Credit Cards Bring God’s Judgment?

I just had a question, but before he would answer a question, the customer service rep wanted some of my information. I should have said, no, but I gave him my information. When he started reading the required disclosures, I realized he was signing me up for a credit card. I protested and explained I didn’t want a credit card I just had a question. He stopped reading, answered my question, tried to sell me the credit card and again I said no and hung up.

Five days later I received the credit card.

They know we’ll probably use it. And it reminds me of just how devious business in America can be these days. The rip-offs, the scams, the stealing of identities, the super high interest -sometimes as high as 33%, are so prevelant you pay money to companies just to monitor what is happening to you. (sorry, I had to take a second from typing this so I could talk to a salesman who just called… no joke)

I’m a believer in capitalism, and so I believe that a company which treats people fairly will eventually get more customers and do better than a company that is going for the easy buck on the backs of others. In the meantime however, I personally believe God blesses a country that looks out for the poor, the elderly, the disadvantaged, and protects them from the greedy. Perhaps you’ve said it yourself to your friends and co-workers: What’s happening much of the time in our marketplace is wrong, it’s a flat out sin, and anyone who reads their Old Testament knows even God doesn’t like it when a business preys on the poor with super high interest rates, enormous hidden fees, and unethical business practices.

Jesus turned over the tables belonging to the unethical money changers and businessmen in the Temple. Proverbs 11:1 says “Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD,” (They were used to defraud people in the market) And in the book of Amos it gets scary:

Amos 8:4-10 (selected portions) Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, And make the poor of the land fail, …Shall the land not tremble for this, And everyone mourn who dwells in it?… I will turn your feasts into mourning, And all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist, And baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, And its end like a bitter day.

You will hear someone from time to time speak of God’s judgment coming upon this nation. You will typically hear those people mention our moral depravity, our sexual immorality, our efforts to separate church and state, etc… And feel free to mark me down as someone who believes God’s judgment is coming someday.

For the record however, I tell you God’s judgment is coming for many reasons, not the least of which is how the poor have been taken advantage of, and how the culture of business in America has become more and more unethical, selfish, and cold. We strip the elderly of their money, we charge huge interest to those who can least afford it, and we self-righteously tell everyone to buy hybrid cars when half our population has no way to afford a $35,000 car.

Unless of course, they get one of those high interest loans…

Ministers rail against various sins and vices, but we shouldn’t ignore the injustice that takes place every day in the market place.

God doesn’t.