The foolish man bought an imported car...

I think it's fair to say that most of us, after Hurricane Katrina, would've been uncomfortable with someone using Jesus' words from Matthew 7:24-27 to chastise people for choosing to live in a flood-prone area. After all, the "rock" that Jesus describes is obedience to his teachings in the Sermon on the Mount; "sand" is disobedience. While it may be common sense to build your house in a safe location, doing so is not an injunction from Christ.

So what are we to think when the President compares our derivative-based economy to a house built upon sand, and calls on us to "build our house upon a rock" by saving more, consuming less, and exporting more? It may be a metaphor that makes sense to people, but it reminds me that making a metaphor out of Jesus' metaphor usually results in associating Jesus' authority with something he didn't say.