Christian Economics

These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.  – Zechariah 8:16-17

As we learned from Micah 6:8, the Lord really does not ask that much of us.  Tell the truth.  Don’t stir up trouble or go along with oppression.  Understand that everybody has a right to live, and that cheating, defrauding, taking unfair advantage, and being dishonest ends in conflict and ugliness.  It’s nice to know that God hates that sort of thing.  It takes the pressure off me. 

God is all for joy and peace and goodness.  He is all for us being happy and whole and prosperous.  Our efforts – as fallen souls, to achieve happiness will most often arise from selfishness and self-love.  I will ask myself what I want, what I need, and what will satisfy my cravings.  When you think about it, this is the foundation of all economic understanding and systems.  The free market person disagrees with the communist at the most fundamental level.  The Marxist answer to disparity, greed, envy, and jealousy is, ultimately, to reduce nearly everyone to the level of a gray-clad peasant. 

Jesus offers us a change of heart.  Christmas is often beautiful with its lights and gifts, but there is nothing like the elegance of a traditional Easter Sunday with the bright new clothes and colors and the celebration of new life.  By contrast, humanism, communism, socialism and fascism are studies in (what we now think of as) puritanical drudgery and misery.  There is no beauty like the beauty of holiness. 

I can’t change the world – for one, as they say, Jesus already changed it.  What I can do is live in His light, live His life here on earth.  A friend of mine used to say that if Jesus were present today, He would drive a Cadillac.  I think He’d drive a pickup because He’d be a hillbilly.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Him riding a KTM or a Yamaha.  Whatever He rode or drove, He’d be happy with it.  He’d enjoy it, but He would not be attached to it.  When He bought it, He’d make sure that both He and the person He bought it from could live with the deal.  Everybody’s got to make a little.  That’s how life works.  We let the other guy have his cut.  Everybody does OK, and everybody has the opportunity to hustle a little and do better. 

The way of the world -- call it consumerism, corporatism, or Madison Avenue-style marketing, often plays on the weaknesses of the old nature seeking pleasure, status, recognition, acceptance and approval.  A Christian should be able to step back from that view.  I don’t condemn those who engage in that approach because it is “sensible” from a purely human perspective.  But we have the mind of Christ and are no longer held in thrall to the world and its mindset. 

On the other hand, I see nothing inherently un-Christian in a true free market system, which results, generally, in mutually beneficial exchange.  There is always going to be a certain amount of human error, slack, lag, and inefficiency in any system.  A free market has the advantage of tradition, experience, and wisdom to make corrections.  No single individual or group – whether government or private, is able to exert an excessive amount of control.

We can’t do too much about stupidity in Washington, D.C., or even up in our state capitol.  We can, though, refuse to act out of fear or greed.  We can take care of our families and friends.  We can contribute and be productive.  We can be truthful, merciful, charitable, and content.

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me. … And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:12-13,19).