” 
Obviously, from Heaven's vantage point, it doesn't matter who the check-signer is.

In 2 Chronicles 15:7, we read, “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” As I said, for far too many, retirement is equivalent to waving the white flag of surrender.

Something else we should consider as Followers of Christ is the way we treat co-workers, employers, employees, customers and vendors, other people's spouses, sons and daughters while we are working with them. “The LORD demands fairness in every business deal; he sets the standard,”
Proverbs 16:11. We reap what we sow, after all. Maybe we weren't as excellent at what we did as we thought we were.

Another thought to consider is this: What did we do with what we earned? Did we invest it wisely? The best investment I can think of is our investment in PEOPLE. Ephesians 4:28 supports this notion. It says, “He must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need,”
Ephesians 4:28.

We must not forget what 1 Corinthians 10:31 declares. “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” One glance at our checkbooks and calendars can be quite revealing in regard to who our “god” really is. Where we spend our money and time is very telling.

Where our treasure is, that's where our hearts will be, too, Luke 12:34). And all the world will see.

Deuteronomy 8:18 declares, “But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is he that gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

Translation: God gives you power to attain wealth and His Covenant will be established as you do.

How's that workin' for ya?

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo

Founder, The Church @ Work