In God We Trust???

[unworthyservant]

A Sunday morning thought. All around the world the US dollar is seen as a symbol of Free Market Capitalism. On that dollar is printed the phrase "In God We Trust." This phrase first appeared on the 2 cent coin minted in 1864 and then added to other money. The question is should God's name be associated with the money that's the symbol of our Capitalistic economy? Does God really support our economic system? When asked about paying tribute to Caesar, Christ used a coin with Caesar's image on it and said "Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's". Have we in our piety put a reference to God on our money, thinking that somehow God actually will bless our economy for it? Should we be using trust in God to bolster faith in our worldly monetary system?

[JustPassingThru]

Money is a wicked master, ...but a wonderful servant, a very useful tool for the church to use.

Abraham, our father in/of faith was extremely wealthy, David was extremely wealthy, perhaps Solomon was the richest man to ever live, ...it's not the money that is evil, ...it's the love of the money that is, ...that's what causes all of the problems throughout history up to today. 

Lord bless

[Not me]

1 hour ago, unworthyservant said:

A Sunday morning thought. All around the world the US dollar is seen as a symbol of Free Market Capitalism. On that dollar is printed the phrase "In God We Trust." This phrase first appeared on the 2 cent coin minted in 1864 and then added to other money. The question is should God's name be associated with the money that's the symbol of our Capitalistic economy? Does God really support our economic system? When asked about paying tribute to Caesar, Christ used a coin with Caesar's image on it and said "Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's". Have we in our piety put a reference to God on our money, thinking that somehow God actually will bless our economy for it? Should we be using trust in God to bolster faith in our worldly monetary system?

Is not  capitalism just another way of saying;

“you reap what you sow.”

The fruit of your labor is yours to do what you will with it, for better or worse. 

I see God putting forth capitalism in Genesis when He says;

“you shall earn a living by the sweat of your brow”

Meaning you are not owed or entitled to the fruit of someone else’s labor. 

(my thoughts)

In Christ, Not me

[unworthyservant]

Just now, Not me said:

Is not  capitalism just another way of saying;

“you reap what you sow.”

The fruit of your labor is yours to do what you will with it, for better or worse. 

I see God putting forth capitalism in Genesis when He says;

“you shall earn a living by the sweat of your brow”

Meaning you are not owed or entitled to the fruit of someone else’s labor. 

(my thoughts)

In Christ, Not me

The point you forget is that God does teach that we must work and will be compensated by how much effort we put in but capitalists in general seem to forget that Christ told us exactly what to do the riches that God may bless any of us with. HE SAID GIVE IT TO THE POOR AND NEEDY AND DON"T USE IT TO ACCUMULATE EARTHLY TREASURES. So, with Capitalism we are taught that if we put our minds to it and work hard we can have a million dollars and  a mansion of our own. Christ taught that if we put our minds to it and work hard we can help even more people in need. Capitalism looks up to the rich and famous. Christ looked up to the poor and needy. Capitalism is about earthly treasures. Christ was about treasures in Heaven.

[unworthyservant]

41 minutes ago, JustPassingThru said:

Money is a wicked master, ...but a wonderful servant, a very useful tool for the church to use.

Abraham, our father in/of faith was extremely wealthy, David was extremely wealthy, perhaps Solomon was the richest man to ever live, ...it's not the money that is evil, ...it's the love of the money that is, ...that's what causes all of the problems throughout history up to today. 

Lord bless

I shy away from the "love of money" discussion for a couple of reasons. First, while Paul simply said that the the love of money is the root of all evil, nothing more, it was Christ who told us how we are to show that we don't love it more than Him. GIVE IT UP! If you don't love the money more than you love Christ, then you'll have no problem giving it away to the poor as He taught. And I'm not talking about giving 1 million and keeping 5. We should all keep in mind the lesson of the "widow's mites". You are correct it is a wonderful servant and just think if all those rich folks who like to identify as Christian would give their all (as many of the poor do) then we could show God's love to how many more than we do today.

[missmuffet]

1 hour ago, unworthyservant said:

A Sunday morning thought. All around the world the US dollar is seen as a symbol of Free Market Capitalism. On that dollar is printed the phrase "In God We Trust." This phrase first appeared on the 2 cent coin minted in 1864 and then added to other money. The question is should God's name be associated with the money that's the symbol of our Capitalistic economy? Does God really support our economic system? When asked about paying tribute to Caesar, Christ used a coin with Caesar's image on it and said "Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's". Have we in our piety put a reference to God on our money, thinking that somehow God actually will bless our economy for it? Should we be using trust in God to bolster faith in our worldly monetary system?

In God We Trust was first put on our coins during the Civil war in 1864. It was the religious sentiment of our United States that allowed the words on the coins. Shouldn't we endorse those words? Shouldn't we trust God? I have seen many in our world today challenge those words on our money. It may not be too much longer and those words will not longer be on our currency. Just the way our world is going. 

[Not me]

23 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

The point you forget is that God does teach that we must work and will be compensated by how much effort we put in but capitalists in general seem to forget that Christ told us exactly what to do the riches that God may bless any of us with. HE SAID GIVE IT TO THE POOR AND NEEDY AND DON"T USE IT TO ACCUMULATE EARTHLY TREASURES. So, with Capitalism we are taught that if we put our minds to it and work hard we can have a million dollars and  a mansion of our own. Christ taught that if we put our minds to it and work hard we can help even more people in need. Capitalism looks up to the rich and famous. Christ looked up to the poor and needy. Capitalism is about earthly treasures. Christ was about treasures in Heaven.

I think you are conflating capitalism with Christianity.

Capitalism is you have the right to do what you want with the fruit of your labors. 

Christianity neither calls for poverty or riches, it calls one to faith in Christ Jesus. To be content with where  you were called.

But as scripture says, if called as a slave, think nothing of it....But than it goes on to say, if you have the chance for freedom use it.... Meaning there was nothing wrong with increase. Now how one uses that increase is between them and God, but they are under no compulsion whatsoever to this or that, only to what their heart calls them to. 

Anyways I wish you well in Christ, Not me 

Edited August 18, 2019 by Not me

[unworthyservant]

3 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

In God We Trust was first put on our coins during the Civil war in 1864. It was the religious sentiment of our United States that allowed the words on the coins. Shouldn't we endorse those words? Shouldn't we trust God? I have seen many in our world today challenge those words on our money. It may not be too much longer and those words will not longer be on our currency. Just the way our world is going. 

Yes, and Salmon Chase himself questioned the wisdom of the decision but finally gave in to the pressure from the populace. Yes we should indeed trust God, I simply question the wisdom of using that trust as a motto on our money. If it were there to remind us every time that we're tempted to use the money for purchasing worldly treasures that we should instead be using that dollar for God's work that would be a different story. Instead it seems like some sort of God's endorsement of our monetary system because we invoke trust in Him on our money.

[missmuffet]

2 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

Yes, and Salmon Chase himself questioned the wisdom of the decision but finally gave in to the pressure from the populace. Yes we should indeed trust God, I simply question the wisdom of using that trust as a motto on our money. If it were there to remind us every time that we're tempted to use the money for purchasing worldly treasures that we should instead be using that dollar for God's work that would be a different story. Instead it seems like some sort of God's endorsement of our monetary system because we invoke trust in Him on our money.

Remember the money we have God has blessed us with. It is not our money, it is God's money. 

[unworthyservant]

2 minutes ago, Not me said:

I think you are conflating capitalism with Christianity.

Capitalism is you have the right to do what you want with the fruit of your labors. 

Christianity neither calls for poverty or riches, it calls one to faith in Christ Jesus. To be content with where  you were called.

But as scripture says, if called as a slave, think nothing of it....But than it goes on to say, if you have the chance for freedom use it.... Meaning there was nothing wrong with increase. Now how one uses that increase is between them and God, but they are under no compulsion whatsoever to this or that, only to what their heart calls them to. 

Anyways I wish you well in Christ, Not me 

I'm not conflating the two, I'm trying to separate them and urge others to be wary of the "prosperity gospel" that's so prevalent today. You say that "Christianity" neither calls for poverty or riches. I'm not sure of your exact meaning but Christ said "Hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of Heaven.". It's not a matter of poverty or riches, it's a matter of what we do with whatever we have. Of him who more is given more is expected. When Christ went to the home of Nicodemus, who was a chief tax collector and would probably have been considered upper middle class in his day, he told the Lord that he had already heard the message and would give half of all he had to the poor, and on top of that he would repay anyone who he had ever cheated  fourfold. Only then did Christ say that Salvation had come to his house. There's nothing wrong with increase, there's something wrong with using that increase to increase our own financial well being beyond what we need to live and not using it as Christ taught, to help those less fortunate. So, Capitalism is based on the simple theory that if someone is successful they will grow their wealth and be an example of the earthly riches that you too can attain by using the principles of Capitalism. Today, if it weren't for the rich and powerful corporations and their rich CEOs Capitalism would be in dire straits but God's word would remain.