No Earthly Treasure

I’m not doctrinaire about currencies. Societies will use whatever serves the purpose of a medium of exchange for them. Meanwhile, Scripture is rather agnostic about it simply because the fundamental orientation of the Bible is anti-materialism in the first place. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on the earth” (Matthew 6:19). Private property is not a sacred right in God’s eyes. It’s just a tool for eternal purposes. He wants us to respect what He has granted others, but not get too excited when fallen humanity at large, or fallen human governments, don’t pay any attention at all to Biblical Law. We can’t hold anyone accountable unless they have agreed to walk under a covenant with us.

So we don’t steal or defraud anyone inside or outside the covenant. We seek to make fair exchange at the market rate, whatever that is at any given time, and leave it in the hands of God. If someone rips us off, we have to know in our convictions what God wants us to do about it, if anything. If the government wants to rip us off, there’s not much we can do anyway. “Render unto Caesar,” but make sure you trust God for the things He says He controls in your life (Mark 12:17). It’s not defeatism to trust God to supply the things He says you need for serving Him (John 14:12-14).

We know what works. On the one hand, in terms of what best serves human need, precious metals are the way to go. However, I’m cynical enough to realize that no secular human government will long tolerate a system of exchange that it cannot control. Right now it’s really easy for governments to confiscate such things, and all too easy for others to simply steal them. So while fiat currencies are not good for the people, it’s what I would expect to find most usable in the current situation.

I also have no bone to pick with crypto-currencies, but I’m no particular fan of them, either. What matters here is that apparently TPTB have decided crypto-currencies are not good for us. They are building a narrative to justify making them illegal. They don’t hate it completely; the elite will use such things for themselves. They just don’t want you and I to have access to something they can’t control. I would never put it past any part of the US government to crack into private computer networks in a false flag operation that generates hysteria. Indeed, we’ve had powerful officials demand for the government the right to snoop on our computing devices at will.

The most useful thing you can do is invest in yourself. What you know how to do is the most valuable asset you can hold. That’s a biblical principle. The second most important way to invest is in physical property that you know how to use: tools, equipment, real property, etc. If you sense that God wants you to store up some value for His use, silver or gold is a good bet, but only if you have secure storage under your personal physical control.

For fiat currency, you’ll have to make up your own mind which institutions God wants you to trust. Physical cash will work, until it doesn’t. The US government is working to make it worthless. They will succeed eventually.

For crypto-currency, you really need to learn how to control your own e-wallet, and not trust any storage sites. There are software wallets you can run on devices, and they are only as secure as the device itself, and the password you use. Hardware e-wallets are simply smaller devices. I would never trust a web wallet. Even if it all becomes illegal, there’s a high probability you’ll still be able to use it.

Circumventing government controls for online activity has been too easy in the past, and given how poorly most government officials understand the virtual world, it will continue to be easy for those who have a will to learn the networking protocols. The Chinese government has a much higher level of competence, but they have barely constrained their own citizens who bothered to learn the technology. It’s been a game of whack-a-mole so far, with new circumvention tools being spawned even before fresh restrictions are put in place.

Most of this is a moving target for us, as well, in terms of keeping the lines of communication open to each other. We are entering a period of rapid and radical change, and we should learn not to be surprised by the unexpected events moves of evil people. On top of all this, we should expect our sun to release a micro-nova within thirty years or so, or something equally devastating. God can easily shape this event to suit Himself, but that His wrath is going to fall should simply be too obvious to heart-led people.

Anything that we might do to meet the future must be viewed through this lens. This is not a game of survival, but of glory. We need to make ready for an apocalypse that cannot be estimated in any useful way. All that matters is our testimony in the midst of it all. It’s our testimony that we can bank away in Heaven for eternity. Lay up treasures for yourselves in Heaven (Matthew 6:20-21).