Did you catch our President’s speech on the economy this week? Speaking at Georgetown University on April 14th, he turned to the Bible to explain his view of the economy and his vision for stabilizing it. Here’s an excerpt from the heart of his speech:
Now, there’s a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells the story of two men. The first built his house on a pile of sand, and it was soon destroyed when a storm hit. But the second is known as the wise man, for when “the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
It was founded upon a rock. We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock. We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity — a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest; where we consume less at home and send more exports abroad.
It’s a foundation built upon five pillars that will grow our economy and make this new century another American century: Number one, new rules for Wall Street that will reward drive and innovation, not reckless risk-taking; number two, new investments in education that will make our workforce more skilled and competitive; number three, new investments in renewable energy and technology that will create new jobs and new industries; number four, new investments in health care that will cut costs for families and businesses; and number five, new savings in our federal budget that will bring down the debt for future generations.
That’s the new foundation we must build. That’s our house built upon a rock. That must be our future — and my administration’s policies are designed to achieve that future.
What we have here is a gross manipulation of Scripture to fit the idea that is trying to be communicated (a “proof text”). The President claims the rock that we need to build our economic house upon is made up of five “pillars” which include: new rules for Wall Street, investing in education, renewable energy, investing in health care, and federal budget reductions.
Left out of this quote from the Sermon on the Mount are two very important sentences within the “house on the rock” parable. Jesus began by saying:
24 Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [Matthew 7:24]
Jesus contrasted the builder of the house on the rock with the builder who built on sand by saying:
26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [Matthew 7:26]
As anyone can see, the common theme, the lone “pillar” is hearing Jesus’ words and doing them!
It is most unfortunate that our President would go to the “Rock” and pull a passage about the “Rock” and twist it to be a passage about economic reform that is void of the “Rock!”
Let us pray that our President’s speech writers would be struck by the truth of the “Rock” when they go to it for speech material. Let us pray that our President would be prompted to reconsider his policies that contradict the very “Rock” that he is mishandling. Let us pray that as a nation we would one day seek to build our house upon the Rock, the very words of Jesus Christ!
Now, there’s a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells the story of two men. The first built his house on a pile of sand, and it was soon destroyed when a storm hit. But the second is known as the wise man, for when “the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
It was founded upon a rock. We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock. We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity — a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest; where we consume less at home and send more exports abroad.
It’s a foundation built upon five pillars that will grow our economy and make this new century another American century: Number one, new rules for Wall Street that will reward drive and innovation, not reckless risk-taking; number two, new investments in education that will make our workforce more skilled and competitive; number three, new investments in renewable energy and technology that will create new jobs and new industries; number four, new investments in health care that will cut costs for families and businesses; and number five, new savings in our federal budget that will bring down the debt for future generations.
That’s the new foundation we must build. That’s our house built upon a rock. That must be our future — and my administration’s policies are designed to achieve that future.
What we have here is a gross manipulation of Scripture to fit the idea that is trying to be communicated (a “proof text”). The President claims the rock that we need to build our economic house upon is made up of five “pillars” which include: new rules for Wall Street, investing in education, renewable energy, investing in health care, and federal budget reductions.
Left out of this quote from the Sermon on the Mount are two very important sentences within the “house on the rock” parable. Jesus began by saying:
24 Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [Matthew 7:24]
Jesus contrasted the builder of the house on the rock with the builder who built on sand by saying:
26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [Matthew 7:26]
As anyone can see, the common theme, the lone “pillar” is hearing Jesus’ words and doing them!
It is most unfortunate that our President would go to the “Rock” and pull a passage about the “Rock” and twist it to be a passage about economic reform that is void of the “Rock!”
Let us pray that our President’s speech writers would be struck by the truth of the “Rock” when they go to it for speech material. Let us pray that our President would be prompted to reconsider his policies that contradict the very “Rock” that he is mishandling. Let us pray that as a nation we would one day seek to build our house upon the Rock, the very words of Jesus Christ!
