Could Faithful Living Tank the Economy?

Meander through this one with me.

Greed is the basis of our economy. Along with envy, it is the cornerstone of the idol of our time, the universally worshiped god known as ‘economic growth.’ If we were neither greedy nor envious, the economy would collapse in five minutes.

–

Paul Kingsnorth

, “Against Christian Civilization”

In December, author Paul Kingsnorth gave a provocative lecture for First Things. Debates about Christianity and civilization are always open-ended. How would you possibly end a conversation about the beliefs and behaviors of a whole society?

For that matter, where do you begin? To give myself some focus, I’ll start with the quote above. That particular point lodged in my head, even though it’s now been weeks since I listened to the talk. From there, I plan to meander through some related thoughts. Specifically, I’ll return to one I shared in a Substack note a few weeks back. In it, I touched on the hazy idea of a “Christian nation.”

The resulting post may not seem as spiritually “pure” as, say, suggestions for praying through a psalm. But I’ve never been convinced it’s possible to draw a clean, clear line between the spiritual and the practical, or the personal and the political. The Hebrew word we translate “soul” has a broader meaning than many realize. It does include a person’s spirit, emotions, and perceptions—consciousness, as we might say today. Yet it also includes the physical body. The soul, then, is something like the whole person, in all of our wondrous and mysterious complexity.

It’s as whole people that we lumber out of bed in the morning to pray—and also to make coffee. We teach our children to hope in the Lord, and meanwhile, we grapple with the mundane decisions that shape their present lives. Many of us serve the Lord at jobs that have practical, here-and-now aims. We get to them by driving on roads paid for by taxes. I could go on, but from my perspective the question isn’t “how do I draw a line between the spiritual and the non-spiritual?”—which I’m not sure is possible. My struggle is more like this: since all of creation echoes the Creator, how do I decide what not to pray and write about?

So that’s why I’m venturing down this road. But I feel like I’m already getting sidetracked, so I’d better get back to the quote:

Greed is the basis of our economy. Along with envy, it is the cornerstone of the idol of our time, the universally worshiped god known as ‘economic growth.’ If we were neither greedy nor envious, the economy would collapse in five minutes.

I’ve written about my respect for the Amish. So you might be relieved to know I’m not going to argue that all Christians should try some kind of back-to-the-land lifestyle. And I’m certainly not rooting for the economy to melt down. I’m as dependent on the system as everyone else. I shudder to think how people would respond if the trucks stopped rolling in to the megastores for even a couple of weeks.

Still, Kingsworth’s point about greed deserves serious consideration. 1 Timothy 6:10 describes the love of money as “a root of all kinds of evil” and further says that this desire has caused people to wander away from the faith. Meanwhile, the modern economy needs advertising like a car needs gas. And the ads that bombard our brains always remind us that we need more money. Because without it, you won’t get more stuff, more security, more adventure, more sex appeal—you name it.

Jesus, of course, had a different take:

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:24-26

Now imagine if tens of millions of Americans suddenly repented of their love of money. Let’s say hundreds of millions around the globe. Try to envision a world where lots of people hardly care about what they eat, drink, or wear. Overnight, advertising would become a waste of money. Retailers would go into the red. People would lose jobs, and stock markets would react. The economy would tank. After the inevitable mess, we might need entirely different financial metrics and models.

But of course, that’s a thought experiment.

In reality, very few people think and live as committed Christians. Researcher George Barna found that only about 4% of adult Americans have a biblical worldview. And even among that remnant, many approach Jesus’ teachings on money with caution. We’ll happily concede that we shouldn’t get too emotionally attached to our bank accounts. But suggest to any modern church that Jesus might want us to downgrade our lifestyles, and you’re going to take a lot of heat.

Of course, much of that is beside Kingsnorth’s point. He’s not saying that Christians have the power to transform the economy. His broader argument in the lecture is that we should be wary of claims that Christianity can be a force for civilization-building. As he makes clear, our society is built atop a lot of sinful assumptions. I think this particular point is hard to argue against.

Take, for example, some of Jesus’ best-known words. Like the quote from Matthew 6 above, this is part of the Sermon on the Mount:

You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Matthew 5:38-39

Let’s first carve out space for the military and law enforcement to do their jobs.¹ We’ll still have an earthquake question on our hands: What would life be like if a whole society sought to live by Jesus’ words? What would happen if every committed Christian did?

The answer is that we have no idea. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is calling for a way of life vastly different from anything most people know. This, to me, is where the rubber meets the road with this conversation. And this is where I think Kingsnorth has a point that many believers brush aside too quickly. The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ longest collection of teachings in the Bible. It’s his most plain-spoken description of how God’s people are to live.

So if we forge ahead with a vision for “Christian civilization” without taking it into account, how truly Christian could that vision ever be? And if we do take the Sermon on the Mount at face value, it immediately upends any realistic blueprint for a nation or society.

We warn individual believers that trying to give only parts of your life to Jesus will eventually backfire. Couldn’t the same danger could apply on a national scale?

Of course, I’m asking these questions of myself as much as anyone. After all, I’m the guy who said this:

I’d still mostly stand by this, although I’d now rewrite part of it, as I’ll explain below. More than anything, I don’t think I accurately expressed what was on my mind. Here’s a response from

Dr Tara Slatton

that got me thinking:

Here’s the rest of it, including a little overlap:

Arguably since it is up to God to actually soften the hearts or call people to repentance our path is even easier, it’s to share the gospel of Christ and to disciple them once they believe. While this can be difficult I can honestly say I have a hard time seeing how this has resulted in suffering in the U.S. outside some fringes where conversion results in conflict within families etc.

I am curious what suffering you are foreseeing, or what exactly you mean by a path to a more Christian nation. Will it be difficult yes, but I’m far from convinced that suffering is the proper term.

Obviously everything should be done in love so I agree with you there.

The kind of suffering we’re talking about matters here. I don’t want to minimize any kind of suffering, and I’m sure Dr. Slatton wouldn’t either. Depression, heartache, grief, loneliness, fear: you might pass by twenty people burdened by some combination of these on a trip through the grocery store. Their prevalence doesn’t make their sting any less painful.

That being said, I can definitely see how the phrase “extraordinary willingness to suffer” would bring physical persecution to mind. And as miserable as loneliness can be, it pales in comparison to what Christians have faced at the hands of Fulani Muslims.

There’s also the complicating fact that persecution doesn’t necessarily lead to greater Christian influence. We can point to examples in the New Testament where it did. Today’s Iran might be a similarly harrowing, yet hopeful example. But there are also plenty of places in the world where fierce persecution has kept the number of Christians very, very low. North Korea’s monstrous regime comes to mind. So does the heart-wrenching turn of events in Afghanistan. The church grew there during the American occupation, but the Taliban have since made brutal efforts to erase Christianity.

Take a moment to reflect on the church in difficult places. Try some of the links to learn more if you like. Please pray as well. The grim reality of Christians under persecution brings up another point I want to get to, but I don’t want to rush you past this.

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Earlier I wrote that we should approach the idea of a Christian civilization or nation with caution. We live in a sinful and fallen world, one where the Sermon on the Mount undercuts every society’s basic assumptions.

And yet a counterpoint shouldn’t be overlooked—there’s a vast different between a nation where Christians can thrive, however imperfectly, and one where persecution dominates. It’s good to question what’s meant by a “Christian nation.” But there’s still a vast difference between America’s spiritual health and Saudi Arabia’s. Surely there’s something Christian about the former.

Furthermore, real, consequential moral shifts have taken place within America in the space of just a few generations. This is especially true when it comes to marriage. There was never a golden era when millions loved and prayed for their enemies. But there was a time where biblical marriage was just. . .marriage. Surely there was something Christian about our nation’s past.

Timothy and Kathy Keller’s book The Meaning of Marriage offers a few snapshots of the sea change:

The divorce rate [today] is nearly twice what it was in 1960. In 1970, 89 percent of all births were to married parents, but today only 60 percent are. Most tellingly, over 72 percent of American adults were married in 1960, but only 50 percent were in 2008.

The Kellers’ book was published in 2011, four years before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Marriage is arguably a culture’s defining institution. Its transformation in America is having effects we’re only beginning to understand.

Only God’s Kingdom will last forever. Even so, we want a country that reflects Christian truth as much as possible. We should pray for people to turn from greed just as we pray to rebuild a true understanding of marriage. We should work toward both in our own lives and the broader society.

With that in mind, here’s how I’d now write that earlier note (change in italics):

If a path to a more Christian nation exists right now, walking it will require a great willingness to sacrifice and to persevere in love.

It’s unknown if or when American Christians will face physical persecution, so “extraordinary willingness to suffer” wasn’t the best phrase to use. But the Way, as the earliest believers called it, is always a life of sacrifice.

Taking up your cross might seem like a strange way to expand a kingdom’s influence. Turning the other cheek may look like weakness. But if we could see into the depths of reality, we’d know that’s exactly how we overcome our enemies. A lot of politicians in Washington, D.C. refuse to believe that. But as the apostle Paul knew, the rulers in the unseen have already been put on notice:

Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace. . .though I am the very least of all the saints. . .to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 3:7-10

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Thank you for reading—especially if you made it this far!

If you’re interested in the broader conversation about “Against Christian Civilization,” you might look at Peter Leithart’s response, which Kingsnorth acknowledges has merit.

1. Romans 13:1-5