God’s Marketplace?
God’s Marketplace?
Unlike the debates about global warming, no one seems to be denying that the recent violent upheavals in the economies of the U.S. and the world are entirely man-made. And other than a few extremist apocalyptic crazies, we do not seem to be pointing to these crises as God’s will for the world.
What can we as ministers and congregational leaders possibly say in times like these? And if this isn’t God’s marketplace, then what is?
Preachers across the nation are trying to give comfort as best they can to churches full of anxiety, growing unemployment, personal financial hardship and even ruin, and fundamental disillusionment about the very systems on which our economies are based.
Bible verses about laying up treasure in heaven, and the psalms’ solace of God as our refuge, point to our worth in God’s eyes being far more than any amount of worldly wealth. So many passages of scripture can be called upon to quiet our fears and keep our focus on God’s vision and values, and no doubt those proven and ageless lessons need to be preached in these hard times.
Prayer, “letting go and letting God,” and drawing close to our faith communities of support, are all reasonable and comforting reactions to crisis.
But without vision, the people perish. (Prov 29:18) And now may well be the time that we are called on for more — to preach about God’s vision for our lives in community. And we are called on to deliver this message to the blue-collar workers and the bankers; the laborers and the CEO’s alike who are sitting in our sanctuaries.
Regardless of our own personal financial condition, perhaps as God’s people we need to urge our nation’s leaders, as the Presbyterian Church (USA) did on October 4, 2008 in a letter to Congress, to find a just and long-term solution:
“As followers of Jesus Christ, let us join in a call to our own people and to our fearful nation to hear God’s word that ‘perfect love casts out fear’; and let us look anew at our economic system — one which has been immensely productive in many respects, but which has tended to favor the strong and aggressive, often at great cost to the weak. … to find a solution that will move our economy closer to a vision of a just economy, where human worth and the common good are valued above economic self-interest, personal wealth, and greed.”
Yet even further, we — as people of faith — need to urge all of God’s faithful to reflect in our own dealings with others in our secular marketplace lives the same compassion and respect for others that we recite in our churches. Communal life in a capitalist democracy such as ours does not have to be solely based on a winner-takes-all, zero-sum game mentality. Personal greed and unfettered risk-taking does not necessarily lead to the efficient marketplace. Yes, we need to play by the rules — but we do not have to play it so close to the line that our soul’s values become compromised. And it is probably safe to say that God’s ultimate vision for our lives is not just to make as much money as we can.
This issue is a critical one. There are unique periods in history that set the tone for decades to come. The industrial revolution and economic expansion of the late 1800s lit the fuse on a free-market frenzy that continued to the 1930s. Much of our culture in the late 1990’s and into the millennium reflects a continuation of the feel-good consumerism that exploded in the 1950’s and 60’s. The attitudes that emerge as we enter the next decade may well determine our social culture for twenty or thirty years or even longer.
Of course, not everyone is a CEO, capable with a single stroke of setting the corporate culture for his or her organization. But each of us must face the challenges of living every day in light of what we believe; in light of how we see that we have been blessed by our Creator. As each one of us goes about making our routine, day-to-day decisions, we have to ask, “How can I reflect the unconditional and inclusive and reconciling love of God in my life and the lives of the people I encounter?” Each of us must ask the question, “How can I integrate the values of my faith into my workday life?” And each one of us must act on the answers to these questions. Our lives and our souls need not be compartmentalized in some schizophrenic gymnastic. It’s far simpler to act where there is wholeness and integrity of belief and action.
Christians affirm together that they should look to the life of Jesus as a model for their own behavior, and discover time and again that God calls us all to reflect our faith in practical and involved ways. In forming our business ethics, in helping to create our corporate cultures, in support for specific legislation and regulatory oversight, in establishing the spirit of our interactions with co-workers and family members — really in whatever we do, we are instructed to “do everything for the glory of God.”
And you can’t go wrong with that.
