Using the analogy of baseball, I am remotely familiar with the regional major league baseball team.  I note with interest the salary increases and the difference between a weak hitter and a high dollar free agent.  Great hitters hit in the range from an average of  290 to 300 or up.  They bring many bidders for their services when their contacts expire.  The weaker hitters hit around  240 to 250. I realize that hitting for an average is not the only credential used in judging baseball players, however the numbers speak for themselves.  Hitters with the larger averages are now able to merit multi year contracts guaranteeing them multiple millions of dollars a year.  Below average hitters make usually around $500,000 a year.  Thus the difference between the hitters on pay scale is that the "better" hitters make around eight to ten times as much as the weaker hitters.
     To put the numbers in perspective, this means a hitter who makes ten times what the weaker player makes is actually getting around 4% to 5% more hits per year than his competition.  That is what the numbers say.  The same is true of pitchers in which a regional multi million dollar star has only won a few more wins than the lesser paid employee.
     To make a secular comparison think of a back hoe operator. If his fellow employee, who was a better operator at the end of the week dug a ditch only 5% further with his efforts and was rewarded with ten times the salary there would be a discussion with the company over this issue.  If a roofer was able to perform at the rate of laying 4% more shingles a week than his fellow laborer and received ten times the compensation there would be an interesting meeting taking place with the financial secretary.
     To continue with the baseball analogy, I have a church member whose grandson played triple A ball occasionally getting moved up to the "big show". I was surprised to hear about how low the pay was for triple A players and below.  It was not even thirty thousand dollars a year.  We now live in a culture that justifies huge salaries that continue to go up for the upper level of performance, yet offers little to those who are just below that production.  We tend to believe that those who are able to achieve such heights are adequately deserving of such reward.  It is supposed to trickle down to the rest of us.
     In 2004 the average salary for top CEOs was $11.8 million, 431 times that of the average worker.  In l980 it was 42 times more. In 2004 top executives got an average raise of 15%, while workers got 2.9%.  The president of Morgan Stanley quit after five weeks making $32 million.  Which amounts to over $26,000 an hour if he worked  eighty hour work weeks.   The CEOs of the struggling auto industry had an increase of up to 72% in salary from the year before. Les Leopold noted that the top ten richest Americans made roughly $35 million a week--over $90,000 an hour.  Much of their profits ended in the result of millions of Americans losing their jobs.  One man "earned" $1.9 million an hour or $32,000 a minute.
     While Alabama is cutting public school budgets because of the shortfall in the economy, University coach Nick Sabine works for a public education institute and brings in over $6 million annually. The coal mining company that lost 29 miners had a CEO given over $12 million in severance.  GM's CEO makes $8 million while assembly line workers were cut to more than half of their hourly wages to $14 an hour.
     Bernie Ebbers, whom I knew personally, "earned"  $475 million for his term as leader of his company.  Ken Lay got only $325 million for his services.  Ebbers and Lay both were tried for cheating the company. The new CEO of Crispy Kreme cut a deal to earn $760 an hour to keep him interested in the job.  The nation's top 400 tax payers reported an income of nearly $70 billion in 2003.  The accumulation of wealth in the nation seems to be taking place solely at the top of the pyramid and not trickling down to the lower tears of society.  In 1989 CEOs made 71 times the wages of the average worker.  Now that scale has climbed to 364 multiples.
     Not only have incomes increased, tax breaks have also been an added blessing to the more fortunate.  Enron paid no income taxes for 4 of its 5 years finding tax havens in distant places.  It was also eligible for $382 million in tax refunds from the Treasury Department.  States like Alabama have even defeated proposals to more equally share the tax burden with a higher per cent of income  from the poor going for taxes in the state.  This was overwhelming rejected by voters who favored granting benefits to those all ready flourishing.  One report shares that the top 1% in the nation own 34% of the entire wealth.  Princeton economist Uwe Reinhart was thus led to comment that "This isn't a middle-class country".
     Meanwhile the top CEOs earn 1,000 times the salary of an average worker.  Over the past 20 years the  income of the top %1 rose 157 percent.   From 1979 to 2001, the after-tax income of the top 1% of the U.S. households soared 139% while the income of the middle fifth rose only 17% and the income of the poorest fifth rose only 9%.  In 2002 American CEOs earned 262 times the average wage of the worker--up tenfold from 1970."    
     Corporate welfare makes welfare Cadillac queens insignificant by comparison.  Archer Daniels of Midland received a $3.2 billion grant in help one year while ship owners are offered outdated subsidies to the tune of $1.3 billion.  Food companies like McDonalds, Tysons and Pillsbury have received millions to advertise their products around the globe.  All at tax payer expense to the tune of $6.2 billion a year.  One estimate claimed that in a five year period corporate welfare cost the nation $338 billion.  Hedge Fund managers received an average of $1 billion each and paid an average  of 17% taxes.  The tax breaks just extended to the wealthiest in the nation are added to the fact that the top .1% tripled their income since the 1970s.   Warren Buffet, the multimillionaire, made popular his claim that he would give a million dollars to any CEO who pays more income taxes than his secretary.
     Wages have continued to be farmed out to third country bidders.  Immigration problems in the nation have caused union leaders to decry the cheap labor that has flooded the market place, much of it illegal.  Toy companies like Mattel spend 30 times more on advertising than they do to pay workers in China to make the product.   One of the most alarming illustrations is the price of products produced in El Salvador in comparison to what corporations charge U.S. consumers.  A Nike hockey jersey that retails in the U.S. for $140 cost a mere 29 cents to produce.  Meanwhile the head of Nike has amassed a personal fortune of over $5 billion. Bill Quigley writes that despite the fact that the American workforce is working harder and smarter than ever, they are sharing less and less in the benefits they are creating.  Farm workers who pick tomatoes for Burger King's sandwiches are paid the same rate they were paid 30 years ago.
     According to the Madison Capital Times, Wal-Mart packs its stores with Chinese-made goods and sells them at cut-rate prices to run mainstream stores out of business.  A practice that has caused many cities in the nation to zone Wal-Mart out of the community.  The Wal-Mart chain has the practice of hiring a large number of local employees and in over hiring part time help does not have to pay full time benefits.  A practice that according to a University of California Berkeley study stated that Wal-Mart employees cost California tax payers over $86 million a year in public relief programs for their employees without benefits.  Recently Jerry Falwell published a Black writer's  viewpoint that raising the minimum wage would only harm the economy.
     Editor Frosty Troy claims that 82 of the top 275 companies paid no federal income taxes from 2001-2003.  Not only did these organizations get tax breaks, they were due rebate checks from the U.S. Treasury of over $12.6 billion.  Profit margins for Exxon were the largest ever by a corporation recorded in history.  Of  worthy note is the fact that the federal government still gives grants to Exxon to do business.  It appears modern politicians are much more interested in going after families who are ripping off the local state welfare coffins much more readily than going after any of these corporations.  Mark Hanna was the fund raiser who got William McKinley elected President.  He said, "There are two important things in politics.  One is money, I can't remember the other one."
     Where did all this come from?  How did we reach the point where we began to believe that the chosen few were much more deserving than the ones who labored below them?  In the Old Testament  the trends in the nation were birthed in the principles advocated by the religious leaders.  When I was younger the disclosure of the enormous wealth of Oral Roberts and family was a public scandal.  Such vast fortunes no longer raise concern, even in the Christian community.  Most mega churches hide budgets and allow little participation in the process of salaries.  These compensations are often seen as one of the  perks for being a good CEO.  
     Robert Wuehnow in his book, THE RESTRUCTUING OF AMERICAN RELIGION, claims that earlier in the movement Jim Bakker, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Rex Humbard, and Jimmy Swaggart raked in over $194 million a year for their budgets.  Much of these receipts went toward keeping the programs on the air.  This is no longer the case.
     Rev. Ike used to tell his listeners  if they thought money was evil they should send it to him because he didn't.  He said it was the Biblical idea that the "lack," not the "love" of  money was the root of all evil and money could solve their problems.  He reminded his group that you'd be surprised at how well you could praise God in the back seat of a Rolls Royce!  
     Trinity Broadcast Network leaders Jan and Paul Crouch purchased a $5 million home  in California primarily because of the need the dogs had for a larger yard.  The Lakewood church in Houston, run typically by one family, takes in over $54 million a year in revenues.  Its pastor lives in a $2.3 million home. It projects its revenues to increase to $77 million.  Lady TV preacher Joyce Meyer  is seeking to catch up with Lakewood church.  Her home and furnishing certainly surpasses the Lakewood version.  Joyce employees her own hairdresser and her home is furnished with lavish collectables.  Her family all receives nice expensive cars to go along with a $10 million jet Joyce keeps to travel to share her prosperity gospel stories.  Reports claim that TBN, which frequently pleads for more sacrificial giving from its faithful, has assets of over $538 million.
     The apparent application is that the larger the church the less it gives to others.  Most churches in Baptist life enjoyed the image of giving around a tenth of their income away for mission projects.  An Arkansas version was recently highlighted because its pastor was nominated to serve as President of the Southern Baptist convention.  His church gave away only a small portion of one per cent to the mission causes in the convention.  The recent president of the SBC was pastor of a church which took in over $29 million and gave away just over %1 to missions.
     Inplainsite claims the Crouch's own several homes and ranches across the land.  Meyer has a $23,000 antique commode in her palace. Pat Robertson lives on the top of a Virginia mountain. Benny Hinn the faith healer generates by estimates a billion dollars a year in his endeavors. The frequently divorced Robert Tilton, at one time took in over $80 million a year.
     I recall an interesting story about Tilton, who is still active soliciting funds.  Robert was caught hosting a mail drop in Tulsa that collected the gifts in contrast to the story he prayed personally over each offer.  A family heirloom was found in the form of an antique quilt. The quilt was bought at an auction and the note to Tilton discovered.  The one who purchased the quilt offered to give it back to the donor who promptly declined.  The giver said if it was returned she would give it back to Tilton.  Such is the image of the way we view wages in our society.  They deserve it at the top.
     Amos the prophet dealt with the problem of a vanishing middle class among God's people.  Lou Dobbs the journalist claims a similar thing is taking place in our own society.  Amos said  his listeners literally swallowed up the needy.  The poor could be purchased for a pair of shoes.  The prophets of Israel always demanded that the people of faith demand that a fair and just wage be granted to those who did the job.
     In contrast to Amos, business men, according to R. J. Rushdoony's son, abandoned Barry Goldwater and  sought out R. J. to do their bidding.  Rushdoony and followers advocated a society with no government economic regulations.  Even public schools were forbidden.  The street talk among these types was that since FDR through to LBJ, government programs infringed on the rights of the people to seek their fortune, free from government regulations.  Fixing prices for minimum wages was socialistic and not Christian according to these folks.  Their think tanks are raising up a generation of believers to adhere to their theories.  It appears to be working.