Recently I received a letter from “The White House” explaining that I would be receiving a tax credit of up to $3,600 per child under the age of 6. It was explained in the letter that not only would I be receiving the tax credit, but also, half the money would be paid to me in advance starting on July 15th. More accurately, the letter reads: “We are paying half your expected child tax credit in advance, so you can receive it this year.” I took special notice of the first word of this sentence as soon as I had read it. “We” are paying half…

Who’s “we”? The government, of course, is referring to itself; however, I can’t help but feel like the “we” is referring to the nation as a whole. This means that we are borrowing money from our future in order to give out money now.

I had a few more thoughts as I read this letter from the White House:

- I didn’t ask the government to pay me my own money back in advance.
- I don’t remember being asked to vote for this bill that got forced down my throat by politicians I didn’t vote for.
- I don’t like that the government is now in a place where it can just tell us what to wear, where we can/can’t go, and shut businesses down just because of a fear based rhetoric that has permeated our culture.

- Throwing money at a problem has RARELY Ever worked (look it up)

- It’s gotten to the point where they’re giving out money to people who don’t need it!

Maybe you can relate to some of the above thoughts. Maybe I sound like a conspiracy theorist. Either way, the nation in which we all live is facing a crisis like no other. College debt is in the trillions, there are people on street corners everywhere begging for money and, I’m noticing more “Help Wanted” signs than I’ve ever seen in my life, which is astonishing considering the fact that unemployment is reaching record levels.

The most terrifying thing to me is, since the COVID 19 pandemic began, I’ve noticed an increase in the influence that the federal government has on my life and the lives of others. I believe, now more than ever, people in our nation have become dependent on government to provide them with the means to live. The most unfortunate side-effect of this trend towards dependence, is not the cost to the taxpayers; it is the unwillingness of the middle and upper classes to reach out to those in need.

My family is not rich. We are middle-class, single income, debt free, and have a decent emergency fund in savings. Sound Biblical financial principles and God’s provision have allowed us to weather difficult times.

The stimulus checks have been nice at times, I won’t lie, but I would never say that we wouldn’t have been able to pay bills, or eat 3 square meals without them. Yet, there was no option that allowed us to decline the money from the government.

We need effective change; not the type of change that’s constructed by the federal government, the type of change that is born in churches and homes across the U.S. where people have a genuine desire to make a difference FINALLY.

I think that this nation was at its greatest when people helped other people and the government didn’t launch massive support programs that it can’t sustain in the long-term. President Grover Cleveland wisely said: “Though the people support the government; the government should not support the people”

THATS why I do everything I can in my church. Because COMMUNITY and love for one another, Christ-like love, is what can create real change.

Jordan Sterling
Kinston