The Law of God and Public Policy: The Economy (1)

Is there an alternative to an economics of wealth?

“You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land the LORD your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 16.19, 20

The business of life in our modern/postmodern world has become the business of economics. Government, education, work, relationships, personal decision-making – all are guided, above all else, by considerations of economic wellbeing: How can I maximize my personal prosperity?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary “economics” is “The science relating to the production and distribution of material wealth.” “Material wealth” is the driving force of the American economy, and tends, therefore, to be the driving force for most other aspects of life as well. But there are dangers here. Material wealth can be an unstable pillar on which to build one’s personal happiness. Even more, the quest for material wealth can divide societies, corrupt politics, justify all manner of questionable enterprises, and distract people from more important considerations related to human flourishing.

The Law of God establishes as different standard and objective for the economics of a nation. The Law of God introduces a “divine economy” which holds more promise for human flourishing than the mere pursuit of material wealth. The word, “economics,” derives from a Greek term which means, simply, “the management of a household.” Questions of economics, therefore, are directed at discovering the best ways of helping people live together in society. The pursuit of material wealth, while it has become the default mindset of the American economy, is by no means the only possible standard and objective a society might embrace.

The Law of God commands that the affairs of a people be governed, not by the accumulation of wealth, but by the practice of justice. As we have seen, justice describes a state of affairs among people in community which reflects the character of God and is defined by neighbor love at the human level. The Law of God sets forth a program for pursuing an economics of justice, rather than an economics of material wealth. We scarcely know even how to begin thinking in such terms.

The Lord Jesus Christ came to enable people to realize the economics of justice set forth in the Law of God: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations…He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law” (Is. 41.1, 4). In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus announced that He had come in order to bring to the world the “year of the Lord’s favor,” (Lk. 4.17-21), a code word indicating the arrival of the Kingdom of righteousness (justice), peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Christian’s mission is to seek this Kingdom and to pray earnestly for its realization on earth as in heaven (Matt. 6.33, 10). The Gospel of the Kingdom is the entry point for taking up the work of the divine economy, an economy devoted to justice more than to material wealth. And, while Christians understand that not all their neighbors will share in their commitment to Christ and His Kingdom, still, the Lord intends the blessings of His Law to reach to all the “coastlands” of the world.

Our task in the Christian community, therefore, is to consider the best ways of bringing the justice of God to light in the affairs of our communities and our nations. And to this end, we must bring the Law of God, which the nations long to know, but which they will not admit they need, into every area of human relationships, roles, and responsibilities.

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