What if we made most every decision based on the assumption that “there is enough”? When I decide how to spend my time, for instance, I would be less pressured, thinking that I don’t have enough time to do everything I want to do or (think I) need to do. What if, instead, I think, “I have enough time to do what God wants me to do; enough time to do what God has called me to do.” Or with money, I may look at my checkbook balance and think, “There isn’t enough money here to do what I want.” But what if, instead, I look at my checkbook and think, “I have enough money to meet my needs.” Or, even better, “God has provided me enough resources to meet my needs and even more.” I would be much less stressed and my focus would be on God’s provision and God’s purposes for my life, than if I am always focused on what I lack. I would tend to feel much more thankful most of the time for what God has given me rather than stressing about stretching my money in order to buy things I may not truly need or even want, or spend my time on activities that may not be very worthwhile or give much satisfaction.
The lesson of “it is enough” reminds me of the Hebrews in ancient times. I try to imagine what life must have been like for the Hebrews, way back when, during their time in the desert before they entered the promised land. Even though they were wandering around, they still had to take care of their kids, tend to their animals, bathe now and then, and otherwise take care of day-to-day needs. Further, they needed to eat each day, and as we read in Exodus 16, that was a problem because their surroundings likely did not naturally provide much in the way of edible sustenance. Not only that, the Hebrews were farmers, but they were on the move so they could not stop long enough to plant crops. This caused a lot stress for the people. They did not have enough food, and so their leader, Moses, took their complaints to God. In response, God provided food for them each day. They didn’t have to cultivate the ground, keep crops watered or hope for the appropriate weather conditions, pull weeds, and then harvest produce. No. God simply provided food for them – manna, meaning “what is it?”, some bread-like substance. All the Hebrews had to do was to go outside and gather the stuff. Same with the quail that came to them in the evening. In this biblical account, we read that God provided just the right amount of food to meet their needs: “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little, did not have too little.”
Just as in the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, what the Hebrews were given was “just right.” It was enough. Even so, not all of the Hebrews appreciated or understood God’s provision. Some tried to take too much and the excess manna went bad, even though God had told the people, through Moses, that they were only to take what they needed, and others tried to gather manna on what later came to be known as the Sabbath day, again, even though God had specifically told them not to gather manna on the 7th day of each week. God said they would receive a double-portion on the 6th day of each week and that excess manna would stay good for the extra day. So the people had a lesson in trust each day and each week. They had to trust that they would have enough food each day, their daily bread, and that they would have enough food even when they could not go out and collect it on the 7th day of each week. This went on for 40 years.
Then, at the point when the Hebrews were about to enter the promised land, God gave them a commandment to Observe or Remember the Sabbath day, just as they had done during their time in the desert. They were to remember God’s provision of them and how they could trust and rely upon God to meet their daily needs. And they were to celebrate God’s
The manna-quail story is just one example of what we can learn in the Bible about trusting God to provide enough. It’s also a glimpse into what God’s desire is for God’s people when it comes to material resources.
The Bible teaches us many things about how God intends for people to live and interact in their “economic” sphere of life. Economics a science that studies the allocation of scarce resources among competing uses. Wikipedia gives the definition as a science that studies the allocation of scarce resources in a world of unlimited needs. Economic decisions are any decisions that involve trade-offs in the use of resources. Most resources are limited -- For instance, when I spend time on a task at work, such as grading students papers the tradeoff is that I cannot use that time on a different task, such as writing an article. I have limited time and I need to decide how to allocate my time between different activities. And, even though my husband and I earn relatively high salaries at our jobs, our income is limited, so we need to decide how to allocate our income to different and competing uses.
This chapter will briefly explain what economics is all about then provide a picture of what economic decisions might look like when made according to biblical Sabbath principles of trusting in God’s provision of resources in contrast to when Sabbath principles are ignored. I will distinguish between economic decisions of individuals and the decisions of business and government leaders in their role in the broader economy.
The Bible teaches that Sabbath keeping is abut trusting God completely with the resources God gives us and using those resources to profit our Master, to further God’s kingdom. Sabbath keeping requires trust in God’s provision – trust that the world will continue to operate when humans take one day off in every seven. Trust that God will provide enough resources so that we don’t have to work all of the time. Trust that we will find meaning in our lives even when we are not involved in productive activity and making economic decisions seven days a week. Trust that we can use our resources to help take care of others and will still have enough for our own needs.
Meaning of Economics
Early on in my study of the integration of biblical principles and economics, I read a great article in Prism magazine by Fred Clark (July/Oct. 1999) where the author explained that the word economic comes from the Greek word oikonomia, a word combining oikos, “house,” with nomos, “manager.” In the 14th century when John Wycliffe was translating the Scriptures into English, he found no precise term to translate oikonomia so he settled for “stewardship” because the original economists were slaves put in charge of managing their masters’ households. To convey the humility of these slaves’ position, Wycliffe chose a word meaning, literally, “sty warden”—the servant in charge of the pig sty. For instance, Luke 16 contains the parable of the “unjust steward (oikonomia)” and in I Corinthians 4:1 Paul refers to himself as a “steward (oikonomos) of the mysteries of God.”
Economic Decision Making
My husband and I make decisions every day with resources that impact our household that includes our four dependent children. With the income we earn at our jobs we provide everyone in the family enough of the right foods, beverages and medicines to keep them healthy. We also make sure everyone stays warm enough with clothing, heat and bedding, and that they become sufficiently educated so they can meet their own needs as they reach adulthood. And we see that the house and grounds stay in good repair so that our family can continue to have a place to live. We also provide resources to people in our extended household. For example we donate money and time to our church and to charities, missionaries and others who have little or no other means of support for their ministries. That’s a snapshot of our little “economy” at home.
More broadly, economies are systems in which people make decisions with their resources to produce, distribute and use goods and services. Every day, leaders in businesses, government and other organizations make decisions with resources (money, time, equipment, workers, etc.) that will impact what goods and services are produced, who will receive those goods and services, and how those goods and services are produced.
Why must economic decisions be made? Because resources are scarce, meaning they are in limited supply. Thus we need to decide how to use the resources under our control. While no one is concerned about the production of air, an unlimited resource, someone does need to be concerned about the production of clean air because clean air is limited. And while Bill Gates probably does not have to worry about decisions regarding money, he does have a limited amount of time and needs to decide how to divide his time between Microsoft, his family, in leisure activities, and traveling to promote his foundation’s work, for instance. Gates recently decided to retire from Microsoft so he can devote more time to the work of his foundation. He concluded that time at Microsoft is not as valuable to him as time with the foundation.
How does all of this apply to you and me? When I decide to spend $60 on a new pair of shoes, that means I have $60 less to spend on something else of value to me. I only get more shoes if I give up the opportunity to acquire another good. Similarly, when a business decides to hire more workers it gives up the opportunity to acquire more machinery, or vice versa. For the government, unless taxes are raised or debt is increased, spending more on military programs means having to spend less on education or other areas. We call these opportunity costs – the value of the next best alternative use of our resources. Every decision involving limited resources has a cost, the value of what is given up, or the sacrifice made in the process.
In capitalistic economic systems such as that in the U.S.
Further, in order to continue its operations Starbucks will make most if not all decisions with a concern for its profits. Profit is the difference between revenue or income and costs or outlays. For example, if no one buys a particular product, profits will fall so Starbucks may lower the price of the product or promote the product more so more people will buy it, or it may decide to cut its losses and discontinue the product altogether.
So to recap: The purpose of economic systems is to answer the questions What goods and services will be produced?, For whom will goods and services be produced?, and How will the goods and services be produced? I turn now to describe how these questions may be answered from God’s perspective for individuals, business leaders, and government leaders in light of a study of biblical Sabbath principles and contrast the Sabbath perspective with one in which biblical perspectives are not taken into account.
Decisions for Individuals
Individuals make both production and consumption decisions. As Producers, we decide where to work and what jobs to do and as consumers we make decisions about how to use our income. We decide what goods and services to buy, how much to donate to charity, churches, etc., and how much to save. As savers, we also are investors. We may invest our savings in bank certificates of deposit, or we may loan money to businesses or buy stock in corporations—either shares of specific companies’ stocks or many companies’ stocks-- if we have retirement accounts and/or mutual funds.
What
If we lived according to Sabbath principles, we would try to work in jobs that honor our God-given talents and skills. We would make those decisions not primarily on the basis of compensation. We will refrain from working for firms or buying products from firms that are exacerbating problems of worker exploitation or harm to the environment. Granted, for many people it is not easy to choose a job and money may be a primary motivator so that we can simply put enough food on the table for our families. As savers and investors we can loan money to or buy stocks of companies that produce beneficial products, treat their employees and customers well, serve needy people in their communities in some way, and minimize their harmful effects on the environment.
For Whom
With our income, wealth and other resources—time, assets, talents—we would be generous and open-handed. To do so we would want to live with an excess of our key resources, not making claims on all of our available time, talents, money and other assets. As investors we can buy stocks of firms that have programs supporting the needy in some way, perhaps through philanthropy programs or by encouraging employees to donate money and/or time to various social causes.
An influential book in my life on this topic was Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives by Richard A. Swenson, M.D. (Navpress, 1992). In the book, Swenson describes margin as the space that once existed between ourselves and our limits, or something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. He claims that many people in our society have forgotten about margin and push ourselves to the point of physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual exhaustion. Then he offers an overall picture of health that employs contentment, simplicity, balance and rest. So if we regularly have something held in reserve (money, time, etc.) we can say “yes” when asked to help another person or an organization. In contrast, if we regularly spend all the money we earn and fill every moment of every day with activity, we won’t have any resources to make available to others should a need arise.
A fun example of this happened at my church recently. A few months earlier a guest speaker, who is a pastor of a sister church in our region, spoke to our congregation over 3 days on the book of Micah. His main points were that church leaders are to be faithful to God’s call regardless of the cost and that God’s people are to be faithful in their giving. Our church sent this pastor a small honorarium afterwards, but he sent it back and matched it, and told our pastor to use the money as God led him. Our pastor decided to “give an offering” to us, and each family received a crisp ten-dollar bill, with the instruction to be lavish in our giving as God led us. The next week various members of the congregation shared how they used the money, such as sending a special gift to overseas missionaries, buying food for a food bank, or helping out a needy neighbor. I enjoyed walking around with an extra ten dollars waiting to see what or who God led me to give it to. I bought a bunch of cereal for a food bank. It was on sale so my $10 went quite far that week!
While the premises of books such as Swenson’s are helpful, they don’t go deep enough into the biblical principles that God used to guide us. For instance, Swenson’s book talks about Sabbath rest on only one page! Further, rather than advocating that people live a “balanced” life, like Swenson’s book and many other books on time management do, I suggest living a life of faith that keeps us in rhythm with our creator and our world and our fellow human beings. We see this rhythmic living in various bible passages about time, for instance when God created the world in various steps, where each step included an evening and morning, then culminated the process by creating a time of rest. Then in Exodus 16 we see the Israelites learning this lesson of “work 6, rest 1” over 40 years. And Jesus regularly took time out of his important ministry to pray alone and to rest.
How
Regularly take one day off a week rather than work seven days a week. We would live and work with gratefulness. We would treat co-workers, supervisors, administrators, customers and suppliers with respect and honor. We would base economic decisions on trust in God, not in money, things, jobs, or success instead of making decisions based on fear or anxiety. Instead of trying to “balance” our work, family life and leisure-time pursuits, we would live in faithfulness to God’s call in our lives. Instead of always wanting more and more, we would appreciate the value of moderation.
Decisions for Business Leaders
First, the What question. From a Sabbath perspective economic systems will produce beneficial goods or services that enhance the common good and meet people’s needs. Producers will not sell products that are unsafe or harmful to others even if doing so would be highly profitable. If products are found to be harmful, producers would voluntarily remove the products from the market.
Second, the For Whom question. Economic systems will provide all persons who are able to work the opportunity to produce goods or services for their own use and/or to sell to others. To do so they will need to be able to acquire the resources—land, natural resources, knowledge, and/or capital resources—that will enable them to secure remunerative jobs or go into business for themselves. As a result, all families would have access to enough resources to be able to live a dignified life in their communities. The Bible does not teach that all families will have the same amount of resources but it does imply that all persons will have enough to meet their basic needs and to thrive in society. Further, there would be no long term disparities between rich and poor families.
In addition, economic systems must constantly provide for the needs of those with insufficient access to resources—those who cannot work, for instance. This may include widows, orphans, aliens, and disabled persons along with victims of exploitation and injustice. Thus, economic decision makers with sufficient power and influence in society will not only provide for the needs of the poor but also address and resolve, where possible, conditions of injustice and oppression. In a Sabbath system, businesses with surplus profits will donate time, money, goods, services or other resources to the needy and/or to address conditions of injustice and oppression.
One way to make sure that sufficient resources are available to the needy is for individuals, businesses, churches, unions and other institutions to set aside part of their income, regularly living with a financial margin, hold resources loosely, and share their surpluses with those with too little. These individuals and organizations would not harvest and sell every last item grown or produced, but they will donate or otherwise make available a portion of their time, products or other resources to those unable to work or access sufficient resources.
And third, as to the How question, in a Sabbath economic system all persons would have the opportunity to have one day off each week and be treated with dignity and honor since each has been created in God’s image. People would not constantly struggle to make ends meet and be pressured into working seven days a week. Further, goods and services would be produced in ways that minimize negative impacts on the environment and natural resources and in ways that demonstrate honor and respect for customers.
Here are some examples from business of how Sabbath principles may or may not be honored in answering the What, For Whom and How questions.
Starbucks sells products that are generally beneficial (WHAT). In the process of producing and selling beverages and other food items Starbucks provides jobs and generates income for people so they can provide for their material needs. It also funds programs that help low-income persons and encourages employees to volunteer their time for social causes (FOR WHOM).
Further, the company prides itself on treating employees well and with respect while paying competitive wages and offering generous benefits, even to part-time employees. And the company is mindful of customer service, treating all customers with dignity and respect (HOW).
Here are examples of how Sabbath principles might be violated as the What, For Whom and How questions are answered by businesses or governing authorities.
What
One could argue that while coffee beverages provide some benefits, they also can be harmful, create caffeine addiction, and add excess calories to people’s diets. Further, in the process of trying to earn profits Starbucks could decide to sell products that are harmful when produced or consumed and conceal that information so people will continue to buy the products.
As another example, companies that provide pornography may be very profitable, but pornography may be harmful to those who view it, to their family members, and to those who provide it.
For Whom
Companies could pay wages that are so low or provide so few hours to employees that they are unable to provide enough money for their families to survive, and they could reinvest all of their profits back into the company’s operations instead of making donations to charities and other causes.
How
Managers could force employees to work 7 days a week so workers have little if any time off to spend with their families, be involved in church activities, serve others, or in recreational or relaxing pursuits. Similarly, managers could treat their employees with disrespect and cruelty and make them feel subhuman.
Another example could be when farms use pesticides in the production of fruits and vegetables for higher crop yields that bring in more revenue to the farmer, even when the pesticides may harm field workers or people who consume the produce.
Decisions For Government Leaders
Government decisions with regard to economic resources primarily revolve around the For Whom question because governing authorities are involved in the transfer of funds from taxpayers to the recipients of government funds—for everything from social insurance programs to military expenditures, to public education and public safety. Congress and legislators decide who will be taxed and at what rate, then they decide how to allocate those tax revenues among the various government programs. They are not providing goods and services that people pay for. Rather they are providing public services designed to promote the general welfare or common good.
In a Sabbath system, government leaders will keep their focus on the common good and weigh the effects of their spending decisions on all groups of people in society and on the environment. They will provide a safety net for society’s vulnerable persons so that they always have sufficient resources to live a dignified life in society when families, churches and other community support systems cannot do so.
Just like business leaders, government leaders face trade-offs when making decisions: if they spend more money on education programs that means less money is available for road improvements, for example. So there is no one way these decisions will be made, but it is important that all persons affected by them are represented in the decision-making process, even if they do not vote, own property, or have much status in society.
If government decision makers lose sight of their primary purpose they may fixate on what it will take to remain in office, even if the common good is compromised. For instance they may make decisions with public resources that benefit individuals or businesses that make large campaign contributions. For example, when new wastewater treatment facilities or garbage dumps need to be built, people with a lot of money may try to influence government officials to build these facilities far from where they live and work, so the treatment plants or dumps may instead be built near people who have little money or political power. We call this NIMBY—Not In My Back Yard. In fact, studies show that environmental hazards are disproportionately located in low-income communities of color. (Communities for a Better Environment)
Concluding remarks
As a result of the generosity of individuals and organizations in a Sabbath economy, people who experience hardship, calamity and/or poverty would not need to leave their homes or neighborhoods, but others in their community would provide necessary resources so that people can continue to live with dignity in their communities through loans, jobs, volunteer support, charity, etc. Further people of a variety of income, educational and social levels will live and interact in close proximity to one another rather than being isolated along those distinctions. And as I alluded to earlier, low-income persons would not necessarily live in close proximity to hazardous waste sites, garbage dumps, or areas affected by noise pollution.
Further, there would be no long-term disparities in wealth, and families would be supported. Single mothers with dependent children often suffer from poverty and exploitation the most and thus need the most protection and support. Some ways governing authorities in the U.S.
You may think the vision of a Sabbath economy outlined in this chapter is completely unrealistic in our society, but I hope that as you read the rest of this book it will become clear as to why these goals are attainable. In God’s economy, resources are unlimited and Jesus promises that all things are possible with God (Mark 10:27b). All it takes is trust in the loving care of our Heavenly Father (our Abba or Papa) and ask God to accomplish God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.
Join me now as we delve into the biblical narrative that describes for us this Sabbath system that has its roots in God’s act of creation and culminates in Jesus who ushered in the Kingdom of God
Exercises and Questions for Group Discussion
Exercise 1: Read Genesis 2:1-17, Exodus 16:1-30, Deuteronomy 8:6-18 & 15:1-15, Psalm 24:1-2, Proverbs 30:7-9, and John 6:1-51, then answer these questions citing chapter & verse where appropriate:
- How do you understand the meaning of the word steward?
- What Bible passages speak about God’s ownership of all resources? What do they teach us?
- Describe evidence from the Bible that God provides enough resources for people.
- What resources do business leaders have responsibility to manage?
- What can individuals and business leaders do to promote stewardship of resources?
Exercise 2: Read Leviticus 25:1-43, Deuteronomy 15:1-15, Psalm 72, Proverbs 22:22-23, Isaiah 1:10-23, Matthew 25:31-46, Galatians 2:8-10, and James 1:27, then answer these questions citing chapter & verse where appropriate:
- Who are the vulnerable poor in our world today? (The “orphans” and “widows.”)
2. How are people expected to treat poor persons according to the Bible? Why?
- What responsibilities do leaders in society have towards the vulnerable poor?
References
Clark, Fred. “It’s the Oikonomia Stupid: More Fun with Retronyms.” Prism. July/October 1999, p. 41.
Communities for a Better Environment. “Building a Regional Voice for Environmental Justice.” http://www.cbecal.org/publications/newpublication.pdf
Swenson, Richard. Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives. 2002. Colorado Springs
