Bailouts and Amnesty!

Good Or Bad Idea?

Depending on your political persuasion, you’re probably upset—a little or a lot—over corporate bailout and amnesty programs.

If you lean to the left, listen to NPR, watch MSNBC, and think that Keith Olbermann makes some great points, corporate bailouts are just one more victory for the ruling elite in their relentless assault on the working class. It bothers you that somebody else has to pay for the sins of these corporate fat cats whose greed and lust for power drove Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into impoverishment.

If you lean to the right, listen to Rush Limbaugh, watch Fox News, and think that Bill O’Reilly makes some great points, amnesty for illegal aliens is just one more step toward socialistic irresponsibility. It bothers you that good, hardworking people have to pay for the sins of these outsiders whose desperate desire for a better life drives them to our land of promise.

Greatest Bailout Ever!

Before I get too energized over bailouts or amnesty, God’s Spirit reminds me of the greatest bailout and offer of amnesty in history.

Jesus Christ bailed out humanity by paying for the sin of the world on a cruel Roman Cross.

Jesus Christ offers amnesty to all who are enslaved by the power of darkness and invites them to freely enter His Kingdom of light.

Do you remember what it felt like to live bankrupt by your sin—hopelessly in debt to a God you could never repay? Do you remember what it felt like to be enslaved by the power of darkness—hopelessly powerless to break from the tyranny of sin and failure?

If so, do you remember the moment you believed in Jesus and He bailed you out and offered you amnesty?

Mercy and grace aren’t just words to pollinate the sentences of left-leaning and right-leaning Christian blogs. Mercy and grace explain us, and mercy and grace should describe us.

The lesson is simple: If it weren’t for bailouts and amnesty, we would be doomed.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).