INHERITING UNBEARABLE DEBT
Following every war fought by the United States up to and including World War II, national wartime debt was quickly reversed by a united leadership and populace. For example, during WWII, publicly held debt was around 105% of the gross domestic product (GDP), but the White House and Congress worked together to quickly shrink it to 23%. But today the political mood is primarily to increase spending and think about reducing debt at some later time (if at all). According to Forbes, the current debt is already at WWII levels, and this is expected to grow to 115% of GDP in the next ten years…and to 180% in the next thirty years. Our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will inherit crushing financial burdens if older generations don’t unify to send a message of drastic change to lawmakers at every level.

INHERITING UNBEARABLE LAW
When Jewish Christians came to Antioch, where Paul was, and began teaching that believers needed to be circumcised and follow Old Testament law and traditions, the resulting debate culminated in a council in Jerusalem. Paul was unwilling to put Jewish legal, dietary, and sacrificial requirements on Gentile believers, as if Christianity consisted of those things as much or more than faith in Jesus. But Jewish believers wanted to continue following their religious traditions while worshiping Jesus as Lord. After much debate, the council finally sided with Paul, refusing to make Gentile believers inherit a burden that even the Jews could not bear.

Questions

• What factors may have contributed to the current high national debt?
• When have you seen older and younger believers finding common ground in the church?
• How can traditions that were well-intentioned later become burdensome?