Through business Mackey gleaned the truth of Philippians 2: to look out for the interests of others.

Steve Forbes contends that with the rise of democratic capitalism humankind has become wealthier and healthier than in all the previous centuries combined. In a democratic capitalist economy, he says, people interact in networks of cooperation that “teach discipline and moral lessons—from the importance of showing up for work and handling money responsibly to the value of teamwork.” 

Entrepreneurs, whether they’ve read Philippians 2 or not, must look out for others’ interests. They must, Jay Richards says, if they’re to stay successful, not look at their money but through it—to the good it can do not only for them, but for their neighbors.

Recognizing that Justice Doesn’t Demand Equality

Scripture repeatedly conveys God’s concern for the poor, and the passages aren’t ambivalent: It’s a concern we’re to share. It’s equally clear that God never intended for all of us to all have equal possessions. Not now, nor in the kingdom to come.

In Luke’s gospel, for example, we learn that when we stand before Jesus to give account for what we’ve done He’ll say to one person, “You shall have authority over 10 cities,” and to another, “You are to be over five cities” (Luke 19:17,19). That’s inequality. Paul informs us that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due [emphasis added] for what he has done in the body” (2 Corinthians 5:10), demonstrating again that there are degrees of reward in Christ’s kingdom. Jesus tells His inner circle that they (not you or me) will sit on the 12 thrones (Matthew 19:28). He talks about the how "the least" and humble will be greatest in the kingdom of God. He teaches the parables of the talents and of the workers in the vineyard, illustrating again that God, who is perfectly just, doesn’t share His blessings equally. The same, then, can be true of society.

The Bible doesn’t prescribe an economic system, but we do know from what God has revealed, that where there are varying gifts and responsibilities, there must be varying rewards.

Presuming Man’s Depravity

Hall and Burton state that capitalism is the one system that deals honestly with the Fall and its economic consequences.

They point to Adam, who once worked the Garden gladly. So much so, John Calvin believed, that he “might be said to play; for he was not formed for idleness but for action.” Since the Fall however, work is no game, and it’s often no fun. With the thorns and thistles come sweat and aggravation.

The Calvinist work ethic, Hall and Burton explain, synthesizes our pre- and post-Fall natures. It recognizes that we were originally “formed for action,” but that now, as a result of the Fall, we aren’t inclined to work hard for the sheer joy of the labor. Depravity affects motivation, they say, explaining why we have detailed job descriptions, incentives, rewards for work well done, and consequences for poor performance. In a fallen world, these bring accountability. 

Socialist communities fail, the authors say, because non-productivity is tolerated. In socialist economies, high goals aren’t set, lousy work is condoned, there’s no motivation to improve one’s living standards, and assets are routinely redistributed. Therefore, there’s nothing to encourage the investment of one’s time, effort, or assets.

But a healthy economic system must not only motivate the lazy; it must restrain the greedy. Adam Smith, author of the Wealth of Nations, once observed: “In spite of their natural selfishness and rapacity, businesspeople are led by an invisible hand … and thus without intending it … [they] advance the interest of the society.”

To illustrate Smith’s point, imagine our common caricature of a “rapacious” used car salesman. He may lie and cheat and try to persuade us to buy a broken-down junker. But, according to Smith’s logic, “in spite of” his greed and dishonesty, he can’t force you to buy his lemon. In a free market economy he must—if he’s going to feed his kids and pay his mortgage—offer you a car that you’ll willingly, even happily, buy.

The Bible doesn’t dictate a particular economic system, but it does describe man’s depravity. Which means our system must encourage us—smarmy as we’re prone to be—to work hard and to look out for one another.

 
Reflecting God’s Heart for the Poor

Wayne Grudem believes that the only long-term solution to world poverty is for men and women to start businesses. His belief stems from Scripture’s admonition that “if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1John 3:17). Grudem believes that business offers a solution because of Galatians 2:10, where Paul says, “they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”

Both verses beg the question: How? What does it mean to remember the poor? And how, exactly, should we open our hearts to them? A short-term solution, of course, is to give. The people of Haiti need money, food, water, medicine—and they need it now. But when the crisis passes, the money will be gone, the food and water will have been consumed, and the people of Haiti will still be poor. 

The only lasting solution to poverty is wealth, and only business—not government, not non-profits, not even the church—creates wealth.

Then why, we naturally ask, hasn’t business solved the problem? Hall and Burton point to several barriers that “prevent the flood of business’s benevolent overflow.” Excessive governmental regulations inhibit entrepreneurs. Poor governments often confiscate private wealth. Weak governments are powerless to punish crime, and thereby suppress a healthy business climate. Repressive governments intentionally stifle businesses, thus thwarting a challenge to their power. 

"If the devil himself wanted to keep God’s image bearers in the wretched bondage of lifelong poverty, he’d persuade them that business is evil."

But another barrier is negative attitudes. People won’t go into business if they’re told it’s evil. They’ll never start a new enterprise, and they’ll never know the freedom John Mackey discovered—of satisfying consumers, creating prosperity, sharing profit with those who create value. Instead, Wayne Grudem says, they’ll sense “the faint cloud of false guilt.” Because who, Grudem rhetorically asks, can enjoy “being an evil materialist who works with evil money to earn evil profits by exploiting laborers and producing material goods that feed people’s evil greed and enhance their evil pride and sustain their evil inequality of possessions and feed their evil competitiveness?”

If the devil himself wanted to keep God’s image bearers in the wretched bondage of lifelong poverty, Grudem continues, he’d persuade them that business is evil, and convince them to oppose it at every turn.

The godly alternative, of course, is for believers to subdue the earth, to use time, talent, and the materials God’s given to earn profits, and to use them to produce jobs and to care for real needs.

"Mankind’s unfettered creativity reflects God’s image, and this is one of the least appreciated truths of economics."

The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil; its pull is powerful, causing some to even walk away from the faith (1 Timothy 6:10). And we in the U.S., who are wealthier than any people have ever been, need to be constantly warned. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a moral quality to wealth. Nor does it mean that the essence of capitalism is greed. Market economies work, Jay Richards says, because they allow wealth to be created. And only wealth can reduce poverty.

Richards poses the question: How is wealth created? Economists, he explains, can’t easily answer the question, but Christians can. The key source of material wealth in a modern market economy, he says, is not material—it’s spiritual. According to Richards, “Wealth is created when our creative freedom is allowed to prosper, when it’s undergirded by the rule of law and suffused with a rich moral culture.” Mankind’s unfettered creativity reflects God’s image, and this, Richards points out, is one of the least appreciated truths of economics.

"Business has a special role to play in bringing hope—and not only hope, but actual economic progress—to indigent people," writes Michael Novak.. "And that is one of the noblest callings inherent in business: to raise up the poor.”

Richard Doster is the editor of byFaith. He’s also the author of two novels, Safe at Home (2008) and Crossing the Lines (2009), both published by David C. Cook Publishers.