Good Advice, Good News

I have noticed there is all sorts of "good advice" going around in the current economic environment. Everyone seems to have something to say about how to survive or even prosper in these hard times. Well, everyone except me. My understanding of personal finances is pretty well limited to: 1) Don't spend what you don't have; and, 2) Consumer credit will eventually bite you in the backside.

Oh! Also, give all your receipts to Susan so that she can enter them into Quicken.

My guess is that the first two suggestions might actually help someone else, but the final one is probably only useful to me.

It has crossed my mind that there is a great deal of difference between "good advice" and "good news."

Back in the days when battles were definitively won or lost, if a general did win a great victory he would send news back to his nation telling what had happened. That news was pretty authoritative. It described a reality that existed.

If that same general lost the battle, he probably sent back some of his officers to give advice to his government about what to do next.From my perspective, advice from a losing general lacks a certain amount of credibility. His nation's leaders might have listened to him or, as a defeated general, they might have disregarded what he had to say.

Unfortunately, we often preach the message of Jesus as though it were good advice rather than good news. We tell our friends and neighbors if they follow these rules for living they will be better people, live longer and that all of their children will be "above average." Unfortunately, like much of the economic advice today, it is simply not true.

Good news tells us what has been done for us. It describes a reality. It tells us the victory has already been won... we just have to accept it.

If we follow good advice, it is because we feel like we should. If you are like me, doing what you should do can occasionally make you feel resentful. "Ah, mom! Do I have to?"

I think you get the idea.

Responding to good news is something different. We don't have to think about it. We just do it. We are not obligated. We are empowered.

Our current hard times should serve as a reminder to get back to giving the good news that changes lives. Let's leave the good advice to whoever took over from Ann, Abby and Heloise.