Grace Economics (2) (7)
“You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 16.19, 20
An unstable pillar
As I mentioned previously, and as is becoming increasingly clear amid our present economic crisis, material wealth can be a most unstable pillar on which to build one’s happiness. Greed, rather than securing the future of the nation, ultimately saps its moral fiber and shreds its social fabric. Grace, not greed, is the only buttress to ensure a stable future.
As retirement accounts erode, property values decline, jobs evaporate, the national debt mounts, and the value of the currency declines, many Americans question whether our economics of materialism, as we have been pursuing it in recent generations—our greed economy of getting and spending—can produce the good life we envision. The more we have, the more we want. And the more we want, the more unhappy and insecure we feel.
Meanwhile, those who should be pursuing a grace economy, in line with the demands of the Kingdom economy of God, seem to have little to offer in the way of hope for the future. We just have not figured out how to bring the goodness, beauty, and truth of the Lord into our everyday economic life. Instead, we seem to struggle right along in the getting-and-spending race that is wearing out our world.
The wellbeing of the future will be built, not on material wealth, but on grace and justice. As long as the notion of justice in our society is treated as little more than a handmaiden to material wealth—called for when we need it to secure our materialistic status quo—the realization of true justice, love for God and neighbor, will continue to elude our society. While Christians do not deny the legitimacy of material wealth, the pursuit of prosperity must not be the guiding factor in our lives or in the kinds of public policy we seek for our nation. God requires “justice, and only justice” (v. 20, ESV) as the guiding norm in social policies, and only an economy laced with grace and devoted to justice will be able to ensure a secure and prosperous future for the generations to come.
The defining norm
Christians believe that grace and justice must be the defining norms of any economy. In a just economy, neighbor love will be the guiding factor. Children will be educated in the primacy of neighbor-love. Culture will reflect the dignity of human life and promote dignity, beauty, and the common weal rather than mere self-indulgence. Government will function not as an advocate for equality of wealth, but as a promoter of the general welfare, by ensuring that justice is the defining code of all public policy. And in all economic activity, people will treat one another with more consideration, kindness, honesty, and care.
An economics based on grace and justice will go farther toward ensuring a secure future than an economics based on greed and material wealth. If such an economics—such a divine economy—is to have a more significant role in determining the course of America’s future, it must begin in the lives of those who understand the nature and value of justice, and who seek it through the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Law of God.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, is not inimical to the Law of God; indeed, Jesus taught that learning, obeying, and teaching God’s Law is the way to greatness in the Kingdom of God (Matt. 5.17-19). He Himself is the very embodiment of the Law of God; He walked its path as the Trailblazer for all who follow Him (1 Jn. 2.1-6), and multitudes flocked to Him because of the grace and truth He lived and taught.
The Law of God encodes the teachings of grace and the tenets of justice—of love for God and neighbor—which provide the stability any society requires to endure through even the most difficult trials (Matt. 22.34-40). The more Christians know of God’s Law, and the more they embody and bring it to bear on the public policies of our nation, the more stable and secure our nation will be for the generations to come. The more we ignore or neglect the Law of God, the more self-love will replace neighbor-love in our society (Matt. 24.12) and our economy of greed will continue to unravel.
The challenge to Christians
The future wellbeing of this or any nation will not be secured by the amount and distribution of its material wealth, but in the degree to which its people follow the teachings of grace, and the extent to which they practice justice as defined by the Law of God. The followers of Jesus Christ are spread throughout the niches of our economy, and if we can be salt, light, and leaven of grace and justice in all our transactions, others may follow suit.
Such just and gracious economics won’t save anyone, of course. Only the Gospel can liberate a person from the grip of greed. For the Gospel opens a vista on the Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit which shines with the brilliance of grace. Unless we truly embrace the Kingdom economy of God, and work to persuade our neighbors of the great benefits grace and justice can bring for all, we will consign our beloved nation to certain self-destruction by the claws of greed and self-interest.
It falls to the members of the Christian community to learn, practice, and work for grace economics, in which justice, based on the principles of neighbor-love outlined in the holy and righteous and good Law of God, sets the tone for all our social, cultural, and commercial activity (Rom. 7.12). The more we live like Jesus, the greater the likelihood will be that our witness to Him will carry a weight of glory to our neighbors.
For reflection
1. Do you think the Law of God gets as much attention as it should in your church? Why or why not?2. Meditate on Psalm 1. What should be the place of the Law of God in the life of a righteous person?3. How would you describe the relationship between the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, the Law of God, and our calling as disciples of Christ?
Next steps—Transformation: What’s one thing you can begin to do to more fully embrace and practice the grace economy of God rather than the greed economy of our secular and materialistic age? Start doing it consistently today.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our Scriptorium series on Ephesians we will begin chapter 4. Our Read Moore podcast continues examining the question of what it means to “know” Jesus. Do we really know Him? This week our Crosfigell teaching letter wades through the myth of extant accounts of Brigit’s ministry in 6th-century Ireland, looking for shards of truth and lessons to share. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
