1991 issue 9 - christian economics: the social conditions for wealth - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1991 Issue 9 - Christian Economics: The Social Conditions for Wealth - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Asthetwentiethcentury draws to aclose,Christians find themselvesin what maywell tum out to be one of the mostinteresting periods ofhuman history. Asthese words are being written, the collapse of communism in the SovietUnionappears firmly established.The people'srevoltunderthe leadershipofBorisYe tsinhas surged forth ina waveof non-violentoverturning of a philosophic systemthathas starved the Russianpeopleand those

who make up the U.S.S.R TheUkraine,for example, once the bread-basket ofeasterIlEurope has not been able to feedits own people in recent years, let aloneexport food to other countries.

A similar situation has appeared in Africa. Manycounrries under colonial rulebecamemore thanself-suffident in foodproduction and were net expotters offood. Yet in recent yearswehaveseenthespectre of famine arise .

Our own country, Australia,is an interesringcase. Prior to the settlement of hewesterners, the Aborigines had a shottlife span, little food, and none of theconveniencesof modem medicine andbetter food production. Inshott, Australiahada population problem:notenough

food for the population. Yet the settlement of westernershas tum,ed Australiainto a literal garden resplendent withfruit of many kinds, vegetables, and avarietyof meats and grains.

his gardenimage is parricularlyrelevantforme,since I wasbomand raisedon theedge of the desen, in the midst of theirrigation systems. The Murrum-bidgeeIrrigation Area is clear evidence of the

productivity of this land once regularwater can be obtained. The towns ofGriffith and Leeton, in the hean of theMI are truly oases in the midst of thedesen.Butthedesenhasblossomedfonhwith food of many kinds thanks to theapplication of engineeringtechnology.

Very few people are willing to deny thatover the last 2,000 years, since the biMand death ofjesus Christ, therehas beenprogressformailkind inhistory. WilliamCarrollBark, forexample,in his interestIng study, Origins of the MedievalWorldl, argues that as the Roman Em-pire collapsed Christianity became thepervadingforcein the world.The originsof the medieval world, accordingto thishistorian,are to be found in Christianityand Christian faith. Pagan Rome had

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collapsed, and its failures were mani-festedat the levelofhumansodal action.

One of the signal failuresof the RomanWest had beenin the sphere of economics. Although golden opportunities offered themselves, the Romans were un-able to establish and maIntaina broadlybased, balanced economy ofenterpriseand growth in agricultureand industrywithwhichto feedahealthyand reciprocally invigoratingcommerce. No doubttheir many conquests, theiracquisitionof great numbers of slaves, their easyextractionof tributeamounlingto pirati-cal loot, and their contempt for productive labor, ranging from whatwe shouldcallthehighestprofessionsdownthroughbusiness to the poorest agriculturalandindustrial employment,had much to dowith their failure.2

Christian faith, which replaced the Roman Empire,was govemed bya differentmotivation.WhereasRome was hostile toproductive labor, Christianitypositivelyencouragedhuman endeavor. Governedby the Scriptures of the Old and NewTestaments, the early Christians understood their callingunder Christ to he thenew humanity. While they understood

that all things wereto be doneto the gloryofGod, theyalsounderstood theirhighestgoalswould be reached by being servantsto theirfeUowrnan.After the fall ofRome,this resulted in a great outpouring ofhuman endeavor. Technology was harnessedtoanimalstrengthinwaysitappearswere previously unknown. The horsecollarwasan inventionof this period, thedevice which allowed the animal to pullagainst his shoulder, thereby increasingsubstanriaJly the pulling-power of thebeast. This may seem likea small item tous, but we too easilyfOigetthat the thingswe take for granted todayare the resultofhistotical process and progress. Withoutthe inventionof steam power, we wouldnot have jet travel today. Each period ofhistory, thus, is the buildingblock for thenext generation.


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Perhaps you're wondering what all thishas to do with investingand investmentstrategies.Well, it reallyhas everythingtodo with investing. It is far too easy forusto developfalsenotionsaboutmoneyandwealth. We readily confuse ends withmeans andmistakenlypursuemeansas ithey were ends. By ends, I mean theultimategoals that we have in life; meansare the thingswe use to achieveour goals.

When it comes tomoneyand wealthit iseasy to confuse the pursuit of money initselfwith the purpose for which wealthisnecessary.The first questionof the Shorter Catechismasksthe question: What is man'schiefend?"Theanswer"Man'schiefend is to glOrifY God andenjoy Him forever."

The pursuit of wealth, then,must be seenin this context. Itis not an end in itself, butwealth canbeameans foreachone of us to bring glory andhonorto God,our SaviorJesusChrist.

Yet it is clear that Christianstodayhave anambivalent atti-tude toward money and

wealth. We have been taughtfor many decades that too muchwealthiswrong, thatweshould not be pursuingwealth, and that true spirituality wouldoccupyour attentionin other directions.Like all heresies, however, this teachingis a partial truth, yet taken by itself itconstitutes a wrong view about wealthand a wrong view about man's purposeon this earth.

I recall a conversationI had a few years agowith an elder in the church where I was amember. He had gone into business forhimself andlikesomanywho take thisstep,found himselfearning less money than hewould working onwages for someoneelseHe praised the fact that he was not toowealthy and gave the impression that hispovertywasthemorenobleattirudetowealth.

My response to his comment was thisstatement: ':Just think what our churchcould do in the area of evangelism if ithadjust one millionairetithinghismoneyeach week." His silence was all theanswer I needed. He clearly had notthought of wealth in this context. Any-way, before he had time to recover, Iadded a second comment: just thinkwhat ourchurch coulddo ifit had severalmillionaires tithingeach week "

Itis evidentfrom theBiblethatit isclearlywrong to make money and wealth our

goal in life. But when our goal is God'sglory, then the pursuit of wealth as anecessary meansto financethe extensionofGod 5 kingdomonthis earth,isanobleand worthy task. I emphasize necessaryhere because I think it is often thoughtthat the kingdom ofGod will be blessedand extendedby poverty, ratherthan bywealth. Thisview originates partlyfroma mistakennotion of what wealth reallyis, but also stems from amistaken notionof what the Bible teaclIes about moneyand wealth. While we are wamed aboutwealth,we are also told that God's bless-ings upon his faithful people includematerial possessions.

Now material possessions are whatweproperly call wealth. Too often we limit

ourview of wealthto money only, yet onreflectionnearlyany of us would get ridof our money today in exchange forsomethingelse. Perhapswe d like bettertools for work, more education for thechildren, perhaps just a repaint job onthe house. n summary, however, wefind that money, being onlya medium ofexchange, only servesits purpose whenwe exchange it for something else. Ourwealth, then, is not just our money butthe whole range of economicgoods andservices available at our disposal.

I commenced this essay look-ing at the Roman Empire andits collapse because I believethat when it comesto investing,we need to make sure we getthings in their proper order.There are not too many peoplereading this who would preferto live under the communistsystem that has been in exist-ence for over 70 years. We inAustralia cherish those free-doms that we have too much toabandon them lightly for a so-cial system built on severe re-stIiction of individuallibetry.

The collapse of the Roman

Empirewas followed,at least inWestern Europe, by the rise oChristendom. Therewasno straight linerise of Christianity, since differentperi-ods of historyindicate valious stages ofChristianity's influence. But the generalprogress of Christianity throughout thecenturies is as unmistakable as it is re-markable. Thus, it is no surprise to us tofind that in those nations where Christi-anity has had most influence, we havefound most freedom for the individual.And where there has been most indi-vidual freedom there has been the great-esteconomicandmaterialadvancement.

Iflibetryand freedom is one of our goals,then, ourinvestmentphilosophyand thestrategy we implement to achieve ourgoal must first of all be designed to

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establishourfreedomandliberty.Ifman'schiefendisto glorifyGod,thenthe socialenviromnentnecessaryfotmantoachievethis must be the condition we wouldwant as our first and preliminary aim.Thus ; oUr investmentstrategymust fustof all help us achieve freedomand lib-erty, not just for ourselves, but for our

neighbor as well. Ifweare toachieveanysense of fulfillment in this life, it will beinsofar as we live our lives in the callingGod has for us, whether at home, busi-ness, or in our local church.

But we are also taught in Scripture thatwe cannot confine ourselves to selfish-ness, that we must also consider thecircumstances ofourneighborand do allthat we can to help him 1his lattermotive is, ofcourse, thenecessal)'ingre

dient to oil the wheels of commerce.Material advancement is not possibleunless those at the cutting edge of tech-nology produce the goods and servicesthat willhelp their fellOwmanwork outhis own callingunder God.

If freedom is the necessal)'social envi-romnent that we requireto liveas Chris-tians, then itisdearthat he wiseinvestortoday will recognize that there are twofottesat work, both of whichworkhandin hand to take away freedom of theindividual .

Socialism

The alternative tofreedom in thehumanreaIm is a social system which repressesliberty. In this centul)' it has come in theguise of Marxism or socialism. In thiscontext, socialism and cotumunism aresynonymous terms.As an economicsys-

tem, they both involve the state owner-ship and controlof property.While Wldercommunism all property is generallyowned by the State, under Socialismnominal ownershipmay be left with theindiVidual,but beregulatedat allpointsasto howhe mayusehisproperty(orwealth).In thisCentul)', theclearestexampleof thecommunist system is the Soviet Union,

while possibly the best example of thesocialistsystem is Nazi Germany.

The keyindicatorofthissystem (fortheyare different manifestations of the onesystem of state ownershipand control),however, is regulation ofthe individualin order to directhis activity into direc-

tionswhichhe wouldnot take voluntar-ily. Underanysystemofstatecontrol,theeconomic choicesof ndividuals aresup-planted by those in positions of power.

One does not need to have a degree inpolitical science to work out that inAustralia weare a highly socializedna-tion. Therearevel)'fewdecisionsthatwecan make that are not free from govern-ment regulationand control.We carmoteducate our children without permis-

sion from the state. We cannot start abusiness without first obtaining theneeessal)' fonns from the governmentbureaucrats.The ouly real freedom wehave is the freedom that exists betweenour ears, the freedom to think what welike-provided w do not tl)'to take onrideas and put them into practice.

Our liberty, however, is not just deniedby rulesand regulations. WhenapelSOnfindsitnecessal)'towork48 ofhistimeto pay taXeS, then t can hardly be saidthat persOn is free. He is a slave in evel)'sense of the word, and his freedom isouly obtainableafter he has worked thehoursneoessal)'to paythe taxes imposedby the State.

Curiously, we often look back at theabolitionist movementof the late eigh-teenth centul)', and we praise thosewhoworked'to etnandpate the slaves n En

gland and America. Yet we often fail torea ize that a new slaveI)'has beenintro-duced, just as vidous as that whichOuistians worked so hard to remove.1his new slaveI)' may be even moreviscous than its predecessor, since theslavesofoldhad the possibilityofgainingfreedom,whereweseenoendinsightforthe oppressive taxes we must pay.

22 f THE COUNSEL o f CItalcedon f December 1991

We forget, for example, that ourgrandfa-thers did not fmd it neces5a1)' to payincome tax, a modem phenomena. Bytuodem I mean this centul)', and littlemore than ~ a centul)' old. Space doesnot permitmehere tosaymoreaboutthis,but weneedtorecognizethat todayweareenslaved to the State in a way that would

make our forefathers turn in the grave.They would not have accepted the con-ditions that we live Wlder today in manyareas. It appears we have become toodocile and too easily betrayed with falserhetoric concerningwealthand its use.

Yet socialism; doesnot confineitselfwiththe mere control and regulation of theindividual. IgorShafarevich, n his com-prehensivestudy, The SocialistPhenom-enon, concludedthat the ultimate goalof

socialism in its various manifestationswas the destruction of thehuman race.

The death ofmankind is not only con-ceivable result of thetriumph of social-i sm-i constitutestheg lof ocialism. 3

Anysystem ofgovernment,whetherit istheRomanEmptre, theSovietEmpire,orthe socialist planning of the modemdemocratic socialist states, ends in thedeathofa culturebecauseitisat vatilmcewith freedomandli.bertywhichcomesasa result of a social order built on God'slaws of individual freedom and liberty.The eighthcommandment,- Thou shaltnot steal (Ex. 20: 15), establishes indi-vidualownershipof property, the neces-sal)' basis for any system of econornicfreedom for the individual. In Scripture,not even the king could take propertywithout the consentof the owner, as thestol)' of Naboth and his vineyard dem-

onstrates(Klngs 21:1ff).4If this is the way God has ordained thatthe world shouldwork, thatis, in aceor-dancewithHismoralcommandmentsasfound in the Ten Commandments,thenit should not be surprising to us to findthat whenevera soctety has abandonedGod's Ten Coriunandmentsin favor of


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some other moral code, the sodalordereventually collapses. God hasmade thisworld to operate in tenus of His ethicalstandards,and much as manmightbe inrevolt against God's social order, iteventuallyUiumphs

Envy

The second force at work in society isenvy. It is the governingmotivation ofmost of the economic programs whichoriginatein society today. It willhelp usto understand what is meant by envy,and how it manifests itself.

TheBiblecondemns covetousnessinthetenth commandment Yet envy

We discussed the advantages of thosewho were able to limit taxes by selfemployment,then contractingtheir services out to various firms. The self-emplayed person is able to obtain tax deductions for many expenditures notavailable to those on wages and salary,such as telephone, electricity, automobile and running expense for a vehicle.

On this occasion, however, the teacherobjectedto the fact thatsomecould getatax advantagewhich wasnot availabletohim. Self-employment should bebanned, he claimed.WhenIasked why,his reply was that since he could not getthese advantages, they shouldbe denied

They left: behind a note which read:"We're not vandals. We just can't standseeingothers have what we haven't got.Please forgive us." This is envy inaction.

Itisalsa the end resultofasocietythathasabandonedbiblical faith. The alternativeto envyis thebiblicalview ofhelping ourfellow man to get ahead, even ifhe getsfurther ahead than we do. This is practical Christianity, and the basis for socialdevelopment. The politics of envygoverns mostnon-Christian societies and isthe root cause of their stagnant socialsystem. No one can rise above the crowdin the envious SOCiety, yet Westerncapitalism, built on Christian valuesof

goes far and beyond covetousness. The coVetous personsays,

ineffect,"Iwantwhatyouhave."Theenviousperson,ontheotherhand, says, I want what youhave. And i f I can'thave it thenno one elsecanhaveiteither." Inshort, the enviouspersonworksto destroy things which he cannot have himself.

Two illustrations of envy mighthelp. Back in 1983,when Icommenced working in the invest

ment industry, I was speakingwith a teacher from one of the

fJJieafternative to envyis tfie6i6fica[viewof ie{pingour

fe1Ioutmantoget ahead, eveni iegetsJurtfierafieaitfian

we tfu. is ispracticalCfiristianity,ani tfie 6asis

for soda cfevefopment

charityandtheprivateownershipof property, has helped moreindividualsrise above the crowdthan any othe r social systemknown to mankind.

In an age of envy, anything thatthe individual does to take precautions to preserve his ownwealth will be frowned upon.Helmut Schoek, in his very im-pottantstudy ofenvy, found thatit was COnsidered "unsocial" totake steps to look after oneself.Thus, if someone provides

againsta possiblecatastrophe ina reallyoriginaland thoroughgoing way, he will arouse the illremier private schools in

Sydney. he school was proud of itsstudentsand irs fineacademic record, itsstudents achieving some of the highestmarks in the state. Naturally, the schoolsoughttohire he best teachersavailable.Its pupils came from more well-to-dofamilies who could afford what was, atthe time, some of the highest fees ofanyschoolin theSlate. Theschoolwashighlysuccessful,despiteitshighprice tag,witha long waiting list of several years forstudenrsseekingentranceintotheschool.

The teacher and I were discussing myWOlX in investment. Naturally, any panofan invesnnentprogramis designed tominimize taxes as far as legallypossible.

to others as wen. This is envy. When Isuggested another alternative, that insteadofbanningselfemployment,wagesand salariesshould be outlawedso thatan workerscould get the tax advantagesof self-employment, heended the conversation and walked away. Apparentlythis was not a viable option to him, or atleast one he did not prefer.

Another example of envy, although theauthor does not identity it as such, isgiven by John Smith in his book, Advance Australia Where?5Vandals hadenteredaprivateschoolinAdelaidea fewyearsago,causingthousandsofdollarsofdamage to library andvideoequipment.

will ofhis potentialcomradesin misfortune, who are partly angered by hisforesight and partly fear unconsciouslythathis precaution willattract disaster."6

The progressivetax system,for example,is built on the basis of envy, that thereshouldbenowealthyclass,oratleastthatdifferencesbetweenrichandpoorshouldbeminimizedbytransfemngwealth fromthe rich to the poor. f all cannot bewealthy, then confiscate the wealth fromthose who have it to redistribute it insome manner. It is not surprisingto findthat those who avoid or evade taxes aremostlikely tobe "dobbedin"by relatives,thosewho areenviousthat theirkinsman

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is able to get away with things that theyare either incapable of doing themSelves,or do not have the opponunity to do.

The antagonism manysee in Australians,who love to pull down those who arehighly successful, is based on envy. Unfonunately, many Christiansare guiltyoffollowing the world's standards at thispoint, for they too are not free of he envythat manifestsitselfagainst thosewho arehighly successful in Australian society.

Any program of wealth accumulationorpreservation that we might have which .fails to recognize the twin evils ofbothsocialism andenvywill most probablyfailin its objective. }his is why any investment program must not ouly increasewealth, but < Iso protect wealth from the

enviouswho are willlng to use the state asa means for putting envy into practice.

SalvationIn the Bible salvation is offered throughChrist alone and His fmishedwork on thecross. The individual, made anewby theSpirit ofGod, becomesa "new- man, onewho delights in obedience to the o m ~mandments of God in evety area of life.

Salvation, however,is too easilyconfinedto simply justification,a legal declarationthat we are no longer sinners in the sightof God. Butsalvationcovers the whole ofthe individual and every aspect of life.Therefore,wecannotproperlyspeakaboutsalvation without referring to what thetheologians call "sanctification."This refers to the ongoinglife of the Christianashe grows in knowledge and maturity.When we understanq that salvation notonly refers toourjusti lcation butaiso oursanctification,we can easily understand,for example, the book of l mes whichappears to contradict the idea of salvationby faith alone.lames is adamant that weare saved by works as well as faith. Thiscan only be so if we hold that salvationinvolves more than simply the idea ofjustification. Yes,it'sperfectlytruethatwe'aresavedbecauseofChrist'satoningwork

on thecross. But thepracticaloutworkingofthatsalvationinvolveseverymornentoflife until weare placed in the grave.

The Greek word for salvation (soteria) incorporates the meaningofhealth. Salvationis thus health, and involves the health andwell-beingof thewholeman. Thehealth ofsociety, then, is dependentuponGod'splanof salvationjust as the individual's hopeisalso in God's plan of salvation. Thus, theeconomic health of society is dependentupon man's faith in God andhis obedienceto God's Commandments.

The alternativeto God's plan ofsalvationis man's plan ofdeliverance.When mendeny God as their God and Savior, theymake themselves god and devise theirown plans of salvation.

ll problems in this life are caused, according to Scripture, by man's ethicalrevolt against God, man'sdesire to be hisown god, detennining for himself whatisright and wrong, good and evil, true andfaise(Gen.3:S).Therefore,man'ssolutionto these problems must be the reverseprocess: faith in God and living in accordancewithHiscommandments,since itisthrough the commandments that Godtells us what is right and wrong,goodandevil, true and faise,

Unfottunately, there isa kind of Christiansocialismwhich extols the vinues ofstatecontrol of property. Many people rightlysee the problems thatexist in the world.Thereare manyinpoverty,some because oftheir own makingand others due to thecircumstancesoflife. Thesecircumstancescould be alleviated somewhat with theproperuse ofwea1th.Too often,however,it is claimed that individuals won't usetheirwealthinacharitablemannertohelpameliorate the problems that many face.Thus they call for state action to forcepeopleto what theywon't do voluntarily.

Unless we see all the problems of life asessentially spiritual in origin, we can tooreadily seek answers to problems in the

24 1.HE COUNSEL of Chalcedon December 99

wrong place. By spiritual, here, I do notmean in the sense of other-worldly asopposed to this-worldly. I mean spiritualinthe sense that God's kingdomis spiritual,tha t s ethical,in its manifestationon earth.

To thus transfer spiritualproblemsto thepolitical sphere, as i the politicianswithappropriate legislationcan "save" societyfrom a parricularevil, is an incorrectviewofboth the nature oftheproblem, and therole of the state. Rather, we should seeksalvation for the problems in tenns ofGod's plan of salvation: regeneration ofthe individualso that be will freely obeyGod'scommandmentswhich include thegodlyuseofwealth. inshott, it isGodwhosaves not-man.

Socialism-state planning to solve the

problemsoflife i s hus notan option forthosewhobelievethatsalvationisavai\ableonly through]esus Christ.This is why inthe past, whennationshavebeen obedientto the Scriptures, the state has not beenseen as man's savior, but rather has alimited role in the adminisrrationofpublicjustice. This is the origin of the freedomsweenjoyinAust alia,eventhoughwe findourselves enslaved to the state far morethan our forefathers were.

ConclusionThe Twin evils ofsocialism and envy arethe key ingredients in any investmentstrategy and should color the way inwhichwemakeourinvesonentdecisions.Forexample,since 1983 the Federal government in Australia h s shown itselfincreasingly willingto confiscatepeople'sretirementsavingsaccumulatedin superannuation funds. Until June 30,1983,onlyfivepercent ofsuperannuationfunds

were taxable:it the marginal rate of taication. That percentage has grown since,with increasingly larger bites at the superannuation "cherry." If this taxing ofsuperannuation funds is to continue, asI think it will, then it seems prudent thatother schemes of long term saving andcapitalaccumulationbefound,oneswhere

(CONUUDED ON P GE 32


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Hodge, continued from pg.24)

government confiscation will be nil, or atleast kep t at a tninimum. The point I wishto make here is that I believe preservationof capital in an age of envy is just asimportant as maximizing return on invested funds. In some instances, it may bebetter to take a lower return to preserve

assets, since preservation of assets reallyiscrttical.

What can be shown, however, is that if wefoIIowcertainguidelines inScrtpture, t henwe should be able to both preserve ourassets and maximize the return on ourinvestment. Ibelieve God's Word containsguidelines which eruible us to escape thefalse standards of the .world by applyingHis directives for the proper stewardshipof the resources He gives to us. Q

Ian Hodge is the Executive Director of TheFoundation for the Advancement of ChristiauStudies, P.O. Box 241, Engadine, New SouthWales2233. Thisartieleis publishedbypenuiss on from his newletter Christian Economics

Non-Profit Org.U.s. Postage

P IDBULK R TE

Permit No. 1553Greenville, SC

29602

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1991 issue 9 - christian economics: the social conditions for wealth - counsel of chalcedon

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