System Failure ...

Wednesday, Oct 12, 2011. The news are full about the financial crisis again, when there are national debates about the European bailout fund. The ranking of further banks has gone down. Newspapers have material to write and report. But it is tiring and annoying. Why is it so difficult to get these difficulties under control?

The System of our Life …

The difficulties which we have are relatively easy to explain. It is like cooking a soup with standard ingredients, some politics, blending, cheating, a little bit of criminal activities, greed, the wish to have a good life, … and ready is a mixture which leads directly to what we have at the moment.

We can sit with colleagues and friends and complain about what happens, but that is not really helping us much. And it is probably not touching the really important points. We need to approach this from a more general viewpoint. It is not just that others have made mistakes. It is the whole system which we are a part of and which we support leads to these things. It is not even a matter of capitalism or communism, but it is more the general way we usually act and think.

What is our own system of living? Most of us want to work a little bit, and want to earn a lot to be able to buy what we need and what we would like to have. But we almost never think about what our work really creates and why we or others should have what we have. Our media reflect what we think, what bothers us, what moves us … and that is highly superficial!

God's System …

In this framework I love what Jesus said and what he did. He breaks through all the superficial patterns and thoughts. He goes right into the important bits. He talks about the fundaments of our life, about eternal things as well. He talks about what moves us, where our heart is.

The New Testament is not a system! It is “God's system” NOT to have a system. The misunderstanding of biblical texts as a system of rules has led to a lot of suffering both in Old Testament times as well as in our past as a Christian community and Christian church - even up to today. But the only system here is that God fully focusses on love and truth, on faith, on trust and foregiveness, on dedication, sincerity and solidarity. No System!

Coming back to the financial crisis. We have created a rather instable system, where debts and risks can lead to losses - and the “can” is happening now on a systemic scale. It is one of the grand challenges, to stabelize the system, and it is not my role to provide the solution. But we need to look beyond this system, that is important for you and for me. In both stability and instability of our finances there is always God with his deep love to us. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts