When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Luke 18:23
Sometimes I have a dialog in my head when I get stressed about money, or my many responsibilities, or when I think of things I want to do if only I had enough time. Even over relatively little things like getting dressed in the morning or meal planning. Well, actually it’s often a monologue, but on a good day I imagine God speaking into the monologue. Here’s an example:
Me: It’s just not enough. I need more ___________ (fill in the blank with the word money, or talent, or time).
God: I am enough for you.
Me: Yes, but… No. I need more!! (said in a whiney voice)
God: Be still and know that I AM God.
Me: But, but… I’m scared of running out. I’m scared of failing. I want to have more control.
God: Don’t be afraid.
Me: That’s easy for you to say!
Jesus (an added voice comes into my head): Fear not. Trust in God. Trust also in me. (add biblical references throughout this dialog.)
Me: I know Jesus went through scary times and was in need. But my situation is different…
Jesus: "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matthew 8:20)
Me: I don’t have a thing to wear! What am I going to fix for dinner??!!
Jesus: Luke 12:23. “Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.”
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! (Luke 12:28)
Why do I struggle with trusting in God?
A Wealthy Woman Worries about Having Enough
My mother is in her 80s and has dementia. She has been getting worse over the past couple of years. It is hard to see her go through this, and in many ways I have been in mourning ever since she started to decline because she is not my mother any more. Well, of course she is, but she is not the same sharp, vibrant, energetic woman she was even as of just a few years ago. As her mental faculties began to diminish I started helping her with her finances. At first it was just paying her bills, but now I am power of attorney and take care of most all of her financial matters (investments, taxes, etc.). The good news is that she had plenty of financial assets to cover all of her needs for the rest of her life. The bad news is that she often doesn’t think so. Even before the dementia showed its signs, she would often express concern about having enough resources to last until her death. Even after I itemized and summarized all of her various assets and showed her the numbers, and compared them to typical nursing home costs (her worst fear is having a prolonged illness requiring constant nursing care), she still was not convinced she would have enough money. She even commented once that she might end up on the street. (Maybe that was the dementia talking.)
As her daughter I remember thinking: we would never let that happen to you! I have two brothers, and we are a close family. My father died in 1999. I thought of saying to Mom, what is the worst thing that could happen? If you did actually run through hundreds of thousands of dollars and could not afford nursing care, we could take you in and/or hire someone to take care of you using resources we have. We would never let you want for anything.
A foundational claim in economics is that people’s decisions in large part are a consequence of scarcity of resources. That is, because a limited amount of resources are available to us, we must choose how to use them since each time we do we give up the opportunity to use them another way. In other words, our desires exceed our resources. If I spend $50 on a nice meal out with my husband, that is $50 less in savings or to apply toward grocery purchases, birthday gifts for my kids, etc., and I can always find more uses for any amount of money I may have. So I’m continually reminded that my resources are limited.
Scarcity, in turn, depends upon the postulate that people prefer more goods to less. Otherwise goods, though limited in supply, would not necessarily be scarce. So I’m continually reminded that I want MORE resources so that scarcity is less of a concern for me.
Economists also assume that most economic decisions are made in the best interest of the decision maker. For instance, my decision to spend an extra $50 would be based on how I expect to best benefit from its use. Taken to an extreme, economic analysts would assume that if I give away the $50, that decision is not in my best interest because I don’t get anything in return that is of any real value, or if I use the money to buy products that were made by slave laborers that shouldn’t concern me. All that I am concerned about is how the $50 purchase benefits me. So I am continually reminded to look out for Number One.
Now economists over the centuries haven’t made all of this up. It’s not a conspiracy and I am not going to say their theories are invalid. They, like all social scientists, base their theories on common behavior and describe that behavior in ways that can be generalized and used by decision makers. For instance, knowing that people prefer more goods to less may encourage companies to emphasize on their packaging that the buyer will get MORE for his/her money when buying a particular product, and knowing that money is a scarce resource for most people, businesses will emphasize a good value when customers are making a purchase. We buy “value meals” and clip coupons for saving money and line up at the crack of dawn for after-Christmas sales.
Yet if we think about these economic theories and assumptions in light of the teachings of the Bible we may think differently about scarcity, acquiring more and more resources, and self-interested behavior. Specifically, the Bible teaches that God created the earth to provide enough resources to meet humans’ needs and wants, there is value in exercising moderation in the pursuit of wealth and possessions, and people of God, while rightly being concerned about their own well-being, are to be other-interested; that is, to love our neighbors as ourselves. Further, all resources ultimately belong to God and are entrusted to our care for our own benefit as well as the benefit of others and all of creation. In short, we are called to be stewards of God’s resources. In this paper I contrast the basic postulates in economics with biblical principles and discuss some possible applications in today’s economy. Interestingly, Sabbath principles reveal much about how God intends for people to operate in economic systems. They involve exercising restraint, trusting in God’s abundant provision for meeting people’s needs, pursuing justice, showing mercy, and assuring that all households have access to sufficient resources and a productive base. I discuss Sabbath principles in detail below.
Our world seems to be crying out for alternative approaches to economic challenges such as overwork, materialism, poverty and injustice. And since God reveals to believers a better way, we can be salt and light in our world by creatively applying biblical principles creatively in many settings. To do so we need to acknowledge realities and accept genuine limits of our economic systems, but we also can question key assumptions in light of biblical principles. For instance, as I wrote in the Prologue, I sincerely question the idea that it is impossible for corporate executives or other accomplished professionals to observe a Sabbath day each week. But if this is the common thinking among most people, those of us who disagree can offer an alternative viewpoint.
An on-going challenge in the world is the vastly unequal distribution of wealth and power, where millions of people lack sufficient levels of basic necessities. Poverty is a state wherein people have access to too few resources to participate in a dignified way in their society (adapted from Sider 1997). It is caused by at least four factors: 1) Laziness, when able-bodied adults with opportunities are unwilling to work hard. 2) Calamity such as acts of nature or broken families. 3) Exploitation such as substandard (unfair) wages, prices or working conditions. 4) Structural impediments that include lack of suitable education and jobs, racism, or inability to own or control productive resources. (more here)
The Bible recognizes that inequalities will inevitably arise in “fallen” society (Deuteronomy 15:11a, “there will always be poor people in the land.”), but at the same time, it teaches that God’s people are to dismantle the fundamental patterns and structures of stratified wealth and power so that there is “enough for everyone.” (Deut. 15:11b: Therefore be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land).
Rather than trying to discredit capitalism or rebel against my neoclassical economic training, I want to call attention to the key assumptions of those systems and suggest a refocusing in light of biblical principles. Certainly most of us would agree that capitalism, among the economic models humans have devised, is most effective at distributing resources efficiently, generating job opportunities and creating wealth, but it still suffers from failures such as great income disparities, harmful concentrations of power, poverty and other social ills. As Douglas Vickers (1976) has written,
It would be a mistake to assume that the Scripture is opposed to capitalism as a form of economic organization. In fact, it would appear that the scriptural teaching on the right of personal property accords directly with some form of a capitalist economic order, involving as it does a measure of freedom in the disposal of endowed resources and the investment of wealth, consistent with the rights of others and the on-going development of the creation mandate. But it is clear that . . . the scriptural teaching is opposed to the evils and injustices of which an uninhibited capitalism is capable (p. 132).
Christians need to be aware of the evils and injustices that can result in our economic systems, consider appropriate remedies to the problems, and at the same time be mindful of instances of where justice, peace, provision for the poor and other biblical principles are upheld and may be expanded upon.
In the next three sections of the chapter I contrast the concept of scarcity with the biblical view of abundance, the postulate that more goods are better than less with the biblical view of moderation, and the concept of self-interest with the biblical principle of stewardship.
Scarcity vs. Abundance
Scarcity means that available resources are insufficient to satisfy all desired uses thereof. The concept hinges on the assumption of the “desired uses” of limited resources. I assert that much scarcity we perceive is a choice based on desires driven by greed, discontent, distrust, or other values antithetical to biblical principles. When I find myself focusing on scarcity, it is because I am falling prey to fear and not fully trusting in God’s abundance. While certainly to some extent scarcity is an objective problem in our world, and is a primary reason humans have developed public institutions and economic systems, much of the scarcity we perceive is subjective.
Since the key to survival in any profession is to provide a good or service that people cannot or will not produce for themselves, the greater the degree of scarcity (real or perceived), the higher the price and the potential profits. Now, certainly, profits are necessary to enhance the long-term viability of businesses and expand job opportunities, but not all products or services are beneficial, and a goal of ever-higher profits can lead to undesirable outcomes, such as the imperative of higher and higher levels of consumption.
The emphasis on scarcity in economic systems is unsupportable in light of the biblical theme that God’s provision is adequate for all. The biblical alternative view to scarcity is enough, since the Bible indicates that the earth’s resources are sufficient to meet the needs of mankind. According to Genesis 1 and 2, God created a world overflowing with abundance where humans’ greatest challenge was managing the wild productivity. After the “fall”, scarcity did come into being where work involves sweat and toil and relationships between humans and God are broken (Genesis 3:14-24), and ever since, the world has been affected by untamed evil and disregard for God. However, God’s intent for the world has never changed. God created the world to produce enough to sustain human life and it is still capable of doing so.
As discussed in a prior chapter, Sabbath keeping involves trusting in God’s abundant provision of resources, including time and material goods. When we distrust, we hoard what we have and ignore the needs of others who may have much less than we do. When we trust, we can be funnels instead of sponges, conduits rather than receptacles. We can receive with gladness all God has to offer and in turn we can share what God provides with others to promote the common good in our world.
As with many aspects of our faith, we experience a paradox: we live in a world of limited resources yet know God created the world to provide enough resources for our needs. We acknowledge the world’s reality, but we have a more complete view of reality if we consider God’s perspective. The world tells us to trust in material abundance; the Bible tells us to trust in God. Where the business world stresses that scarcity is necessary to drive up prices and profits, an abundance mentality says, “produce enough and distribute appropriately to all.” The world teaches us to fear material scarcity and believe we can never have “enough;” the Bible teaches us to fear God and pursue righteousness and that will be enough. Palmer (1994) aptly explained the paradox this way:
The Gospel sees abundance where the world sees scarcity, and scarcity where the world sees abundance . . . . In gathering material abundance we will find spiritual scarcity, while in sharing material scarcity with the larger community we discover spiritual abundance (p. 92).
He expressed great concern that fears of scarcity cause us to become more and more self-interested and less and less other-interested. He noted the irony that the more we fear scarcity the more we hoard goods, creating more scarcity. Even with modest scarcity in our society, we tend to ignore many critical issues such as high infant mortality rates, high inner-city poverty and unemployment rates. How would we behave, Palmer asked, if genuine scarcity were to occur? He pointed out a harsh reality about affluent Americans who are obsessed with personal gain:
In giving our self-interest priority, in declaring our independence from the common life, we become not strong but weak and vulnerable. We know that we have set ourselves apart, that we are pulling for no one and no one is pulling for us—and we fear the day when we cannot pull for ourselves. So, private life in acquisitive society is shot-through with scarcity. We are scarce in support, scarce in the satisfaction that cooperation and mutual aid can bring—but abundant in the fear that comes as we realize how alone we are (p. 102).
By contrast, he wrote that “to belong to a community that cares, a public that knows how to distribute resources with equity—that is to know real abundance” (p. 102). What is needed is a proper perspective on what constitutes enough.
Perhaps if we focus on abundance rather than scarcity, we can more readily share our resources and/or devise solutions to cultivation or distribution problems in the face of homelessness, hunger and other problems. I’m emphasizing here the difference between acknowledging realistic limits and perceived scarcity. The difference goes beyond semantics; more directly it is an issue of perspective. What if we, both individually and collectively, obsess less about what we lack, are more grateful for the “plenty” we do have, and consider the possibility that resources may be more abundant than we think? Perhaps then, through prayer and other means we can better discern God’s will and become aware of resources and solutions we have not yet considered. God certainly can and does provide resources in miraculous ways and all we need do is ask and then be grateful for God’s abundant provision.
Success is redefined as when no person has less than what is necessary for him or her to survive and thrive. Solutions to poverty, then, will involve faithful confidence in God’s abundant care, reevaluating our needs and desires, and considering the reasons that not all persons have access to sufficient resources. It may require some self-restraint for those with more than enough resources, but those with more need not become impoverished just so those with too little have enough. God’s resources are unlimited!
According to Genesis 1 and 2 God created a world overflowing with abundance where humans’ greatest challenge was managing the wild productivity. After the Fall, while limits on material resources developed where work involves sweat and toil and relationships between humans and God are broken (Genesis 3:14-24), God’s intent for the world did not change. God created the world to produce enough to sustain human life and it is still capable of doing so. For example, research has shown that there is more than enough food for all humans even while hunger persists (See for example, Paradox of Plenty, Douglas Boucher, ed., 1999, First Food Books.)
While profit is necessary for business success in providing goods & services of value, other goals beyond profit maximization are also worthwhile. Economics Professor James Halteman (1995) explained that concern for lavish wealth was a prominent theme in the Bible primarily because of the belief that people accumulated wealth at the expense of others and that accumulated wealth was hoarded wealth, rather than productive wealth. So the Bible does not offer a perspective on accumulated wealth in the form of capital goods. This perspective is left for believers to develop in a capital-oriented economy. Even so, Halteman wrote, “the dangers of accumulated wealth are still quite real, and believers today must not take them lightly—even if the accumulation is in productive wealth” (p. 67). As Swenson (1992) noted, our motives for saving and investing are to be God-honoring, not self-serving, for we “cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24b).
The problem in our world, wrote Lowery (2000), is not scarcity, but rather distribution. Rather than a focus on greater levels of production, while that always will be important, a sabbath mindset looks for impediments to sufficient resources and solutions for better distribution of resources so that all persons’ basic needs are met. While the Bible recognizes that inequalities will inevitably arise in fallen society (Deuteronomy 15:4a, e.g.), it also teaches that God’s people are to dismantle the fundamental patterns and structures of stratified wealth and power so that every person has enough resources to survive and thrive. Solutions to poverty will involve faithful confidence in God’s abundant care, reevaluating our needs and desires, and considering the reasons that not all persons have access to sufficient resources. It may require some self-restraint for those with more than enough resources, but those with more don’t necessarily need to become impoverished just so those with too little have enough. God’s resources are unlimited!
We who are “rich” by worldly standards need not feel guilty about our wealth, necessarily. Nor is it necessary for us to become impoverished so that others will have more resources. That mindset contradicts the abundance doctrine. However, the Bible does indicate God’s desire that all people have access to sufficient resources to live an abundant life, and we learn of this in part through sabbath and jubilee provisions discussed below.
More and More vs. Moderation
While in most economic decisions, at the margin, more goods are better than less, this view can lead to a perspective that material goods bring happiness. At its worst, this viewpoint leads to materialism and an unlimited pursuit of material goods. Further, it can create an imperative for unlimited economic growth, leading, some would argue, to insurmountable social and ecological problems. It also can exacerbate fears of scarcity and lead to systems of distribution so unequal as to guarantee great disparities of wealth and power. Certainly, human needs and wants are ongoing, but what we need in unlimited amounts are not material things, but things of God. We are fundamentally incomplete and have a figurative hole, but it is a God-shaped hole, not a Mercedes-shaped one. (No offense to Mercedes owners.) Material things never truly satisfy. Academic research bears this out: Once basic needs are met, more income does not bring more happiness (D. Myers 2001). Anything more stems from our desires. Not that all desires are wrong, but the “more is always better than less” mindset leads to bondage to a consumerism mentality. By contrast, true freedom comes from obedience to God. It is the liberty to choose what we ought. As John Paul II (1991, para. 41, p. 80) wrote, “A person who is concerned solely or primarily with possessing and enjoying . . . cannot be free.” Jewish scholar Tsvi Blanchard (1998) claimed that “anxieties fuel much of our consumption,” and to successfully exploit these anxieties advertisers must make us believe their “theological dogma.” As Blanchard put it: “We are flawed, broken and missing something important, but we can be made whole if only we buy something, namely, the product they are advertising” (p. 97). Indeed, a majority of advertising aims at “need creation” (Swenson 1992, p. 193). If we really needed what was being sold, advertisers would not need to convince us. Need must be created, and discontent must be stirred up in an already overfed society.
Alas, discontent has become a way of life in America
I believe what truly drives people, more than the desire for material things or financial success, is the fulfillment they experience in the striving. It is the work itself, the challenges, and the connections with others that give people a sense of fulfillment. This is God’s intent for humans. (See Ecclesiastes 5:19.) Kim Polese, a successful entrepreneur from Silicon Valley , had this to say on the subject:
I have so many friends who started companies who are worth $50 million and more, and they are depressed. They think that they’ve made it, and they take six months off and they realize they’re more depressed than ever. Because this wasn’t really what ultimately it turned out that life was all about. . . . I see unhappy billionaires . . . coming back again and again to start another company. And what really attracts them is connecting with other people. It’s the team. It’s creating something. It’s having a mission. That’s what turns people on. That’s what life is about (Petzinger 2000, p. R24).
While the Bible speaks of the blessings of great riches1, it also warns about them (Matt. 6:19, 24; Luke 12:15; I Tim. 6:9-10) and touts the wisdom of moderation (Prov. 23:4-5; 30:7-9; Eccl. 5:10-11). So while wealth itself is not the problem, great extremes of wealth can produce enormous temptations (Sider 1997), especially when we make decisions that are out of alignment with God’s will. Further, great wealth disparities can provoke envy. Novak (1996) explained that the founders of the American republic were mindful that most other republics in history had failed due to envy: the envy of one faction for another, one family for another, one clan for another, or of the poor toward the rich. The best way to defeat envy, asserted Novak, “is to generate economic growth through as many diverse industries and economic initiatives as possible, so that every family has the realistic possibility of seeing its economic condition improve within . . . three or four years” (p. 143).
So, in contrast to the principles of scarcity and more is better than less, the Bible emphasizes the principles of abundance and the value of moderation. More specifically, the Bible teaches that resources, while limited, are abundant and sufficient for the survival and prosperity of human life, and that limits are part and parcel of the created order. The notion of Sabbath-keeping captures the ideas of abundance and limits (Myers 1998a). The problem, wrote Lowery (2000), is not scarcity, but the will to share. Rather than a focus on greater levels of production, while that always will be important, the focus based on biblical principles moves toward better distribution of resources so that all persons’ basic needs are met. The measure of economic “success” moves beyond per capita GNP and is measured person-by-person. No person should have less than what is necessary for him or her to survive and thrive. Solutions to poverty, then, will involve faithful confidence in God’s abundant care, reevaluating our needs and desires, and considering the reasons that not all persons have access to sufficient resources. It may require some self-restraint for those with more than enough resources, but those with more don’t necessarily need to become impoverished just so those with too little have enough.
Self-Interest vs. Stewardship
Certainly, human behavior is strongly driven by the desire to take actions that yield the largest net advantage. This is the basis for theories of economics; namely that people make decisions based on their own self-interest. Further, our theories assert that the actions people take in the pursuit of their own interests create alternatives for others, and this is the basis for how we obtain cooperation among members of society in using what is available to provide what people want. In God’s economy, however, there are checks on self-interested behavior. God put limits on His people and held them to higher standards, as we will see in the discussion of Sabbath principles below. God wanted His people to care for the needs of others and always remember that He is the owner of all property and that they serve as his tenants – his stewards.
Interestingly, the Greek word for economic, oikonomia, is the same word used in the New Testament for stewardship, and it means proper management of the household. Economists no longer use the term yet it is important for Christians to keep the terms linked since stewardship is such a predominant theme in the Bible. Indeed, God is the creator of all, and creatorship implies ownership. For instance, Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” Further, Genesis 1:26 and 28 indicate that humans were put on earth, in part, to cultivate it, to make it more productive, to help creation go on creating. So as responsible stewards, not proprietors, managing another’s property, we help carry out God’s intent that the earth’s resources benefit everyone. As Sider (1997) noted, “property owners are not free to seek their own profit without regard for the needs of their neighbors” (p. 87). Similarly, Blanchard (1998) asserted that stewardship is the way of “sacred consumption” and suggested we consume our world with profound gratitude and deep awareness of its holiness. That way, he wrote, we will more fully acknowledge the real costs to others of our consumption. It requires that we slow down, live in the moment, and think more deliberately about what we have, what we are doing and how our choices impact others. This leads us to think about economic choices differently. I appreciate Rebecca Blank’s (1992) definition of economics from a Christian perspective in light of stewardship principles: the management of God’s household so that all may have life (p. 11). She explained that the “household” we are to consider includes not only our “kin” but any one in need. When making economic decisions, she wrote, “it is for those whole livelihood is most threatened that we should be most concerned” (p. 11).
In a Sabbath economy power and wealth are shared for the common good, greed is condemned and every person is to have enough to eat. Everyone who is able to work works and everyone gets what he or she needs to survive. According to Lowery (2000) weekly sabbath is a celebration anticipating a more just, humane world and helps to revitalize even the most vulnerable workers. It is a day of release, abundant life, healing and justice. Sabbath economics addressed conditions of scarcity, overwork and economic inequality that prevailed in ancient Israel Israel ’s social behavior – sympathy for strangers and support of the poor (Carson
Sider (1999) noted that the Jubilee call for everyone in Israelite culture to enjoy access to productive land would translate in modern industrial societies to machinery, and in information societies, knowledge. He also explained that a common effect of poverty is exclusion from community (See Proverb 19:7 for instance). Yet humans were created for community (Genesis 2:20-24) and God commanded the ancient Israelites to help their poor countrymen so that they “…can continue to live among you” (Lev. 25:36b). Since work is a major point of connection between the individual and the welfare of the community, according to Joseph Maciariello (1999), “unemployment . . . means exclusion from participation in the larger society with significant loss in dignity and also with loss of the social benefits that are derived from affiliation with society at large” (429). According to Ron Sider (1999) “Meaningful work …is essential for human dignity. Any able person who fails to work disgraces and corrodes his or her very being. Any system that could but does not offer every person the opportunity for meaningful work violates and crushes the human dignity bestowed by the Creator.” (p. 54)
Jubilee land redistribution, described in Leviticus 25, would assure the long-term survival of households and preservation of ancestral property and serve as a check on the long-term concentration of wealth in the hands of a rich few (Lowery 2000). It emphasizes the importance of strong extended families and “a basic equality of economic opportunity up to the point that all (families) can at least provide for their own basic needs through responsible work” (Sider, 1999, p. 65). In ancient Israel
In general, any actions motivated by love and that take into account the well-being of others are examples of living out sabbath principles. Sabbath involves caring for the whole person and all of creation. It’s a humanizing influence in a world that often seeks to dehumanize us. Vickers (1976) wrote that “Economic thought . . . must necessarily proceed under that rubric established by the mandate . . . ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind . . . [and] . . . thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’” (Matthew 22:37-39) (p. 46). Loving neighbor as self, he explained, is grounded in the sanctity of and the rights of the individual, and of individual dignity and freedom. This should determine the approach to all questions of economic and social policy, he asserted. If, on the other hand, we treat people as objects we depersonalize them and falsely assume that we need not concern ourselves with their problems. We may speak of “the company,” “the poor,” “the workers,” or “the government” and thus forget the human faces and souls within those categories. Wood (1999) described this tendency as a seduction that is culturally acceptable yet it leads us, she said, away from the heart of God and keeps us steeped in a sinful culture. Since God cares about each person, we also should respect the intrinsic value of and welfare of others. By contrast, as Wood noted, in our world today, “those who make money often harbor quiet disrespect for those who don’t” (p. 102). In fact, Wood asserted that when God’s people participate in unethical business practices, immoral behavior and disgracing the community of faith, it all starts with disrespect. “Disrespect,” she wrote, “seduces us to become the center of our universe” (p. 102). The Bible certainly contains many warnings against activities that would dishonor God’s desire for respecting all persons, such as extortion and stealing (Psalm 62:10), oppressing the poor (Proverbs 22:16) and failure to pay wages to workers (James 5:1-6).
According to Myers (1998b), even with the ascendancy of modern capitalism—with its often fierce antipathy toward “sabbath economics”—the sabbath vision has not been extinguished. He called his readers to diligently and creatively explore contemporary, concrete analogies of sabbath and jubilee practices of old. The task is as imperative as it is daunting, he claimed, but the alternative is worse. Likewise, Lowery (2000) asserted that we must define boundaries, set limits to the ubiquitous workplace, find ways to deliver sufficient and timely relief for families, communities and ecosystems pressured by the sometimes brutal logic of markets. Practical solutions will shift and change over time, he wrote, but the value of abundance, celebration and social solidarity that lie at the heart of the biblical sabbath and jubilee offer enduring principles by which to shape our lives together. Of course, modern concepts of sabbath and jubilee must hold utopian ideals in tension with what can actually be achieved. The point is neither pie-in-the sky by-and-by nor human sacrifice on the altar of “practical politics,” wrote Lowery. He continued with these powerful words:
Sabbath and jubilee consciousness does not accept the ‘intractability’ of poverty and violence. But neither does it countenance principled paralysis over our failure to achieve utopia. It will push for the dignity and well-being of every single person but never allow the perfect to become the enemy of the possible.
To the impoverished and violated, sabbath and jubilee offer hope and issue a call to action. God wills that everyone have enough to survive and flourish. Homelessness, starvation, violence, and degrading labor are not ‘the way of the world’ . . . Poverty and degradation are unnatural in the sabbath and jubilee view. Sustaining abundant life for all is the fundamental logic of creation, the vocation of every human being. All people have the right to sufficient food, clothing, housing, safety, and dignity.
To the comfortable, sabbath and jubilee offer assurance and call for self-examination. The assurance is that God desires not the impoverishment of the rich, but enrichment for the poor. Wealth is neither an embarrassment nor a spiritual danger if it is shared with the same generosity as that shown by God through the lavishly productive world. Faithful confidence in God frees us to share boldly (p. 149-150).
Lowery (2000), as others have done, challenged his readers to evaluate their patterns of consumption and giving to see their place in larger systems of production and distribution. Sabbath and jubilee promise abundance but call for self-restraint and generous sharing, he emphasized. Above all, they perceive the world as the blessed gift of God. Gifts are treated differently than commodities. They are treated rightly and with utmost honor and care. Actions of justice and prayers of gratitude for abundant life lavishly given mark the sabbath and jubilee consciousness. Sabbath principles teach us to hold our possessions loosely, remembering that, “godliness with contentment is great gain” (I Timothy 6:6), to consider the plight of the poor and needy over our own worldly desires, and always to be generous and willing to share.
As I have noted before, assumptions of scarcity and unlimited needs and wants that underlie decision making by firms and governments can create an imperative toward unlimited economic growth and lead to social and ecological problems. Sabbath and jubilee principles of abundance and self-restraint run counter to these largely unquestioned assumptions and focus attention on better distribution rather than greater levels of production. But, how might all of this play out in our modern society? Below I briefly describe just a few contemporary applications to the jubilee and sabbath principles in the private and public spheres. Many are not without their controversial elements, but I believe that as Christians we should be concerned with these and similar issues and carefully analyze their merits in light of biblical principles. We also can serve as advocates for change, as appropriate.
References – add more from March 2002 paper
Carson, D. A. 1982. Ed. From Sabbath to Lord’s Day: A Biblical, historical and theological investigation.
Halteman, James. 1995. The Clashing Worlds of Economics and Faith. Scottdale , PA
Lowery
Myers, Ched. 1998. “Jesus New Economy of Grace: The biblical vision of Sabbath economics. Part 2 of 2.” Sojourners Online July-August.
Myers, David. 2001. “The Funds, Friends and Faith of Happy People.” American Psychologist,
January, 55, pp. 56-67.
Palmer, Parker. J. 1994. The Company of Strangers: Christians and the Renewal of America’s Public Life. New York
Sider, Ronald. 1997. “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger – Revisited.” Christian Scholar’s Review. XXVI:3, pp. 322-335.
Sider (1999)
Swenson, Richard A. 1992. Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives. Colorado Springs
Vickers, Douglas. 1976. Economics and Man: Prelude to a Christian Critique. Nutley , NJ
