Cooking the Books for Jesus.

I am reading Jim Wallis’ book, God Politics with a group of bloggers from around the country. Today I am to post on Chapter 16: Amos and Enron. Wallis tells the story of how Enron executives "cooked the books" for profit and positioned their employees and investors to lose billions. It is a story of immense greed and utter self-centeredness on behalf of the executives and one of tragedy and heartbreak for those who had invested their lives and life savings in Enron. Wallis questioned where these executives attended church.

Disclaimer: Much has been said about Enron and the likes so I will not expound on the sins of Enron and corporate America. This post is about me and my take on how my faith is or is not impacting the world for the cause of Christ.

That is a great question. Where did these folks attend church? It made me wonder what message would these executives hear if they showed-up on Sunday at my church. Would they hear a message that was written, "not to offend"? Don’t get me wrong, we want to preach like Jesus, it’s just that we must be sensible about how we "position" our messages. One would obviously not want to piss off a major contributor by preaching a message that "offends" or challenges one too deeply. Wouldn't Jesus do the same thing? Certainly we cannot blame the church for its part in the sin of Enron and capitalism— can we? Afterall money and numbers are important, right? We need money to maintain our ministries and numbers to justify the money. They go hand in hand, even in the church.

I am America-- land of hero worship and idolatry. Our church is often impressed when someone from the local Who’s Who list makes his her way into our local parish. Hell, we even have our hero pastors and priests-- those who have recently published-- on pedestals at our conferences to worship and adore. According to Wallis, Enron gave over $1,000,000 to the Republican Party and nearly $850,000 to the Democratic Party. When Ken Lay called, members of congress answered the phone; I doubt he left too many voice mail messages. If Ken Lay gave that kind of money to my parish, I doubt I’d turn it down, and when he called, I’d answer. Yes, we could probably name the garden after his mother or our new parish hall after his wife. There’s a good chance I would not preach a sermon that completely yanked his covers so much that he would either, want to kill me or repent of his sin and turn his life around.

Would I sell-out my friends, family, and my morality if snorted as much cash as Lay? I want to say no, but I've never snorted that much cash. The little bit I have snorted has often left me wanting a little more. Perhaps I am only fooling myself by thinking I have it under control? There is a great chance that my addiction for power and money would be out of control where I become powerless of my need for wealth and notoriety and my life becomes unmanageable. The question is, do we risk an intervention?

The problem with all of this is that it says more about me than it does the sins of Enron, corporate America, or capitalism. It speaks of my own greed, fear, idol worship, and the need for money and the need for numbers to justify the money—whether in the local church or my business. And while my sin may seem trivial compared to monstrosity of Enron, the root is the same: fear and greed. It is easy to blame people and systems for the sins of humanity it is much more difficult for me to face the reality of my sin that plays its part in the sin of the community I find myself.

That is why I say, "I don’t have the guts to follow Jesus so I settle for being a Christian." For to follow Jesus would cost me something much more than a bumper sticker or a wristband-- maybe my career or possibly my life, and in the land flowing with silk and money the costs are just too high – or are they?