I recently came across the term K-shaped economy again. It became popular during the COVID pandemic, when economists noticed that people were emerging from the same economic crisis in very different ways.

Picture the letter K. One arm goes up. The other goes down. For some people, investments rise, homes appreciate, incomes increase, and opportunities expand. For others, wages struggle to keep up with inflation, housing becomes less affordable, debt increases, and simply paying for the necessities of life becomes harder. Same economy. Two very different experiences.

I started thinking about this because, like most people, I would certainly rather be on the upper arm of the K. Who wouldn’t? I have worked most of my life. I saved. I invested. I built a medical practice. I planned for retirement. I tried to be responsible with what God had given me. And now that I am retired, I still look at the markets. I still notice what my investments are doing. I still think about whether I have saved enough and what things will cost ten or twenty years from now.

There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think there is something biblical about planning wisely and being a good steward of what God provides. But there is also a danger. Somewhere along the way, being financially prepared can begin to feel a lot like being secure. They aren’t the same thing.

That thought brought me to a rather disturbing passage in Ezekiel. God was warning Judah that judgment was coming. The people had wealth. They had possessions. They had silver and gold. But Ezekiel describes a day when something remarkable would happen. They would throw it away.

They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD.
Ezekiel 7:19 (ESV)

I tried to picture that. People throwing silver into the streets. Things they had worked for. Things they had accumulated. Things that probably made them feel secure. Suddenly no one wanted them. The silver hadn’t changed. The gold hadn’t changed. What had changed was what they needed to be saved from. That is where this became personal for me.

For most of my adult life, I have been trained to solve problems. That is what physicians do. Something is wrong. We diagnose it. We figure out what can be done. We make a plan. I probably approached much of the rest of my life the same way. Work hard. Build the practice. Save. Invest. Plan ahead. Prepare for retirement. Try not to leave too much to chance. And much of that is simply responsible living. But eventually I encounter a problem that none of those things can solve. My own mortality.

There is no investment portfolio large enough to change that. No retirement account can buy another day when God says my days are finished. No house, no accomplishment, no professional title, no amount of money can reconcile me to God.

Jesus told a story about a man who discovered exactly that. He was extraordinarily successful. His land produced so much that he didn’t have enough room to store everything. So he decided to tear down his barns and build larger ones. Then he could finally relax. He told himself:

Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.
Luke 12:19 (ESV)

I can understand that man. In fact, I suspect most of us can. Work hard now so someday you can relax. Save enough so you won’t have to worry. Accumulate enough so the future will be secure. Isn’t that essentially the retirement plan most of us spend our lives pursuing?

But then Jesus gives us the next sentence.

But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you.”
Luke 12:20 (ESV)

His financial plan had succeeded. His life plan had failed. His barns were full. But he was not ready to meet God.

And that is what I find so sobering about the K-shaped economy. We spend enormous amounts of time wondering which arm we are on. Is my income rising? Are my investments growing? Is my house appreciating? Do I have enough? Will I have enough? And those questions matter. Especially for someone struggling to pay the rent or put food on the table, financial hardship is very real. Christianity should never trivialize that suffering.

But another reality eventually overtakes both arms of the K. The person moving upward dies. The person moving downward dies. The wealthy person dies. The poor person dies. The physician dies. The patient dies.

Eventually, the K becomes a straight line. Every one of us stands before God. And when that happens, something strange occurs. The things that once seemed to separate us become remarkably unimportant. My bank account will not matter. My house will not matter. My degrees will not matter. My medical practice will not matter. Even the things I am proudest of accomplishing will not answer the only question that matters then:

What will save my soul? Ezekiel’s people discovered that their silver and gold could not deliver them. The rich fool discovered that his barns could not deliver him. And someday I will discover the same thing about everything I have accumulated in this life. Fortunately, God has not left me without an answer. My security was never supposed to be in what I could accumulate. It is in what Christ has already done.

Jesus said:

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
John 11:25 (ESV)

That is a very different kind of security. The stock market cannot increase it. A recession cannot decrease it. Inflation cannot erode it. And death cannot take it away.

Perhaps that is the question the K-shaped economy ultimately raises for me. I certainly hope I have prepared wisely for the years I have left. But I need to ask myself something far more important. Have I prepared for the day when none of it matters anymore? Because someday everything I own will belong to someone else. Everything I have accomplished will become part of the past. And I will stand before God with nothing in my hands. Nothing, that is, except Christ. And He is enough.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #Kshapedeconomy #Ezekiel7:19

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