God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.  This week’s item is from World Magazine August 2000.  “‘The Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves’ was a statement in a survey by pollster George Barna, on American religious beliefs.  Seventy-five percent of Americans, including more than 40% of born again Christians agreed with the unbiblical statement which Mr. Barna said exposes American’s belief that God is merely our assistant, not our foundation.”

Tom:

Dave, this is an interesting survey, this statement on this survey.  It is to me, especially because I remember as somebody who was being witnessed to before I came to know the Lord.  I like to get into debates, even if I didn’t know what I was talking about.  When someone said—well the Bible says this, I figure I’m going to quote them Bible as well.  So the verse that I came up with was “God helps those who help themselves,” that was my Bible verse.  So they challenged me, they said wait, that’s not in the Bible.  I said, yes it is I know it’s in the Bible—I mean, I knew I heard it somewhere.  So I spent a long time, not looking in the Bible, just trying to figure out different ways that I could get to, you know, famous quotations of this guy and that guy.  Well, I did find it and I found it in Poor Richard’s Almanac.  This is the gospel in a sense according to Benjamin Franklin, but it’s not in the Bible.

Dave:

Well, it wouldn’t be in the Bible.  Let’s just analyze it for a moment, “God helps those who help themselves,” and as Barna says it sounds like He’s our helper, rather than our foundation— those who help themselves.  In other words, I have in mind some goal, and instead of just asking God to do it all for me, I’ve got to put out some energy.  Nothing about God’s will, nothing about what God may have in mind, but I’m running the show, and God is perfectly willing to come alongside and help me, but He just wants me to do a little of the work, too.  But in the final analysis, what I want is going to happen. That’s what this says.God helps those who help themselves.But God is so great beyond our comprehension.This is the God who created the universe out of nothing.Who always is, always has been isn’t even the way to say it.He always is and to think that I want my puny will to be blessed by Him?So Jesus hasn’t even begun to pray until you say not my will but thine be done.And that’s just the opposite of this saying.

Tom:

Dave this says 75% of Americans, and then it breaks it down to 40% of born again Christians, but this is kind of our American heritage.  I mentioned Benjamin Franklin, but we could also take Thomas Jefferson, many of our founding fathers were deists and they believe that God set it all like a clock, He wound it up and set it on its course, and now it’s our job to take care of everything.  So, God doesn’t get involved in our lives; we have to really do it ourselves.  Well, do you think this 75%-is this the flesh or a natural attitude, or is it part of our heritage?  We love—go into any book store—we love self-help books, and this is our bent.

Dave:

Well, let’s take the other side of the coin for a moment, Tom.  There is some truth, something worth while in it.  In other words, I shouldn’t be lazy. “God get me a job,” but I’m not going to go out and look for one. I’m not going to lift a finger to do anything.  I don’t think God is going to honor that either.  So, there is some common sense, wisdom in this.  On the other hand, it’s not what I’m trying to do. I should say, Lord, would you guide me?  First of all, what job do you want me to have? Where do you want me to work? Where do you want me to live? What do you want me to do?  Paul puts it like this in Colossians:1:29Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
See All...—he’s talking about God’s purpose, His plan and he says, “Whereunto I labor, striving according to His working which worketh in me mightily.”  Or you can go to Philippians 3, where he says, “Work out your own salvation.”  Now that’s not working for salvation, but the salvation that He has given us, now we’re to work it out in our lives.  “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good will.”  So there must be a cooperation between me and God.  I’m not just going to sit down in a chair and God is going to feed me, do everything, I  must be—well, you remember the servant of Abraham who went out to find a bride for Isaac, he said, “I being in the way the Lord led me.”  In other words, he started putting one foot in front of another and he headed out to where he was supposed to go, and then he trusted God.  

Tom:

It’s hard to guide somebody standing still, got to be a little movement here.

Dave:

Right, so there is some little wisdom in there, we’ll give Ben Franklin credit for that, but the whole purpose should be of our lives to know God’s will, to know Him and know His will, and then, Jesus said, “Follow me.”  He doesn’t mean he’s going to carry us upon a stretcher, we’re going to have to put some effort into it as well, but we want Him to be the leader, not our plan to be the one, but then He has to bless.

Tom:

Dave, this goes back to what we mentioned earlier in our first segment.  We are going to go through trials and tribulations, these are for our growth, for our development, for our encouragement to trust and lean upon Him.  Forty percent of born again Christians, how they can, you know, unless they didn’t really didn’t understand the question.

Dave:

See the point is Tom, as I recall the quotation [was] “the Bible teaches.”  Now it wasn’t that this was a good idea, you know, but this is what the Bible teaches.  Obviously, a lot of born again Christians do not know the Bible, because they never read that in there.