Capitalism. It is the ocean we swim in, whether we like it or not. The Darwinian business and economic model is so entrenched in the world system that it seems a Christian business is almost a contradiction in terms.
But God desires growth: His Kingdom come is not some naive wish-fulfilment but a real and concrete growth in righteousness in every area and relation. He takes the broken things in the world and redeems them to something beautiful, and scripture (especially places like Malachi) warns and threatens against immoral use of wealth and growing monopoly. The warning has an aim: that His people should TURN from those practises to something more in line with His Kingdom purposes, more in line with His character, more in line with imago Dei. To stop what they are doing, and generally to do the opposite.
I know that, in Morecambe as in a great many other places, hope is hard to come by when your highest legitimate aim is to join the ranks of the working poor. This might be why so many people live week to week on the pounds worth of hope that the lottery provides. It, along with other forms of gambling, offers the hope not just of a limited burst of pleasure, but a radical change of lifestyle. It is, of course, a false hope. Statistically you are more likely to be hit by a lightening bolt, and it doesn't take much research to unearth the sad tales of those who have won but not prospered by it. This limited achievable aspiration leads to many looking to less legitimate ways of raising their game: simply put, crime does pay, as anyone who knows a local drug-dealer can see. Money, cars and fresh clothes, if not lasting security.
Our God is the King of hope though, a lasting hope. One that starts as small as a mustard seed but grows continually until eternal life. The certainty of things unseen. So what hope can He bring to Morecambe, in real, measurable and practical ways, or indeed to any area of the world? Mercy ministry? Yes, sure. But that is not enough. In Proverbs it says "there is much profit in the fallow land of the poor, but injustice sweeps it away". We as Christians are not just to feed the hungry, but to bring about justice for the poor. The fact that this country even has a label for "the working poor" is a shame on us. Our government subsidises Big Business in the form of tax credits: ensuring that corporations don't need to worry about their workers starving, and maximising their profit margin through tax-payer support of their negligently poor wages.
Christians need to offer a realistic alternative to this. We have to see business as mission; wealth creation a purposeful blessing to be shared; profit for the community rather than from it.
This is something I am presently trying to get to grips with, as we need, as a house, as a 'project', for lack of a better word, some more structure within which our church family can grow. We need jobs for the jobless, purpose and vision and hope, encouraging entrepreneurship, growth and giving people more to aim for than yet another temporary, part-time, minimum wage, zero-hour or unlimited hour contract nonsense. People need security. They need a row to hoe of their own. God gave each family in OT Israel their own land: they were to work it, blessing him for the increase, sparing what they could for the poor. How can we do that as Christians, so we are not simply sharing the good news that Christ came to save sinners, but showing something of the new heaven and new earth that will be ours through the perfect life, agonising death, and glorious resurrection of the Son of God. How can we both pray and act towards bringing the Kingdom of God here, in part and shadowed as it may be, now?
I will let you know what I find. More on this again I suspect!
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