God and Jobs

One of the familiar phrases that we hear regarding God and His ways is "God helps those who help themselves".  In fact, that passage was quoted this week by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney as he attempted to reinforce the President's reaction to the House of Representatives voting to reaffirm the national motto, "In God We Trust"...by the way, that vote was 365-9, so it seems to be a fairly popular position.  Carney said he believed that was in the Bible.

You see, the President had given a speech in front of another bridge in need of repair, and said, according to ABC News,  that

House Republicans should work to put people back to work, instead of focusing on other measures that don’t create jobs, such as debating a commemorative baseball coin or legislation reaffirming the “In God We Trust” motto.

“That’s not putting people back to work,” Obama said as he stood before the Key Bridge that connects Washington, D.C., to Northern Virginia. “I trust in God, but God wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work.”

The problem with Carney's statement was that "God helps those who help themselves" is not in the Bible!    AtlanticWire has some helpful insight on the passage:

But in the official transcript following the interview, Carney's sentence had a footnote added: "This common phrase does not appear in the Bible." This little Sunday school trip would all be more embarrassing for Carney if he'd been the first to make the mistake. In fact, people have long quoted the phrase as Christian Scripture. In 2000, George Barna, a religious analyst, conducted a survey of Americans' religious attitudes and beliefs. 75 percent of the 1,002 people he polled agreed with his statement that "the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves." Even in the 10 years since this minor expose was covered in several American publications, the misconception persists. Just last year, Bill O'Reilly wrote, "But being a Christian, I know that while Jesus promoted charity at the highest level, he was not self-destructive. The Lord helps those who help themselves. Does he not?"

The AtlanticWire piece goes on to say:  

A helpful Wikipedia entry notes that the sentiment predates Christ, hearkening back to Ancient Greece, where it appears in several forms. The tragedian Euripides, for instance, wrote "Try first thyself, and after call in God; For to the worker God himself lends aid." Since then, some version of that sentiment has been prominently put into words by the Prophet Muhammed, French fable writer Jean de la Fontaine, and it was given its American iteration by Ben Franklin, who put it in his Poor Richard's Almanack. You'll note however that none of these originators are named "Jesus," and that's because neither he, nor anyone else in the Bible, ever said it.

After the President called out speaker Boehner for not focusing on jobs, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pointed to 15 bills that the House has passed that Republican leaders say are aimed at jobs and are bipartison.  He charged that the Senate Democratic leadership is holding them up.

These so-called "Forgotten 15" include:



In addition, they cite:
16)  H.R. 2433—Veterans Opportunity to Work Act:  H.R. 2433 would create or modify programs that provide employment and training services to veterans and service members separating from active duty. 

17) H.R. 674—To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the imposition of 3 percent withholding on certain payments made to vendors by government entities:   H.R. 674 would permanently repeal the imposition of 3 percent withholding on certain payments made to vendors by government entities.

18) H.Con.Res. 34—Budget for Fiscal Year 2012:  The FY 2012 budget resolution passed by House Republicans promotes job creation and certainty by preventing the president’s job destroying tax increases and runaway spending.

But, back to what the Bible actually says - in Isaiah 40, we read:  28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.   The apostle Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 12 that where we are weak, He is strong.

I think that's quite applicable to our overall economic situation...the President is campaigning for a bill he knows will not pass, and Republicans in the House have passed a slew of bills that they know will not make their way through the Senate, much less be signed by the President.   Meanwhile, the supercommittee charged with reducing the deficit is ideologically deadlocked.   It reminds us how we need to be praying for our leaders, and how much we need to inject Godly wisdom into the equation.   These economic issues - the Federal debt, unemployment, and more - need ideas beyond ourselves in order to solve them.   Leaders are trying to help themselves, in a sense, and when we're facing these mountains of dilemmas without the power of Almighty God, that attitude in governing, or in our individual lives, for that matter, is destined to fall short.  If we were to put that motto, "In God We Trust", into action, I believe that we will see real change in America and the enormous partisan, cultural, and economic divides that we are seeing manifest would begin to be healed.