I love R C Sproul. I respect him for his diligence, learning and commitment over many long years. He is a keystone in modern Reformed Theology, and whilst I don't subscribe to everything he says I still go to him as a reliable resource when I have questions. That is why it was so disappointing to read his small book on the church and the state.
I have been wrestling through the issues surrounding the modern divided economy, the gross inequality in our present, twisted version of capitalism, and trying to approach the starting of a new business that is equitable, communal and Christ-like, as much as a business can be. It has also been election time in the UK. Whilst I have always voted as a matter of principle (except when I have been too busy, or simply forgot!) I have become ever more disgusted and detached from the electoral process and the hobbling, crippled political elite it seems to support and enable.
So I went to RC to get a perspective on how I am to act in light of scripture as a citizen of the society I am 'passing through' on the way to my homeland, the Kingdom of God.
Now I have already 'Logos'-ed the heck out of the topic, seeing what scripture says first hand and looking thoroughly at the history of the Church, protestant, Western, Eastern and African, to see what we have done in the past, the good bad and ugly of it. I may get round to writing something about this at another date. For now though I just want to chew over what Sproul said on this complex and essential topic.
Sproul starts off with some excellent ground work, outlining important concepts about not confusing geographical nationhood with Christianity: we have a greater loyalty to Christ's Kingdom, and no other temporal earthly kingdom can truly hold itself up as the shining, spotless paradigm of virtue that His coming Kingdom will truly be. America, more than any other country in the last 70 odd years, has confused this line in dangerous, and provoking ways more than any other, placing itself as "the city on the hill" and "the light of the nations" in several presidential posturings.
This was all good to hear. He did not, however, seem to take his own advice about confusing national ideology with Christian thought. Not only does he suggest that anything vauguly socialist, such as the re-distributioon of wealth (which he lables as theft) should be excluded from the political sphere, but, of all the many problems facing the world system and America as the leading representative of this, suggests that abortion (a truly horrific problem of mass genocide of the unborn for primarily economic reseons) and high taxation of the rich are on the same level of centrality and importance.
I was flabergasted. Being British I guess I don't understand how conflated modern, neo-classical economic thinking has been conflated with republican voting and therefore Christianity.
Why not address the system of soft-money donations that ammount to the same as legal bribery? Or the state socialism for the rich that gives food stamps to the working poor, thereby sponsoring low wages and high profits for global mega-conglomerate corporations? Or the unjust scales used in the punishment of crimes, such as black drug related crimes as compared with corporate larceny that can ruin the lives of thousands? or the lack of oversight of the financial sector, that sees a market ethic (that is to say a Darwinian cronyism) penetrating all walks of life? Or the state support of transatlantic and international trade agreements that put corporations (a-moral 'people' in their own legal right) above sovreign nations? or the growth of monopolies (something God hates- see Malachi)? Or any or the issues which face our modern, failing system? Corruption? national and personal debt? The waging of wars against foreign powers against the will of the electorate for the protection of individual and corporate wealth?
No. Apparently it is taking some of the ridiculously huge profits made (largely but not exclusively) through the perpetuation of these same things and putting it back into the hands of the same people who have been robbed, oppressed and discriminated against, institutionally, under both the Republican and Democratic party's watches.
Is Christianity in America still so hung up on Communism, and so desperate to conserve the (largely illusiory) golden past as a quasi-Christian (actually Deist/pagan) nation that it is blind to it's own iniquities?
If so it could be that they will miss what God is trying to show them, and miss the repentance He is calling all Western power to. We have had wealth and power and we have used it predominantly to preserve our own place in the sun. Now we are suffering the heat stroke, sun burn, skin cancer that is the consequence of our immoral use of the trust God gave us.
So R.C. I hope you bring out a ammended version that tackles all the above issues.
Showing posts with label big business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label big business. Show all posts
Monday, 15 June 2015
Thursday, 26 March 2015
Roots and Shoots in growing the Kingdom of God
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!
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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