The strained economy has changed many aspects of business, investing, and fundraising. But the really important question is, “has it affected what Americans consider the really important things in life?” A study by the Barna Group finds that family and faith in God are still our highest priorities. But the Barna study found replacements like health, leisure, money, and professional success were more common replacements than expected.
The conventional wisdom says that when the economy turns bad people focus on the basics, like family and faith. However, the man who directed the study, David Kinnaman, concludes, “this research either calls that thinking into question or it tells us that the economy has not been bad enough to cause a significant re-prioritization of family and faith. It is also noteworthy that faith is the most volatile of the elements. It is the only type of priority to go down, then up, suggesting uncertainty about the interaction between faith and finances.”
I’ll tell you what popped into mind when I looked at this study: Job! Yes, the Job of the Bible. Job was a very rich man, he had a large and a close family, he was wealthy, he was healthy until one day he became the testing point of a challenge by Satan to God. When you read the story you wonder how any human could endure such physical, emotional and spiritual devastation. But Job did endure… remaining faithful to God. In the end, God restored Job’s health, family and wealth. Oh that I could be a little bit like Job. He’s a man to admire.
This is Carl Ramsey and that’s Another View of the News.
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