Tunnel Vision Economics...

Jesuit theologian John Haughey writes,

"We read the Gospel as if we have no money and we spend our money as if we know nothing of the gospel."

Recently I have been thinking quite a bit about economics. I know, as a pastor that is a task that is, in the words of Barak Obama, "way above my pay grade." But the more I read the Bible the more I see that it has some pretty counter-cultural teachings in the area of how money is used. My realization continued to be challenged by reading some books by Shane Claiborne, specifically Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President and it has been really stirred up by something I am reading now called The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics by Chad Meyer. What I am wondering is if we have become so used to our capitalistic economic system that we can't envision anything different. What if God's economic system (and our calling to live in His kingdom) is radically different than what we are used to and/or feel comfortable with? What if our "normal" is nothing more than a rut that we live in because we can't imagine something different. Meyer quotes economist Douglas Meeks (from his book God the Economist)

"Our theological imaginations have long been captive to the market-driven orthodoxies of modern capitalism."

Now I know one thing from my time being a pastor. Christians have no problem talking about God's direction and control over their lives. But people can get really angry when you begin to ask questions about how that plays out in their use of money. So here's two questions that keep rumbling around in my mind.

First, how do we read the OT passages about not charging interest or the jubilee practice of canceling debt as well as the NT focus in Acts 2 (and elsewhere) where the early church shared their possessions so that there "were no needy people among them" and apply those truths today?

Second, what if Christians began to practice what I like to call "the voluntary redistribution of wealth"? In the US election I heard over and over that we don't want a socialist government that redistributes wealth. I think that's fine. But why would Christians not redistribute on a one to one basis? Why would we continually seek to build bigger houses and buy huge plasma flat screens and new cars while others are homeless or starving? Doesn't following Jesus have something to say to that?

Wendell Berry challenges me about my fear of changing my own mental economic ruts when he writes,

The great obstacle is simply this: the conviction that we cannot change because we are dependent upon what is wrong. But that is the addict's excuse, and we know that it will not do.

This is something that I'm going to be thinking about for a while so if any of you want to comment please feel free to enlighten me...