Thursday 8 May 2014

Bl**dy Bankers - deserve all they get

So went a conversation this morning as the news that almost 20,000 Barclays staff were to lose their jobs over the coming months - around half coming from the UK - hit the news.

I take a look at the news ticker and what do I see:
  • Barclays cuts 14,000 jobs this year 
  • Morrisons sales fall 8.2% 
So it's definitely not a rosy morning (actually it's raining as I type this) is it?

But of the 'bankers' - the reality is that when people want to lash out at the fat cats in the banking world, those people who drove the world's economies onto the rocks (with loads of help from the rest of the world who never stop to ask where profits, dividends and cheap prices on what should be more costly goods have their roots and realities) are cheering the wrong things. Those who lose their jobs will be the ordinary folk who live up your street and sit next to you on the train and shop at Aldi and Lidl rather than Fortnums and Horrids, drive flashy cars and live exorbitant lifestyles (thanks in some way - to us).

Not the most rational thought around!


Worse still those who claim to be Christian and are cheering are taking pleasure from the distress of others. The Bible tells us that love is what Christians are supposed to be about. That said, we do a great job of masking it behind our outrages and righteous indignation and our petty hatreds.

In 1 Corinthians 13 (RVV) the Apostle Paul tells us that:

Love never gives up, regardless.

Love is concerned with caring more for others than it does for ourselves.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have but takes joy in what it does!

Love doesn’t strut, posture, boast, brag or pose.

Love doesn’t force itself on others but respects private space and the dignity of of others.

Love isn’t concerned with a 'me first' culture or mindset but prefers and serves others.

Love doesn’t fly off the handle, or get the punch in first, even when we think it is justified.

Love doesn’t keep score of the sins of others but is concerned with our own sins first.

Love takes no pleasure when others are reduced to tears, pulled down or humiliated.

Love takes pleasure in truth, in all its aspects, regardless of how that might make us look or feel.

Love puts up with stuff because, all things considered, look at the model Jesus left us!

Love trusts God and always looks for the best in others.

Love is forward looking, it doesn't keep a record of what has been, only of what can be and it keeps on looking even when experience might lead others to stop.

So - pray and seek to help those who might just be losing their jobs (regardless of where they work).

Pax

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