Price of Gasoline

A recent article on the internet caught my attention. The article was entitled why we should love $5.00 gasoline. With prices here in my community topping out at $4.19 I was intrigued and read the article. I did not know if they were serious or if it was written tongue in cheek, but here are the reasons we should love $5.00 gasoline.


Fewer people will die on the road.  The less you drive, the more likely you will survive. Perhaps this might be good thing. Of course they might get angry because they are cooped up in the house as well, so who knows where their anger might take them.

Demand for high-mileage cars may grow.  The key word here is "may." The idea is that as gas prices continue to climb people will want to purchase a car that is not as dependent on gasoline. Of course this whole idea is based upon a person’s ability to purchase an overpriced hybrid to begin with.  The new Chevy Volt cost about $46,000!  Of course there is a corollary to this as well.  With so many of us driving hybrids, there will be less need for gas stations and we will see more people out of work as the oil companies start laying people off.

Shorter security lines.  Airlines fares are extremely fuel-price reactive. Soon, hardly anyone will be able to afford to fly anywhere they want and you will be able to walk through the airport check out without any delays.  This one actually made me laugh.

Less pollution.  Less driving means cleaner air. I think there might be a conspiracy going on here so that we can protect the earth from those of us who like to pollute by driving our gas guzzlers.

Less congestion.  The road you will travel will have fewer vehicles to contend with. I am not sure how this one helps if the people are not able to afford to drive to work anymore.

High prices lead to lower prices. Here is the idea behind this concept. As prices escalate, the government will be forced to open up other areas for oil exploration, which will lead the oil companies to invest in reaching the harder to reach oil reserves. Eventually we will have so much oil on the market that it will drive down the price. Of course by then we will all be driving hybrids or using our horse drawn carriages and we will not need the suddenly lowered price of gasoline.

More exercise.  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that by 2020, three out of four Americans will be categorized as overweight or obese.  Great something else I have to look forward to.  Maybe I should drive to the gym and work out.  But I digress. With higher gas prices we will finally be forced to walk off some of that excess weight we gained because we kept going through the drive thru at McDonalds for a Carmel Frappe or through Starbucks for that White Mocha Chocolate. We might have to walk or ride our bike through the drive thru instead

End of wars.  According to National Defense Magazine, the cost of supplying our troops with gasoline is extremely high. Because of the higher prices we will eventually have to call all our troops home and we will no longer have to fund the three wars in which we are engaged. Of course those same troops will come home and not have a job or they will drive their cars, which will increase the traffic on our highways. Not to mention we will turn these countries over to militants who want to kill us. Since they will be the only ones able to purchase gasoline it will insure that they will fly more planes into our buildings. Okay, maybe I went a little overboard here.

Local businesses may profit.  If we can't afford to drive out to the Wal-Mart or The Home Depot, we may buy instead at the local supermarket or neighborhood hardware store. In addition, instead of buying produce from foreign countries we will be buying local produce. Of course that is assuming that the local farmers will be able to have produce since they will probably not be able to afford the gasoline that is needed to bring the produce to market.

It's all about democracy. If we let up on the gas pedal, we will starve those oil-rich dictators out of existence. That will show them!

I did not take much of this very serious as you can tell by my remarks. But it does cause me to wonder how $5.00 gasoline might affect the local church. Would attendance decrease because people want to conserve their gasoline? Would finances decrease because people no longer have the money needed to make charitable contributions? Would the church have to decrease its activities so that people could stay home and conserve gasoline? If money decreases in the church, would we have funds to help those in need of gasoline money?

One good thing I see about higher gas prices is that I could become more like Jesus: He walked everywhere?

What do people see?

     The other day I had an interesting visitor to my office.  I was sitting in my office working on a sermon for Sunday morning when a representative from another church dropped by to chat.  I did not know this individual or the church of which she was a representative.  She was from a nondenominational church closer in to Chicago and thought that they could offer assistance to our fellowship.  This church had been able to help many smaller churches to maintain a vibrant witness in their community.  They had been instrumental in helping 7 - 8 smaller churches by offering the pastor's teaching / preaching via webcast.

     The idea behind this ministry was to enable churches to keep their doors open even if they could not afford a pastor or their pastor was not a gifted communicator.  They offered their services free and they would even offer to let the church use their various materials for teaching children, youth and adults.  I appreciated the offer and especially thought the free idea was something missing in many larger churches today.  Too many of the larger churches charge for their services and I am not sure how Jesus would think about such things, but that is not the purpose of this post. 

     However, we did not need the services this church could offer and she left to look for another church that could be helped by their ministry.  However, the visit caused me to reflect upon the perception she had of Lynwood Baptist Church.  What caused her to believe that we needed help?  Lynwood is not what one would call a modern looking facility.  In many ways the facility is outdated when compared to modern facilities that people see every day.  What led this church to believe that Lynwood needed help? 

     I kick myself for not asking that question of my visitor, but perhaps she saw something that we might not see ourselves.  However, looks can be deceiving.  What one looks like from the outside might not reveal what is on the inside.  Lynwood is alive and well and God is moving in our midst.  People are coming to Christ and lives are being changed.  But those type of things cannot be determined by the outside appearances of a building.

     However, this visit made me look at things from another perspective.  What do people see when they look at my life?  Do they see someone alive and vibrant for the cause of Christ, or do they see someone that appears to be lifeless and void of any excitment?  You see I can read the Bible, I can memorize Scriptures, and I can even attend church services, but all of these things will not mean anything if I am not vividly living my Christian faith before a watching public.  People see what we do and what we say, not necessarily what we have in our heart.  What is inside should reveal itself by what we do, but you and I both know that is not always the case.

     Ask yourself the same question "what do people see when they look at me?"  Does your life reveal what is in your heart or does it reveal something else.  The Bible says that we will know who the true beleivers are by the fruit that they bear.  Fruit is seen on the outside, not the inside.  Think about  your life.  What do people see?