There seems an overwhelming discussion in the news lately about a thing called “de-dollarization”. That is the reduction of dependency on the US dollar as the currency of exchange or the unit of account by a country. Canada, for example, uses the Canadian dollar in most transactions within the country. But we trade internationally with the US dollar amount. This is true with a host of nations from Africa to Asia who adopted the US dollar as the unit of exchange since twenty years after the Second World War. The selection of the US dollar was based on several pieces of legislation passed post-war that guaranteed the stability of the dollar and with the steady growth of the US economy that allows for nations to trust that the value of the dollar would hold steady over time. For political ends, countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) have talked about using some currency of exchange other than the US dollar (hence “de-dollarization”) for more than a decade, but in 2023 officially abandoned the idea because no single currency could be decided upon to be new standard of exchange, and everyone, including member countries of BRICS feared the economic upheaval this would bring. Until now. In the last few months, fueled by President Trump’s massive yo-yo swings in applying tariffs and the resulting volatility in the US economy, the conversation about de-dollarization has again taken on a new life. Nations threatened by tariffs have retaliated by similarly punishing tariffs, and manufacturing, trade, tourism, business and, of course, currency exchange have been turned inwards in efforts to insulate themselves from the instability introduced by the US. BRICS has revived the conversation, and the European Union has begun serious consideration of de-dollarization. China and Japan who hold large portions of US debt in the form of treasuries are thinking about divesting from them. Everyone is looking for an economic saviour capable of bringing some semblance of unity and thus peace through the economic storms that are brewing. No one wants to rely on a dollar they cannot trust to be stable. And no one wants to rely on a government they cannot trust to make good decisions.
As I think on these things, I am fascinated by what God has warned us about as precursors to the End of the Age. Not surprisingly, the “four horsemen” who ride out of the breaking of the first four seals (Revelation 6) describe the events with a strange accuracy. It begins with the arrival of a charismatic ruler on a white horse, then one who controls peace on the earth on a red horse, another who disrupts the world economy on a black horse, and finally one called Death on a pale horse that causes wars to break out across the globe. It is not surprising to witness the foreshadowing of the first four seals in the rapid succession of events in the last three months. Are we there yet? Has the Antichrist appeared? The question hangs ominously in the air. But I do think the answer is, “Not yet.” When the End Times are here, there will be no guessing. It will be as clear as neon signs in a darkened sky. I pulled out a US dollar bill I had in my possession to remind myself what it looked like. Emblazoned in bold letters on every denomination of the American dollar are the words, “IN GOD WE TRUST”. This is what we have to remind ourselves of. Leaders and presidents will come and go, tariffs and threats of de-dollarization may wax and wane, but God is the Ruler yet. We may not trust the leadership or the economy of the US, but we can trust in God. That is where our eyes need to cast – not on the foam of the raging seas but on the radiant face of the Most High God. And may declare with every unsettling event, “In God we trust.”
Just Church
At Just Church, we cast our eyes on Jesus, and it is our single purpose to worship Him and make Him known as the Day of His Return approaches. “The vision of Just Church is to establish a church in just the way Christ called the church to be – true to His Word, loving Him, loving one another, and loving the lost.”
