“How Christian is free market capitalism, and what is the proper Christian response to those who succeed in it and those who fail in it?”
Definitions cause and prevent wars and schisms. First some definitions, to understand where I am coming from for this issue.
1) Christian = a person who disciplines their life’s ethics after the Christ. (Followers of the Christ) In my personal faith that Christ was the man Jesus of the Gospels in Holy Scriptures.
2) Free Market Capitalism = an economic system that allows supply and demand to determine the cost and the focus of production (agricultural, industrial, services, etc.).
Jesus was a capitalist. As a carpenter/contractor, he made his living according to the demand for his services. Scripture doesn’t really let us know his economic level, although his contemporaries seem to have been somewhat successful in their fields of endeavors.
Thus the question, “How Christian is free market capitalism?” It depends upon the ethics of the individuals in the marketplace. If all conduct their business with a Christian code of ethics it is a Christian free marketplace.
History has proven that to be a pipe dream. But it doesn’t alter the fact that a Christian must follow the Christian code of ethics regardless of what the rest of the marketplace is doing. In short a Christian must learn to use the Christian golden rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) in a system where the golden rule of most is do unto others before they do unto you and he who has the gold rules. A tough task, but one that many very successful people have come close to doing most of the time.
What than is the Christian response to those who succeed in the marketplace and those who fail? Maybe a conversation I had with a rich lawyer might help. He said he felt guilty in church because of how he had been blessed with riches due to his God given talent.
I told him I was sure God was pleased to hear him acknowledge his riches were the result of a gift from God. He didn’t claim riches in arrogance, he claimed it in humility.
Next I said in the gospels the disciples went about their business of spreading the gospel. How do you think they were able to do that full time? He responded, “Others helped them along the way.”
My response was, “You got it!” God gives the gift of earnings to some and they underwrite the work of others. This is essentially the basic financial system of the church.
What about the poor? Hey, Jesus said, “The poor will always be with us.” And we are to care for them. So, the more successful a person is in the marketplace the more they will be able to care for the poor.
My whole notion fails if a person is in the marketplace primarily out of greed and not out of a response to God. But operating under Christian ethics in a non-Christian atmosphere is nothing new and neither are the results. Sometimes the Christian capitalist is successful and sometimes they crucify him. Regardless of the situation all Christian capitalist must apply the laws of God when it comes to the distribution of the wealth. After all since it is God’s gift that made it possible the earnings all belong to God anyway.
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