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Just curious how many here are Christian and whether these beliefs play into wanting to be completely self sufficient due to biblical beliefs.
of course as a Christian you will not be here during the tribulation but unsaved family members and friends will
Nothing to do with The Tribulation (although I suspect it is coming within the next few, or few dozen, years), but I work to prepare my family, to deal with disasters, because I believe God intends us to work towards self sufficiency. And I strive towards self sufficiency for myself, for the same reason.
I think your phrasing "completely self sufficient" is a misunderstanding of the course we pursue.
I find the premise of the question misleading. Christianity is far more than just the end times, it is also about being a more responsible person accepting responsibility for providing for your family, honoring your parents, being part of your church community and sharing/helping them in need.
The jubilation will take care of itself, but God helps those that help themselves.
The foundational beliefs of Christianity do blend well with the self sufficient lifestyle, but being Christian isn't necessarily the motivating factor to start being self reliant, but it can help guide you in how you prep as part of a strategy to help friends and family in any crisis.
I am not a Christian. Looking around, I can see sufficient natural reason to be prepared for emergency situations. My main concern is natural disasters, such as weather events, regional fires, earthquakes and tsunamis.
I can see that these events actually happen, when they happen they have a significant impact on large regions, and being prepared so that one can survive in some comfort for a few weeks is a good thing.
That scenario is the most likely natural disaster we may or may not see in our lifetimes.
Does my being a Christian affect the action I take with the possibility of tens of millions of refugees flooding my area?.
No, it does not. But rather, my God-given common sense and critical thinking skills tell me to avoid moving near a coastline or ANY major city in the U.S.
While I do believe in the Bible, one must understand Biblical prophecy is loaded with symbolism. Asking John in the book of Revelation to describe the U.S. in 2017 is a major language barrier; as the Latin word for even an automobile did not exist 2,000 years ago.
I'm not voting in this pole as I'm a Christian but spend 0 time thinking about end times. If God wants to wrap things up and call in final judgement, there's nothing any of us can do.
The failings of man, not God, is what causes people to prepare. Most Americans have not lived through a total war effort. No Americans have lived through a currency crisis. All Americans have been benefitting (whether they agree or not is another issue) from the 40 year bond market rally. If SHTF most of our neighbors will be woefully unprepared and the systems we've grown to depend on failing may bring extreme hardship to an area.
The Bible does have a scripture about a man with wives that distinguishes between the smart ones who brought extra oil and those that did not. I am not a theologian, but the thought is that you should not waste all of your God given talent and time on yourself, but rather prepare and make a habit of setting some aside for God.
If anything scripture is perhaps bearish on prepping. The Israelites that collected more than the manna they needed for the day saw their collections spoil. Scripture warns that it is very difficult (a camel passing through the eye of a needle) for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Repeatedly, we are called upon to give up our earthly possessions and follow God, putting our trust in God. Working hard to collect possessions and forgetting that all of this comes from God is a great dishonor to God. We are like guests at his house, he has served cake and someone grabs the cake and then decides who gets to eat and who doesn't and for a fee. Passing judgement is something also reserved for God. In the event the SHTF, it would be a difficult position for someone with a horde of resources to be in from a Christian perspective.
The Bible is also full of stories of plague and famine. The story of Joseph with the Egyptians, 7 years of plenty to be followed by 7 years of famine etc.
Or the story of the prodigal son that wasted everything on wine, women and song.
There are lots of cautionary tale in the Bible that show the morality and good sense of prudently providing for your own security and stability to offset the times of trouble.
You have to determine for yourself what is prudent and what is greed. The Bible just provides parables giving examples through stories. It doesn't give hard and fast rules, "Thou shalt have 200 cases of MREs stored for lean times" for example.
Wow. I had totally missed the poll. The poll presents a false choice, as the correct answer could easily be, and in my opinion, should be, different from either choice.
C: I am Christian and my beliefs of the End Times have little to do with wanting self sufficiency.
There are means for a Christian to gauge when God will allow life to change on this planet as we know it:
The moral or immoral behavior of us as a society, and particularly of the leaders of said societies.
While some may consider Sodom and Gomorrah mere Old Testament fairy tales, there are some very real warnings contained in the message.
70% of US residents claim to be Christian, yet maybe 10% actually act and live according to the Bible.
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