Oak Hill Baptist Church © 2008-2009

Bubbles are interesting, fun. Kids enjoy them immensely. Give a five-year-old a bottle with a wand or two and watch him smile. Give him a tub of bubbles to bathe in, and his whole body wiggles with pleasure. Yet bubbles are such flimsy things, usually little more than a thin film of soap filled with air. They weigh next to nothing and can float on the breeze. Strange how something so small can catch a child’s fancy.

 

The word “bubble” has made its way into our vocabulary in connection with far more serious subjects. The experts tell us our current economic downturn is due largely to a burst mortgage “bubble.” People in the banking industry gave loans to people for houses they could not afford. The loans were given on the assumption of a never-ending upward spiral of housing costs. Don’t worry about a balloon payment in five years, just sell your house for a profit and use the money gained as a down payment on the next house.

 

Housing values soared. People bought bigger or fancier houses than they needed. All they had to pay was the monthly interest and wait for the price to go up. But like all bubbles, the ever-increasing cost of a house stopped. People discovered their dreams to be decidedly “bubblish,” based on something very unsubstantial, even a delusion. The value of their home actually went down, and they were left with a debt they could not repay, passing it on to bankers who passed it on to investors, including at least one very big insurance company.

 

I can recall a variety of bubbles. When I was young, baseball cards were for trading and for making noise on the back wheel of a bike. In the 80s and 90s they became treasures. Collectors made a living selling them. Almost any mall had a “show” at least once a year when hundreds of people bought and sold, usually with much anxiety and money. Adults called up Mom to see if she still had their collection stored away in the attic somewhere. They hoped for riches through Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Ted Williams. The bubble burst, as all bubbles do, and someone is now holding a lot of cardboard.

 

Perhaps I am being a bit judgmental but bubbles seem to be based on greed. Now there is nothing wrong with owning a house or framing the card of a favorite sports star. These are the bits and pieces of life in America. But somewhere along the line recklessness and speculation take over. “Surely someone will someday pay me a kazillion dollars for this little bit of nothing,” people think, “especially if I keep it in its original box.” It is this willingness to sell to a sucker that gets us in trouble. We buy a bubble hoping it will stay inflated just long enough to unload on someone else at a profit. Then “pop!”

 

I suppose there is a measure of excitement in the bubble trade. Wagering your future on next to nothing could very well get your heart racing. Yet it seems as if our Lord has more substantial pursuits for us. Eternal life, Christian character, God’s name, Christian brothers and sisters, children in need of discipling, and unsaved neighbors may be just a tad more valuable. You know the “no servant can serve two masters” stuff. Bubbles should not tempt adult Christians.

 

Everyone is predicting a weak economy for the coming year, higher unemployment and lower stock values. Apparently a lot of people were active in the bubble trade, even congressmen and senators. The year looks good for more serious pursuits though. So if you are sad about bubbles, now is a good time to invest in real futures.