I've begun reading The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium, by Walter Wink. He makes a statement about the nature of American business and contrasts it with a biblical understanding of business. I've got to tell you--a Christian philosophy of business is absolutely revolutionary. Here's what he says:
"It has become stylish to develop mission statements for institutions. But a sense of mission implies a sender, just as a vocation ("calling") implies one who calls. The biblical understanding is that no institution sexists as an end in itself, but only to serve the common good. The principalities and powers themselves are created in and through and for Christ, according to Colossians 1:16, which means that they exist only on behalf of the humanizing purposes of God revealed by Jesus. . .
Many business and corporation executives ignore God's humanizing purposes, and speak of profit as the "bottom line." But this is a capitalist heresy. According to the eighteenth-century philosopher of capitalism, Adam Smith, businesses exist to serve the general welfare. Profit is the means, not the end. It is the reward a business receives for serving the general welfare. When a business fails to serve the general welfare, Smith insisted, it forfeits its right to exist. It is part of the church's task to remind corporations and businesses that profit is not the "bottom line," that as creatures of God they have as their divine vocation the achievement of well-being (Eph. 3:10). They do not exist for themselves. They were bought with a price (Col. 1:20). They belong to God who ordains sufficiency for all."
Can you picture the reaction if that were suggested at the next board meeting of IBM or CAT or you fill in the blank? Do you see how counter-cultural an authentic Christianity truly is? I can only wonder what our country would look like if the "general welfare" of the citizens and those outside our borders was the bottom line for businesses and corporations throughout America.
Stand up and suggest the above philosophy at the next business strategy meeting and you'd be a prophet without profit; you'd be fired.
6 comments:
Yet when you have this conversation with someone today you're considered a "socialist" in our society...
We've come to a point where if you don't accept profit as the bottom line you're considered some type of traitor.
All you ever hear in our modern business world is "laissez-faire" from Smith. It's fine if big business exploits the poor as long as it keeps our economy chugging along.
Seth, I appreciate your thoughts. I feel that tension "in the conversation" and consequently avoid them. To embrace these ideas is to, indeed, come off as "socialist" or "unpatriotic." Unfortunately, (in my opinion) the church-at-large typically embraces and endorses the "profit" motif and sanctions much of the business culture's ideology. Consequently, we are not revolutionary at all, but merely perpetuate the status quo.
Steve, there's a book I just finished that you may enjoy. It's called "Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire" and in it the author lays out a pretty solid model for Christ-like economics. It does not involve exploiting southeast Asian children.
As frustrating as it is to see mainstream evangelical Christianity embrace capitalism as "the other gospel," and as overwhelmingly huge as the global (often exploitative) economy seems, I really believe that creating real, systemic economic change is possible if enough people are willing to commit to it.
Just to clarify...
I'm not really talking about using the government to effect this change, although government channels can be useful for fighting blatant abuses (such as child labor).
Through changing our consumption habits and investing our time and money in our communities, I think we can raise the quality of life and economic independence of the entire community. An economic/business philosophy that seeks to benefit all parties involved in any transaction (from producer to middleman to end user) is an attainable goal, at least on a small scale.
Enough small-scale changes can equal a large scale change, though:)
Zach, I confess I often look at matters through the lens of faith contaminated with cynicism. I appreciate your perspective in providing a realistic optimism.
Guys like James Dobson and Chuck Colsen talk about "culture wars" in America...basically fighting against evolution, abortion, gay marriage, and R-rated movies. They hold substantial social and political influence.
What if Christians redefined the so-called "culture war" and turned against the American Dream instead? If we abandoned the middle class lifestyle and adopted an incarnational ministry toward the poor, the oppressed, and the disenfranchised? The full force of the church in America could easily cause major (positive) changes in our economic system without ever involving the government, I think.
Of course, that will never happen all at once. But very small movements can catch on and turn into big movements. Especially when it's a movement to create more justice, which is something that I think God would get behind:)
That's why I'm optimistic.
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