Christian economics

Acts 2:42 - 47: They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.


Widows and Orphans by Kathe Kollwitz


food distribution at The Church Under The Bridge in San Antonio


I'm not even going to pretend like I understand the American economic system. I remember trying to study it in high school, trying to simply wrap my head around what the stock market was and how it worked, and it just never clicked. I still don't get it, and that's a large reason that I've shyed away from many a political conversation these past few months because I'm smart enough to know that I don't know. I've listened to John McCain's proposed economic policy and though, "Okay, yeah, that sounds pretty good" and then I listen to Obama's economic policy that is saying something completely different and I think, "Wait...that sounds good too." I can't make up my mind about it because I don't understand economics enough to see through the political rhetoric on that issue.

So when that happens, I have to go back to the basics. I have to go back to what I DO know and start from there. And for me, the deepest, most secure knowledge in my life is the Bible and the whisper of the Holy Spirit in my heart.

One of the most common statements I've heard recently is opposition to tax reform that would play heavier taxes on the wealthy in order to benefit the poor, or "spreading the wealth" as I think Obama once referred to it. Middle-class people are strongly opposed to this idea because they don't want higher taxes getting taken from their paycheck going to support people who are too lazy to work. I think that concern is definitely legitimate and also Biblically sound, because Paul tells the church at Ephesus that "he who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands..." Sounds good so far, right? Except it doesn't stop there.

"...that he may have something to share with those in need."

Whoa! That changes everything, right? Not only is Paul telling the Church to share their wealth, but he's saying that giving to those in need is the reason we should be working in the first place. Not so we can buy a Bentley. Not so we can buy a huge house with rooms we never even use. Not so we can build up a fat retirement plan and spend our golden years doing nothing in Key West. To share with those in need.

So as much as our American history of capitalism and rampant individualism ("I can do whatever I want and no one has a right to tell me anything") tells us that we have every right to keep every cent we've ever earned, Jesus says differently. And if you're a Christian, you should already know where your first allegiance lies.

One of my favorite stories in the Gospels demonstrates Jesus' intense love for the poor and the broken:

Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." (Luke 14:12-14)

So what concerns me is when I hear Christians feverishly defending the hoards of money (yes, hoards - if you live and work in America at all, you have hoards of money compared to most of the world) that they have "earned." I put that in quotations because I think we are on seriously dangerous territory when Christian start talking about what they have earned. It absolutely tramples on the theology of grace, because if we truly understand that, if we understand that the only thing we have earned is eternal separation from a holy and just God because of our sin, then we're going to have trouble seeing anything in your life as ours and ours alone. We are going to start seeing ourselves as stewards instead of possessors, and stewards have the responsibility of seeing that their money gets their Master intends to go.

So what exactly am I saying politically? I don't know. I have zero faith in our government (and human nature) to live by the economics of Jesus. Apart from grace, we can do nothing. I guess what I'm saying is that no matter who gets elected, no matter what tax policy is in effect, our economic mindset should start with how we handle what is in our own wallets right this moment. And there's no better moment to start giving.