Every Good Thing

An Introduction to the Material World and the Common Good for Christians

David W. Jones

• Publisher: Lexham Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781577997023
• Topic: Theologie & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

The physical world around us should have just as much bearing on how Christians act and think as the life to come. But Christians often don't understand how the Bible speaks directly to this important aspect of everyday life.In Every Good Thing, David W. Jones illustrates the wide variety of areas--wealth and poverty, tithing and creation-care, vocation and Sabbath--impacted by our understanding of the Bible's teaching on the material realm. This short book surveys key concepts and controversies on each topic, accompanied by Bible passages to help readers develop a more robust worldview of the physical world around us.After all, Christians should take the life of Christ as an example for their own--and his life on earth reflected a deep concern for and engagement with the world in which he walked and breathed, worked and lived. So, too, God calls us to think biblically about how our beliefs impact our material lives.

CHAPTER 1

Fundamentals and Foundations

If we are being honest, many of us would admit we have a hard time understanding how Christianity relates to our lives Monday through Saturday. Sure, we know we’re supposed to apply the simple takeaways from each Sunday’s sermon—keep the Ten Commandments and “be like Jesus.” But it’s challenging for most of us to bridge the gap between seeing Christianity as a Sunday-only phenomenon (or an eternal-life insurance policy) and seeing how faith and the Bible relate to all of life. This is especially true when it comes to living in the material world.

The material world: What are we as Christians to think of it? How does God call us to live in it? Let’s start by defining what we mean by “material world” so that we’re all on the same page. Put most simply, the material world is the world in which we live. We could also use the term “material realm” or, in some cases, “created realm” or “created order.” This world involves not only our physical surroundings, but also how we conduct ourselves as believers in the context of our families, workplaces, and communities, both local and global.

With that understanding, let’s move on to explore believers’ various perceptions of the material world. Many Christians seem to think the material realm is evil—after all, we’re supposed to focus on the spiritual realm, right? Many define Christianity as making sure people are born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, and headed for an eternal spiritual existence before God in heaven. Some perceive the material world as the realm of sin, temptation, greed, and principalities and powers of darkness. These believers may wonder why Christians should be concerned about the material world and its related issues. True, most of us embrace the vague idea that we are supposed to care for poor people (Jesus did) and to give to our churches (the bills need to be paid), and no one wants to be thought of as lazy. Yet, is there more to living in the material world as Christians?

This little book aims to show that as Christians we must be concerned with the material world, both for our own good and for the good of our neighbors. Indeed, biblically speaking, the material here-and-now is just as important as the sweet by-and-by. God cares about the created realm, and he cares about the way we live. Scripture speaks about issues such as wealth and poverty, work and rest, economics and finance, and we will cover some of its teachings on these topics. The goal of this work, then, is to help you, as a follower of Jesus Christ, better understand how to live in the material world for the common good.

The Material World

With so little teaching in Christian circles about living in the material world, we may wonder why we should care about it at all. When was the last time you heard a good sermon on wealth, work, or vocation, for example? Have you read a good Christian book recently on ministering to the poor, keeping the Sabbath, or participating in mercy ministries? Probably not, if you’re like most believers. When Christians do teach about the material world, we tend to get it wrong in one extreme or the other—from a fundamentalist mentality of “it’s all going to burn up one day anyway” to the prosperity gospel and its false promises of health, wealth, and happiness for a small, recurring monthly donation.

Despite the relative lack or distortion of gospel-centric teaching about the created realm, Christians should care about material issues for a number of reasons. First and foremost is that the Bible is filled with teachings related to the material world. We’re familiar with many such passages: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils” (1 Tim 6:10); “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thess 3:10); and “For you always have the poor with you” (Matt 26:11). And there are scores of lesser-known passages that address everything from saving and lending to social justice and financial ethics. When considered in total, the Bible is a surprisingly material-oriented, earthy book.

Of course, the material world is where we live. We ought to be concerned with how we interact, as believers, with our families, workplaces, and communities. Faith without real-life value is useless. If Christianity is a legitimate world- and life-view, we ought to expect that it will speak to material issues. We ought to desire to know what the Bible says about such things—and we need to get it right in practice. Those who say they want to be saved so that they can live as they please clearly don’t understand the offer or extent of the gospel.

The Bible is clear that Jesus cared about the material world. His example—which we will look at shortly—and message was not one of detachment from the physical realm, but one of involvement. Indeed, the incarnation itself proves this. Have you ever noticed the recurring material, economic, and stewardship-oriented themes in Jesus’ teachings—let alone the ease with which he moved between the rich and the poor? For instance, the Gospel narratives reveal Jesus freely interacting with people of all economic statuses. In addition, Christ spoke in his parables about workers, owners, stewards, creditors, debtors, pearls, coins, fish, talents, minas, investing, wealth, poverty—the list goes on. Very earthy stuff. It’s hard to imagine that someone could really have the mind of Christ without being interested in the material world with which Jesus was so familiar and concerned.

We also have a very practical reason to investigate what the Bible says about material things: Our perspective on this issue will affect our own flourishing. As with all of God’s revelation in Scripture, there is a certain practicality that comes with knowledge of content and obedience to commands. We can call this “human flourishing” or “the common good.” Since God does not randomly give humanity directives but rather created us to do what he tells us to do, getting it right or wrong in regard to the created order will affect our contentment (from a personal perspective), our discipleship (from the church’s perspective), and even our witness (from the lost world’s perspective).

So, if the Bible speaks both directly and indirectly about material issues, if the material world is where we presently live, if Jesus’ life and ministry demonstrate his concern with the created realm, and if we have a practical vested interest in what God reveals to us in the Bible, then the question is not why should we care about the material world, but why don’t we care about it? Knowing what the Bible says about money, economics, stewardship, work, and the like is not just an option for Christians; it’s an opportunity to be Christ-like, to flourish, and to be relevant to those around us.

Economics and Stewardship

Once we realize that the gospel affects the created order, we are naturally going to have questions: Is it more spiritual to be poor? Is it okay to be wealthy? Will I become rich if I serve God? How do we justify our wealth when so many are in need around the world? How do we care for the poor? How much money should I give to my church? Such questions are limitless, and the questions change with time and culture. While no one book could possibly answer all such questions, I hope to address some foundational themes that will enable you to live in the material world for the common good.

You can admit it: If this book was titled Economic Theory and Christian Living or The Bible and Stewardship, you probably wouldn’t be reading it, right? I wouldn’t either. Economics and stewardship sound boring. However, since this book is about living in the material realm, it will draw upon and include topics and concepts related to economics and stewardship—such as the transfer of material goods through commerce and monetary exchange, or labor and compensation in the workplace. But don’t put the book down just yet! I hope to show you that these ideas are not boring.

When I say “economics” I am not talking about the stock market or your 401(k) plan at work—at least not directly. The term “economy” comes from an ancient Greek word that means “the law of the house.” So when we speak about economics, we’re really talking about housekeeping—ordering and arranging the material things in the place where we live. If we view life through a wide-angle lens, we could say that the world is the house in which we live, and our interaction with other people and the material stuff of the world involves or is an act of economics. Of course, it’s a lot easier to say you’re interested in knowing what the Bible says about living in the material world than it is to say you want to know about biblical economics. But either way, we are talking about the same thing. It’s all housekeeping.

“Stewardship” is a very similar concept. I know—when you hear the term “stewardship” you think about those too-frequent, guilt-inducing sermons. Giving money to your church can be a form of stewardship (or a form of legalism!), and it certainly is important, but it doesn’t embody the entirety of the concept. The modern term “steward” comes from the Old English word stigweard, which means “housekeeper.” Stewardship, then, involves taking care of someone else’s stuff—namely, the homeowner’s material possessions. So, to return to our wide-angle lens, we can say that stewardship is the faithful management of God’s resources in God’s world to achieve God’s objectives.

When we talk about living in the material world, then, we’re actually having a discussion about economics and stewardship. We’re talking about the efficient use of God’s resources—neither wasting nor hoarding—as we live and interact with others. Indeed, Jesus appealed to just living—or being a good steward—in the parable of the Talents (see Matt 25:14–30). Conversely, Christ speaks about being a poor steward and interacting with others unjustly in the parable of the Tenants (although that is not the main theme; see Mark 12:1–11). Since Jesus talked about these things, we know that to live in the material world for the common good, we need to wisely handle the resources that God has entrusted to us, realizing he is ultimately the owner of the vineyard.

Material Wealth and Poverty

When we talk about living in the material world for the common good, the themes of wealth and poverty often arise. Of course, this is quite natural, for wealth and poverty are the concepts we use to measure the presence or absence of material goods. Although we’ll talk in greater depth about wealth and poverty later (see chapter 4), it will be helpful to define these two concepts as we begin this discussion about the material world. But as we’ll see, defining “wealth” and “poverty” might not be as easy as we might think.

What is wealth? What is poverty? How do we determine if we are rich or poor? Although these may seem like easy questions, the more thought we give to them, the harder they are to answer in an objective manner. Material wealth and poverty are typically determined within a certain context, relative to our immediate or cultural proximity and era. We’re not saying that everyone gets to make up their own definitions of wealth and poverty; rather, we’re saying that how we measure wealth and poverty is affected by when and where we live.

For example, by almost every conceivable material measurement, the average person living at the government-defined poverty level in the United States in the 21st century has a better (that is, more wealthy) life than the vast majority of individuals who lived in the first century. This is not because there are more or fewer wealthy or poor people living in either time period; it’s because we’re comparing different eras. So, while a dictionary may define wealth as the presence of material abundance and affluence and poverty as having few or no material possessions, it’s important to understand that these concepts are, necessarily, relative measurements.

Of course, given a choice, most people would choose wealth over poverty, regardless of how the status is measured. I know I would. Yet it’s interesting to note that the Bible describes each of these conditions as both a blessing and a curse. Let’s consider wealth first. Moses taught Israel, “Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth” (Deut 8:18). If God enables us to attain wealth, it must be a blessing. Scripture is full of examples of godly rich people—such as the patriarchs, Job, David, Solomon, and Joseph of Arimathea, among others. Since God is the source of wealth, and given the examples in Scripture of rich individuals who love God, it would seem honorable to desire wealth, if not to view wealth a...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Fundamentals and Foundations
• Chapter 2: Work and Vocation
• Chapter 3: Rest and Sabbath
• Chapter 4: Wealth and Poverty
• Chapter 5: Creation and Stewardship
• Chapter 6: Conclusions
• Suggested Reading
• Subject and Author Index
• Scripture Index