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.
Asking equivalent questions. If you value total dependence on The Lord for every need - then why do you work? Very straight across the board comparison. If you can’t explain why then you need to reexamine your premise for your statement to begin with.
Exasperating thread ping
Y'all should see that differently. Natural disasters happen, no matter where you are. It only makes sense to have food stored up, as any of our forefathers' generations would confirm. They didn't have the choice, because the supermarket wasn't just down the road.
As to being poor, and not having space, A garden and canning (and hunting, smoking) don't hardly cost anything, especially if you are in a rural area, where such things (and knowledge, and supplies) are commonplace. Or freeze-dried goods which cost around $250/30days/person - Which is some money, I'll admit, but not too bad if you go at it a little at a time.
Shoot, I'm poor as a church mouse - If it weren't for the garden and hunting and fishing, I would not be anywhere near as well as I am. And I AM well, at least till the electricity goes off. Even if I lose my freezers, I know I can get by for 30-60 days. And I have winter to contend with. REAL winter.
To have 3 months stored up is pretty easy to do.
Do you live by those scriptures. Yes or no.
Do you have a refrigerator in your home/apt? Why or why not?
This is the set of scriptures that had my kin waiting in a long line for ‘free’ MRE’s that WERE put aside by someone who thought ahead. And paid for by all of us.
I was always under the impression that this set of scriptures were directed at his disciples and meant to assauge their fears of ‘going on the road’ with him.
I can’t imagine that every Christian farmer in the past 2000 years who has sown a crop has been an unbelieving heretic, can you?
Ain't that just neat? Right after my smoker, that's the next big project. Dunno if perch or tilapia though....
But God HAS clothed me. God HAS given me a full larder. God HAS given me a nice store of food, and the things I need to get through the winter.
God HAS given me good, honest work, and the use of my hands, and the appreciation for growing things, and the ability to hunt and fish... PRAISE GOD! And if it all burnt down tomorrow, it would all come back again, as I need it, and as I am willing to participate...
I often say that in perfect faith, I should be able to sit atop Mt. Aeneas buck nekkid in the middle of winter and be perfectly content - I am still working on that. But in the mean time, Winter is a reality, and if there ain't 4 cord in the shed, I can predict that I will get mighty cold a bit later on.
By the way. My kin took those exact scriptures to mean that they were to have NO food in their house. Zero.
They ditched their refrigerator, stove and microwave as well. And got rid of all eating and cooking utensils. Breakfast was a 9 mile drive into town to the drive thru somewhere.
He destroyed all the planted edibles so they wouldn’t be ‘tempted’ to hold it over till the next day. I’m sure the wildlife that had come to depend on those plants appreciated his newfound zeal.
Somehow when his wife tired of breastfeeding it became ‘ok’ to have cans of formula in the house. But only the individual serving ones (priced those lately?) because hey, no fridge.
The ‘upshot’ of all this is they have NO money set aside for anything. He was hurt on the job, his deductible (which they couldn’t pay) was paid for by his FIL, who did put aside stuff for a rainy day.
They have only gotten away with this level of ‘crazy’ on his working poor paycheck because his FIL *gave* them the house and 6 acres as a wedding present. The place very nearly came up at auction though for back taxes. Again, his FIL paid those. Roof needed fixing too. Guess who paid for that as well...
Their vehicles? Paid for by the FIL as well. Hard to pay a car note when you’re spending $25-$30+ a day at restaurants/drive thrus and on a working poor paycheck. The kids are on medicaid as well.
I don’t think very highly of his depending on the ‘providence of God’. Because it’s less the ‘providence of God’ than it is everyone else’s wallets...particularly his kin.
He’s had the gall to call MY dad and ask for handouts. My dad was a sharecropper’s son. And for genuinely poor kin my dad is a HUGE softy. Guess how far he got with that little line of panhandling...especially since my dad was aware that the whole family literally ate out every single meal...
You’ll do, Black Agnes. You surely will. : )
Tilapia grow faster but if your in colder climate it might be less heating. I’m in SC so heat is more an issue but I run lines underground to cool water. Tilapia also grow well on duck weed which I can grow in one tank so my feed bill is nil.
Oh the smoker! My old one was just a plywood box about 5’ high and 2’ wide. A hotplate under a false floor with holes in it. I only cold smoked in that. Lots of good bacon and ham out of it. The one I’m building now will be for both hot and cold.
Lets have some balance. There is more that the bible says about preparedness
Proverbs 6:6 –11 (NLT)
“6:6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 6:7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 6:8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. 6:9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? 6:10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—6:11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.”
Proverbs 21:20
“The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.”
1 Timothy 5:8 (NIV)
“If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
Proverbs 27:12
“A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”
Prolly gonna start with perch till I figure out what I am doing - My buddy in CO uses passive solar to heat the water tanks in order to help heat the greenhouse - and I am going to try something similar... I will probably still need a coal/wood stove in it for the bitter cold, but I am not going to get year-round anyhoo. Most likely going to have to shut it down in January, which is fine, as I can get my starts going in late feb that way... Production is pretty grim late winter around here anyway.
First of all the comment was a post in a reply to anonsquared not to anyone else.
But to tell the truth when you sling mud you shouldn’t be upset when you get some on you.
Heh... Burned down my last teepee smoker about a year ago - This one is going to be all masonry hot/cold, w/ honest steel racks, and with an attached barbeque grill too... Messing with rocket-stove stuff right now, and will probably incorporate that idea into it some - I like fresh bread, and it is too hot to bake in the summer, so I will wind up with pretty much a whole exterior kitchen - oven and all... It is going to be a humdinger of a project. Hoping to get it done before snow. Once it is in, I doubt I will cook inside much at all.
That’s a passage addressing anxiety. It’s in response to the “OMG what am I gonna do?” panic. Don’t _worry_ about things, don’t fret. In context of other pro-preparedness passages, the point is: just do what needs to be done, God will provide the means & resources well within your abilities & needs.
When Christ began His ministry and gathered the disciples, He told them to forego all things in a manner you’re referring to. That was fine: He was there and actively providing for them in a very direct fashion. When He prepared to leave (crucifixion), He told them to take such things up again (purse, scrip, sword).
Obviously, if you don’t get a job and acquire food/clothing/shelter, you won’t last long. Some of the remarkably devout may get by on providence thru others, but most of us won’t.
God told Joseph to store up 7 years’ grain. He didn’t say “a bad time is coming, but don’t worry about it.”
God provided Moses et al with manna. Was pretty clear that was for a limited, albeit long, time.
The passage you quote is not anti-prepper. You acquire what you sensibly can, in preparation for reasonable (even catastrophic) contingencies, as God provides such for you.
Costco sells 50lb bags of flour and rice for $15. That’s enough calories to keep an adult going for a month (further nuances of nutrition left as an exercise for the reader). You have a job, savings, or some other income. Seems God has indeed provided for you - all you need do is drive to the local “shopper’s club / bulk” store, wheel out more food than you’ll know what to do with, and pay for it with remarkably little money! A month’s calories for less than 2 hours of minimum-wage work? a decent nutritious 30-day menu for a day’s effort? Indeed, God provides!
Well, good for you!
Meanwhile, back on EARTH, millions of people who have lived since Christ - including many who have had Faith in Christ - haven't been clothed. They've worn rags, gone hungry, couldn't find work, etc.
My question is: How can this be reconciled with the passage in the Gospel according to Matthew?
Regards,
Okay, so it was a rhetorical question - and a good one!
Indeed, I find it nigh impossible to reconcile what I consider to be sensible behavior (prepping, etc.) with the "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die" attitude towards life which Christ espoused.
Regards,
Your numerous quotations demonstrate just how self-contradictory the Bible is.
Regards,
What do you mean, 'back on earth'?? Shall I sell all I have and join them in the ditch? Shall I poison my body to join them in the hospital? Shall I maim myself and join them at the gate? That's ultimately just one more hand held out for alms, and the negation of all that I could do with what YHWH has given me. What good does that do me or them? That isn't Christianity, it's communism. The rising tide sinks all boats, eh?
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