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The Christian & the Business World #2: Economic Systems

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You can’t talk about the modern business world and not touch on economies. So this is where we start:

Capitalism is our best economic system.

There. I begin the series with a bang.

Now in light of this, I want to concede that I’m one of those people who also believes that the Bible doesn’t endorse any one type of economy. Arguments can be made that every economic system can be found in the Bible, be it barter, socialism, capitalism, feudalism, or even communism (what else can describe the collectivization of Egypt under Joseph as he prepared for the famine?) People can make the Bible seem to support each style of economic system—and they’d all be right.

I believe there’s a reason for that and it’s rather heretical—at least in light of what many Evangelicals in America believe. I don’t think that God is all that interested in economics, regardless of what Crown Financial Ministries might say. He is always concerned with the righteousness of how we do business (Proverbs alone, for instance, reminds us numerous times that God is vehemently against fraudulent weights and measures), but the actual system that we conduct our business under is less focused. We need to deal humbly before the Lord in every business transaction we conduct and I think this, more than the type of economic system we labor in, pleases God.

Now I support capitalism because when it is conducted humbly before God it promotes excellence, pride in one’s work (a good thing in the life of the humble), and a desire to better oneself. Capitalism does tend to float all boats in time, too. It also is receptive to individual giftings and the leading of God. Capitalism allows for a P.T. Barnum, a Bill Gates, a John Muir, a Georgia O’Keefe, a Billy Graham, and a Dan Edelen to pursue their gifts, their intelligence, their cunning, and their divine leading by God. This is a good thing.

But no economic system functions justly in a fallen world. Scratch any idealism you have about any system you can envision. If it’s made up of corrupt people, no amount of polishing is going to make it gleam. Crooked capitalism leads to unjust social inequities within a culture that utilizes it. Sick socialism results in a culture of malaise that ceases to excel. Corrupt communism leads to mass graves and a devaluing of people. Flawed feudalism breeds belligerence and oppression. Anyone thinking otherwise is a dreamer—a dreamer soon caught in a nightmare.

Seeing that we primarily operate under capitalism in North America and much of the world, I’m going to focus on it throughout this series. It’s critical to understand how capitalism has forged the business world and led us to the place we are today. No one post will deconstruct capitalism (just Google what you want to know), but each one will assume that capitalism undergirds our economy and contributes positively and negatively to those in its system.

Previous post in the series: The Christian & the Business World #1: My Qualifications for the Series

Next post in the series: The Christian & the Business World #3: Subduing the Earth

The Christian & the Business World #1: My Qualifications for the Series

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Before I start a series on Christians and the business world, I think it’s fair to let you know what my qualifications to speak on this topic are:

Zero.

Well, that’s not exactly true. What I mean is that I don’t have any unusual background that would make me an authority on the subject. That said, I’ve worked in numerous industries and ministries over the years. My list of past work experience paints me as a jack-of-all-trades, but unlike the typical jack, I have a strong tendency to become expert in what I do. Such is my personality that I can’t stand not mastering what I attempt. What this has given me is a strong eye and a discerning mind; I see what other people don’t. That has served me well over the years, but has also been a source of friction from people who don’t understand.

Over the years, I have worked for large companies like Apple Computer, small start-ups like Synchrony Communications, and contracted work within NASA, Procter & Gamble, and others. I’ve worked in every level of Christian camping ministry, from lowly counselor up to camp manager. I’ve worked in Training, Sales, Marketing, IT, the housing industry, the Christian bookstore industry, and more. I’ve seen a lot of sides of a lot of disparate organizations. If I’d been smart (and this will be the topic of one post, certainly), I would’ve been the proud owner of three or more large Rolodexes filled with a wide assortment of business contacts from all my many wanderings. Notice the “would’ve been”—very important here.

Anyway, after a number of roles that called on my writing skills, I took the plunge and went into business for myself as a freelance writer. I write everything from tech manuals to marketing copy to fiction. Again with the Jack-of-all-trades thing, even within the writing biz.

It’s my hope that this series will utilize my skills as a “j-o-a-t” to their best advantage. But most of all, I hope you all are blessed by what I have to say, even if that blessing seems discouraging at first. I’ll be the first to admit that I think that the current state of business today is at complete odds with most of the Gospel, no matter what the Christian captains of industry say. Still, the intersection of godliness and good business may be small, but it is there. Staying within that overlap in the Venn diagram is far more difficult than Christians understand, but I hope we can figure it out together and see how we Christians can weather future storms in the economy and in work, bring our salt and light to the world of business.

Next post in the series: The Christian & the Business World #2: Economic Systems

Upcoming Series: The Christian & the Business World

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Want to give you all a heads up that as soon as my writing backlog eases in the next couple days, I will be starting a series looking at the business world and Christianity. Given that I’ve written much in the last couple years on the issue, I hope to explore some ideas more thoroughly in a specific business context.

Tim Challies suggested this and I want to thank him for prodding me. He wrote an excellent piece on Greg Stielstra’s pyromarketing techniques and I started to write an epic post addressing this from another angle, but it got lost in the pile. I’m planning on dusting that off and trimming it down. Plus, I want to look at the issue of why attending a Bible study at work is easy, but living out a Christian worldview in business is astonishingly difficult. There are a few more surprises, so I’m envisioning about a half dozen posts on this topic.

If you have any kind of horror stories about the intersection of business and the cross, drop me a line via my profile or leave a comment on this post. If you have questions or would like to see a particular topic in this area addressed, let me know.

Hang in there readers! I promise to be back soon enough with truly great stuff.

Next series post: The Christian & the Business World #1: My Qualifications for the Series