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No great civilization has ever been built, or maintained, on that basis. That idea cannot demand, much less inspire, the necessary sacrifices to keep a civilization great, or even healthy. There's nothing to aspire to apart from fleeting self-satisfaction.

I respect the principled opposition to the rescue plan by some members. But the fate of the economy is hanging in the balance. If the American people can't look beyond the "me" and see the "we" with this much at stake, then much more than our retirement funds and our bank accounts are at risk.

The financial crisis was precipitated by the meltdown of the sub-prime mortgage market. Millions of Americans took out mortgages they could not afford to buy houses that in some cases they really didn't need.

But it's not just the sub-prime mess. The personal debt of Americans is at record levels, and everything from the war in Iraq to Katrina recovery is funded by borrowing. Both political parties are quick to promise specific "goodies," such as new entitlements or tax cuts or new roads, but they never say how they are going to pay for them.

The answer, of course, is that they haven't a clue, other than to borrow from foreigners and then stick our children and grandchildren with the bill for some future day.

So first, we put our own houses in order. Next, we demand that our political leaders stop behaving like Santa Claus, or shopaholics in an outlet mall. In fact, I am tempted to say that we ought to be voting for the candidates who promise us the least goodies and tell us the hard truth: that we have to start acting responsibly.

Once we get past this crisis, as we will, we are still a long way from getting our economic house in order. The problem is that we — politicians and those of us who demand they deliver the goods — have lost the political will to make the choices necessary to live within our means.

Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia has proposed the creation of a bipartisan blue-ribbon commission called SAFE: Securing America's Future Economy. The SAFE Commission would identify the things we can afford and the things we can't afford. It would examine entitlements in a way that politicians seeking re-election dare not.

As it is, the nation's economy is in for a rough ride. But we may also be in the midst of what is called a "teachable moment." We ought to take advantage of it and show the world that we have the civic courage to do what is right.

Charles Colson is a Christianity Today columnist and founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries. This article is adapted from a series of radio commentaries for PFM'sBreakPoint. Excerpted with permission of PFM.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Al Mohler also wrote "A Christian View of the Economic Crisis."

Christianity Today has special sections on the economic crisis and money & business.

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October (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 52