Posted on 09/23/2014 6:13:35 AM PDT by WXRGina
This is a difficult column to write. It may earn me scorn from fellow conservatives who strongly trust in their hard-earned, stored provisions. But, it is a subject that has weighed on my mind. The question concerns Christians, not unbelievers. Is serious “prepping” something Christians should do? Prepping, as you may know, is the laying up of food, water, weapons, ammunition and other supplies for the event of future disaster, commonly referred to in the prepper community by the initials SHTF (“stuff” hits the fan).
There are Christian prepper communities. According to one such Christian website entry:
The prepper sees the imminent collapse of the American dollar, hyperinflation, breakdown of society and the [disintegration] of the city infrastructure such as roads, transportation, telecommunication, water supply, electricity, gas, etc. They start storing food, water, batteries for survival, and even guns and ammunition for protection of their hoardings. Many are looking for lands to buy and so the prices of farmlands and rural acreages have been driven up tremendously. Preppers are increasing in numbers every day in America, so some have called it the Prepper nation.
… Most preppers are mainly concerned about their physical wellbeing during bad times and disasters, so they focus on stocking up food, drinks, batteries and other items that are required for survival. Some are buying gold, silver and other precious metals as hedges against the U.S. Dollar and economic collapse. Others go further by looking for farmlands and equipment for renewable energy such as solar and wind powered generators. All these kinds of preparation are highly essential when the Great Tribulation occurs, but there are other more important things to consider as well.
The piece goes on to express the importance of being spiritually prepared in Christ. It admonishes us to not do our prepping out of fear.
The Bible tells us that God’s ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts. What seems wise and right to us is not necessarily so, because the only true wisdom is God’s wisdom. The Lord is infinitely higher than we are, and our very limited minds cannot grasp the depth of the knowledge and wisdom of God, although as we seek His wisdom, He gives it to us, and we grow in it. The world tells us there is wisdom in laying up provisions for bad times to come, and there are also examples in Scripture of this, as in God warning Joseph in Pharaoh’s dream to store grain before the famine in Egypt, and God advising Noah to build the ark and load provisions into it for the duration of the flood. What else does the Bible say about this?
In Matthew 6:19-21 (KJV), Jesus says:
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Further on in verses 25 and 31-34, Jesus continues:
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
… 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
That passage makes it clear that the Lord wants us to put our faith in Him alone. Does that mean God does not want us to be serious preppers? In defense of prepping, some might point to Proverbs 21:20 (NIV):
The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.
Is that an admonition to hoard, or more of a general comparison of the behavior of the wise man and the foolish man? Proverbs is full of such comparisons of the wise and foolish and the Godly and wicked.
The Bible stresses the importance of work and the folly of laziness. However, there is a big difference between hardcore prepping and laziness. Just because some of us may not be serious preppers does not mean we’re lazy. There are many of us who have thought about prepping but have little to no space for storing a lot of provisions. Neither does everyone have enough money to spend on extra supplies, other than a little here and there, although even without much money, you could still build up quite a collection over time.
Is prepping in keeping with God’s instructions for us? Not if you look to Jesus’ words in Matthew 6. But, if we do choose to prepare, how much is enough? Three to six months’ stockpile of food, water and other supplies? How could we ever know how much we would need? The answer is that we can’t know, and I believe therein lies the key to the whole issue. I don’t believe there is anything inherently wrong with prepping, but as Christians, our faith must not be in our supplies or our ability to procure them. God makes it clear that He wants to be the sole object of our faith and trust. Seek Him first, and “all these things will be added unto you.” All we have comes from Him. “Unhealthy” prepping is when it becomes more important to us than trusting the Lord to know what’s coming and what we will need.
Psalms 37 is a marvelous chapter that contrasts the righteous with the wicked. It declares that the man who trusts in God will be taken care of by the Lord in every way, but the wicked will quickly perish, even though for a time it seems that the wicked prosper. In verses 23-25 (KJV), David writes:
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
The Lord knows what’s coming, and He knows what we will need. He will give Christians the things we need when we need them. I’m not advocating lying down and “doing nothing,” because I don’t believe prepping is a bad thing, but we must keep it in perspective. While prepping can be a great help in certain situations, it is not what saves us or takes care of us. Only the Lord does that, and while we may choose to be preppers, as Christians, we must always keep our focus on Him.
Yes.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
It bluntly states that our mission is to look after those who can not help themselves. You note that he does not say that God is not taking care of them, He is, by sending you.
God expects you to do your part. He will fill in the blanks.
The admonishment to store up in the 7 years of good times, in preparation for the 7 years of bad times is pretty clear.
That was one example of the Lord working in Joseph's (and therefore Israel's) life. I do not believe that is the Lord instructing all of us to hoard seven years' worth of provisions. Nowhere else in the Bible does God tell anyone but Joseph to do that.
....The Lord knows what’s coming, and He knows what we will need. He will give Christians the things we need when we need them. I’m not advocating lying down and “doing nothing,” because I don’t believe prepping is a bad thing, but we must keep it in perspective. While prepping can be a great help in certain situations, it is not what saves us or takes care of us. Only the Lord does that, and while we may choose to be preppers, as Christians, we must always keep our focus on Him.
After everything you said to knock it, I wasn't expecting the conclusion to say "I don't believe prepping is a bad thing".
Yes, but...
We must be very, very careful not to allow our preparations supplant our trust in the Lord’s protection. The Lord has made it plain that, as He has His eye on the sparrow, so He has His eye on us and is aware of our every need.
It is perfectly acceptable and wise to prep, as long as we do not place our faith in these made-made material things.
It’s impossible to help others if you and your family are destitute and struggling to survive.
Only by taking care of your family first are you able to help others.
That’s because I’m NOT knocking prepping. This is the hard point—the need to keep it in perspective, and knowing where the line is.
That article reminds me of the people who make the comment that money is the root of all evil. A little bit of a twist of scripture goes a long way with some. I have followed my grandparents example of “putting up” enough until next years harvest. It’s what has been done since Bible times. Today they would call that “prepping”. Not once does scripture in any way denegrate those who provided for their families with extra provisions to help those who are in need. Of course we don’t put our faith in those goods and it’s the “love of money” that leads to sin. If “prepping” is somehow un-Biblical then Joseph sure made a mistake by storing up for the lean years.
It is very hard for me to give someone shelter when I am sleeping on the streets myself.
That is one complex question. As a human being, I want to take care of my own and defend my family and as a Christian, I do not see any scripture that would instruct otherwise.
But I do see our Saviour instructing us to love our enemy, feed the poor and take care of widows and orphans. God shows us in scripture that our neighbor is not necessarily the people we expect or even like.
And in our faith history, we see the Martyrs that went to the cross, were burned at the stake and went to the lions rather than reject the Christ they followed rather than take up arms and fight the ungodly.
I am not a pacifist, but these facts do trouble me.
Joseph is mentioned in the column, as is Noah. Those were peculiar situations the Lord initiated.
This column is not about the normal, practical storing up you mention. I’m talking about the doomsday preppers of today—the “hardcore” preppers.
My wife is an organized person. She has a couple of months worth of food in the pantry just because that is the way she was raised. But ultimately... I'm probably not interested in living through the "mad max" world of the apocalypse.
We have an eternity with God. Why would a few years of surviving the apocalypse be so important to us?
That's just my take on it...
So then tell me. If one has provisions for the next full year “put up” considered a “hardcore” prepper in your scenario?
We prep in many ways in our life to ensure we survive. These “ways” DO NOT include food, water, weapons and ammo.
How about...auto/health/life insurance, retirement accounts, medical/dental care in general (annual physicals, dental exams, cholesterol meds)...heck, even college education/tech school diplomas.
Many of us have chosen a harder path by making use of hard work and the resources available to us in an effort to give us a longer, better life.
Why would storing up food and other supplies be any different?
I think some preppers prep to survive here. They're willing to kill and fight off the "hoards" of people when society falls.
Doomsday scenarios are something almost none of us could be properly prepared for. Practical prepping is not doomsday prepping. I'm not trying to "split hairs" here. I'm honestly asking questions that I also struggle with. Not everyone is able to even put up many provisions, like the kind you mention, due to lack of space and money.
Prepare for your family but put all your trust in the Lord, don't let things of this world dominate you.
“We must be very, very careful not to allow our preparations supplant our trust in the Lord’s protection.”
Old joke: A man is in a flood. He denies help from a neighbor driving out of the area before the flood, a boat when the flood comes, and a helicopter when the floods are raging. He then dies. God asks why he didn’t save himself. The man says he trusted in the Lord to help him. God says he did help; he sent a neighbor, a boat, and a helicopter.
Prepping to the hilt is NOT denying God’s help, it is taking full advantage of his wisdom to know to prep and his bounty of Earth to do so.
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