Faith vs Common Sense

A huge part of being a Christian, well actually the primary part of being a Christian is "faith".  According to Paul, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  In respect to our salvation, this is purely done on Faith.  We trust and believe that we are saved or redeemed from certain alienation from God for eternity by the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross.  We trust and believe in this by the grace of God's Holy Spirit imparting it into our hearts, and accepting it as truth or gospel.

With that I would like to get to the meat of what I'm talking about today.  This weekend I received a letter and "cashiers check" from a reputable company, supposedly.  The problem is that it wasn't actually from the company.  It's a scam, to get me to wire money to them, thus living me in severe financial straights when this check comes back fraudulent in about 30 days.  Now, I could " by faith" have moved forward, since I could definitely use money right now, but God gave us something else...common sense.  Too often we Christians get messed up with faith vs common sense.

Quite often common sense will get in the way of faith, this is a fact!  The steps that God often asks us to take many times go against every ounce of common sense we could factor.  However, we have to adhere to one truth, God never goes against His own word.  We are told that we are to compare everything to the scriptures to see if they align with it.  If not, it's not from Him.  Remember, Satan is very subtle, he will appear as an angel of light to fool us.  So with that here are a few tips that I would like to pass along to help you make an informed decision in regards to these letters.

1. Look at the envelope.  Does it have a return address?  Does it have a postage meter mark or a stamp?  No reputable company these days send anything out to anyone without a return address, and they also never, ever use "stamps".  For tax purposes, and account expenditure tracking, as well as saving on labor usage, they use a postage meter.
2. The letter - Even if it looks like an official letter, take the time to look it up online. Go to a library if you need to.  Use Google, find the official company site.  Now, more than likely the address on the letter will match the address on the internet, however there is usually a phone number on the letter.  It WILL NOT match any number on the site.  This screams SCAM.  If the company site states they are open Mon - Fri 8 - 5, and you call on a Saturday and someone answers the phone, even if they answer with the company name....  It's a SCAM.
3. Now, lets get down to some real common sense here.  Even if you don't have any of the other information available, think about this.  What company would send thousands of dollars to an individual expecting them to "wire" the money back to them, without any type of written or oral contract stating that you WILL return the money.  What is to keep the person from cashing the check and running with them money?  If they tried to prosecute, you would only have to say they "gave" me the money.  The burden of proof is on the company.  They sent a check to you, so who's to say they didn't just give it to you.  What company would do this?  No business is that trusting of the general public at large.  

This is a case where common sense is plain and simple.  Nothing in the Bible directs you to do something like this.  God would never send money to anyone in this fashion.  It's not how He works.  When money comes from him it is clean, clear and without any questions attached.

If you receive one of these letters, do the right thing, contact the company and let them know.  Not the number on the letter, but the one on their official site.  If these people start to see that they will spend time in prison for these acts, perhaps we can get them to slow it down.  I don't think it will ever stop, any more than any other crime has been completely stopped by the threat of jail time, but perhaps a few will back off.

We need to do what we can to protect our Christian brothers and sisters as well.  Many of the targets of these scams are older people who aren't savvy when it comes to this stuff.  Let's keep an eye out for each other and use the gifts that God has given us when appropriate.  This the Holy Spirit will direct.

Father,

As we go through our day to day lives, we know that we will run into strife and stresses.  We ask that You give us the wisdom to know what is from You and what is from the enemy.  Help us to be a vanguard to protect those who are not in the know.  Let us be Your servant in this, and not be afraid to put ourselves out and do what is right.  Let us not look at the time and energy it may cost us to do the right thing, but to obediently do what You have lead us to do.

In Jesus name,

Amen