Dear Editor,
A recent letter laments the lack of affordable single-family homes. I write not as an economist or politician, but as a pastor who cares deeply about this community. My family bought our house in 2018. However, today we couldn’t afford to move to Random Lake. Social media has criticized demolishing old houses to make way for costly rental condos. The developers call it “progress.” But for many young families, it’s a deterrent. The very people we want to attract to our community—to attend our schools and worship in our churches—cannot afford to move here.
We are told this is simply the “market at work.” Supply and demand. But the truth runs deeper. Our money itself is broken. Broken money leads to broken trust. It weakens the bond between effort and reward, labor and fruit, promise and fulfillment. And when that bond breaks, it becomes harder to build a household, a business, or even a future.
Scripture says, “Unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 20:10). An “abomination” is a “disgusting thing.” In Biblical times, a dishonest scale cheated the buyer or the seller. Today, our dishonest scales are hidden in how our money is created and managed. When new money is printed, added to a bank ledger, or borrowed into existence, the first to receive it benefits, while everyone else bears the cost later through higher prices.
The result is what we see today: inflated home prices, wages that lag behind, and a generation shut out of ownership. What once needed only one honest income now requires two—and yet families still struggle. We’ve accepted the lie that a 2% annual inflation rate is good, which means in 36 years, the value of money doubles. Why, when the natural state of the economy is deflation, not inflation?
The issue isn't just greedy billionaires or corrupt politicians. When governments and central banks manipulate credit and interest rates, they distort every signal in the economy. Money first flows to the powerful and the speculative, not to workers or those building actual homes. Land prices skyrocket; average wages stagnate. What was once a neighborhood turns into an “investment opportunity.” In a free market, homes would be considered utility goods, not investment properties, and their costs would decrease over time.
But this is more than just an economic issue. It is a moral one. Inflation and debt-backed money silently take from those who work, save, and hope for a better future. They punish savers and encourage speculation, pushing investors deeper into risk. “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender” (Prov. 22:7). In doing so, they damage the moral fabric of our society. Couples delay marriage because they can't afford a home. Parents hesitate to have children because they don't see how to provide for them. The dignity of work is diminished, and despair takes its place.
When the Bible condemns unequal weights and measures, it’s not only condemning fraud—it’s calling us back to justice, honesty, and neighborly love. A sound economy begins with sound money: money that cannot be manipulated for the benefit of a few at the expense of the many. Honest money protects the poor, rewards labor, and allows families to plan for the future without fear that the ground will shift beneath them.
Luxury condos are not the “problem.” And yes, we need homes where families can grow, neighbors can stay rooted, and faith and community can thrive. But that will never come from broken money or dishonest scales. No amount of government aid or social programs can replace what broken money destroys. These band-aids don’t solve anything; they only mask the deep corruption of our money.
The Bible’s teaching on honest measures goes beyond ancient coins—it emphasizes justice in transactions and trust within the community. When the medium of exchange itself is dishonest, every deal is compromised by hidden theft. Inflation isn’t merely an economic annoyance; it’s a moral failure, accepted because it’s gradual and complex.
The first step toward restoring family life and affordable housing is to restore integrity to the measure of value itself. Ending the reign of the central banks and their distortions is a good first step. But it’s time for a real currency that genuinely serves the people as a true store of the value of their work—one that is immutable, scarce, verifiable, portable, fungible, divisible, and durable. Only this will enable home prices and all other aspects of our economic life to become affordable once again.
In Christ’s service,
Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School, Random Lake