As far as charging interest to the unbeliever and that sort of thing – for me it's out of the question. I don't believe I can view the unbeliever as an enemy (which would be in keeping with the Old Testament scenario) and while I may agree (in the broad strokes) with Aristotle on this point, the real issue is (I believe) that so-called risk is invalid in terms of making a legitimate profit.
While many will roll their eyes at this statement, I fail to
see how that's any different from gambling. A sure bet or a reasonably sure bet
is still a bet. But this isn't cards, this is someone's sweat and my profit
takes money out of their pocket and makes someone else pay more for something. No
thanks.
Someone like Dave Ramsey would say that's how the world works
and everyone is doing it. So what? The mainstream of society does many things
that are wrong and evil. It's no argument.
I don't believe New Covenant ethics allow me to make money
off the labours of others or by means of speculative sorcery or market
manipulation to 'earn' that which I did not work for. Would you want someone to
do that to you?
Once again, even such machinations and schemes cost something
– though such costs are hard to quantify or be specific about, and as such they
are summarily dismissed or ignored by the apologists for the system. There is
nevertheless a cost to society and even to ourselves. Needless to say this
attitude is fundamentally at odds with the system. It is diametrically opposed
to the most core ideals of what the American system is and represents. I don't
blame the nice bank-teller girl when I stop in on Fridays, but at the same time
I believe the institution and indeed the entire financial sector with which she
is connected is evil. I'm polite to her but I don't respect her.
I often think of this when I talk to a 'Far Left' client I
have. On the one hand she's puzzled by me because in many ways I seem very
conservative to her to the point of being offensive. But on the other hand I am
(when using such flawed metrics) so far to the Left of her that I'm off the
scale. She's still a flag-waving, pro-military, pro-Wall Street person who happens
to be liberal on social issues. The fact that I'm not even within the spectrum
of the system is hard for her to understand and thus she's frustrated with me
that as one 'so well read and informed' as she would put it, I don't even
bother to vote. One, I will not sanction the system by participating in it and
adopting its assumptions and two, if I have any modicum of integrity, how can
I? I don't believe in any of it. In fact I think it's evil. Voting would be
dishonest.
But this is beyond the pale and such thinking is frankly
incomprehensible to most people. They literally cannot understand where someone
like me is coming from. Apart from the Holy Spirit, I'm not sure they're
capable. She just thinks I'm a religious nut but interesting to talk to.
While I don't believe 'working with your hands' specifically demands
physical labour, I do believe we should earn the money we make in an honest and
unassailable fashion. In my case (for good or ill and yet not entirely by
choice) I do work with my hands and given the aforementioned context it's a real
struggle. Honest dealings will in many cases foster suspicion (a sad and ironic
commentary on our society) and I'm often taken advantage of. Honest dealings
also mean that I run my 'business' as something more akin to a non-profit. I've
had many a 'Christian' businessman interact with me and they come away thinking
I'm either incredibly stupid or crazy. Unable to question their basic
assumptions, it never occurs to them what I might think of them, their wealth,
and their ethics. Of course I want to be like them, right? Wrong. 'Success'
must not be defined using the world's metrics.
By the way I believe that terms like Christian businessman or Christian
business are oxymorons. Making money to support you family is legitimate
but these are not ministries which is what they purport to be when the label
Christian is attached. Ministries don't charge or make a profit and those who
present their businesses as such are playing an Ananias and Sapphira game and
from my experience their testimony with the larger public is pretty bad. A lot
of people I encounter hold such Christian businesses with Bible verses and the
Ichthys/fish on their business cards in contempt and as such their testimony is
ruined. If it's your 'ministry' you had better be prepared to lose your shirt
in order that the name of Christ be not impugned. But that's not the
Evangelical way is it? If someone insults them or refuses to pay, they sue and
in direct contradiction and defiance of Christ's teachings.
We do all things as
Christians but the business itself isn't Christian. The work I do, I do as a Christian but the work isn't
Christian work. It's not sanctified nor is it part of the Kingdom. If I go and
fix something for a little old lady for free and share the gospel – that's
ministry. But if I charge her (which is completely legitimate) I am
legitimately making money as a Christian and hopefully in conducting myself as
Christian, being salt and light and speaking with seasoned speech, I am a
witness and testimony to her. And God willing if the opportunity arises I will
speak to her about spiritual things. Some people won't see the difference in
what I'm saying. Others will realise the difference is rather profound.
And I am well aware of all the arguments about stewardship
and the like. These are points I have repeatedly addressed over the years. In
every case the common Capitalist, Right-wing, and Evangelical arguments fail to
do justice to the text which is often (after a more careful and contextualised
read) saying something quite different, or even the opposite of what they're
suggesting. Stewardship is primarily faithfulness and obedience and if we live
in a rotten system that results in non-invested, non-interest bearing money being
depreciated then so what? Again it's Caesar's coin in the end – another one of
Christ's teachings that modern Evangelicalism and Dominionism rejects. Why is
it Caesar's? It's not part of the Kingdom. It can be used for temporal purposes
but it doesn't survive the eschaton.
While these Evangelicals acknowledge that we don't take it
with us, increasingly they act as if we do and some have even moved toward
doctrinal formulations toward that end. On the contrary we don't take it with
us and as such (given that we're a pilgrim people) our focus is not on money. I
didn't say main focus. I mean focus.
It's something in the background, simply a means to an end. I admit that's
difficult when I'm struggling to make ends meet. Then money (or more likely the
lack thereof) starts to dominate my thoughts and I have to instead focus on
passages regarding being content with you have, and God's care for us, and
certainly remind myself that sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.
I meet my expenses and put food on my table but I don't add a
profit on top of what I make. Sometimes I'm able to save a little and do
something nice for my family. Thanks be to God. The bottom line is this – treat
people as I would want to be treated. I imagine that woman is my widowed wife
or daughter, that man is my father or son. How would I want someone to deal
with them? And that's what I try to do. Let's just say a fair exchange means
expenses are met and a reasonable wage is earned but there are no hidden costs,
padded prices, mark-ups, and the like. Nor do I figure out my costs and simply
tack on some profit. Some people turn me away. I'm too strange and
unconventional. They think I'm up to something. I don't even take money up
front but I do ask to be paid on time. Some realize I'm not part of the middle
class, I don't share their values and I don't aspire to be where they are and
that offends them. And yet I have a group of clients that appreciate me and
turn to me again and again. Some are taking advantage of me. I know that. It's
on them. I am polite but I don't respect them. Since they're getting a deal and
they know they can trust me, they don't care. They give me keys to their houses
and businesses and sometimes leave blank checks for me and I'm very careful not
to abuse their trust.
It's a completely different way of thinking about money and
interacting with society. The world won't understand it and they'll think
you're insane. And frankly it means that a lot of sectors are just plain closed
off to us. It does not mean that life is easy or that things come easy,
especially in this industrial capitalist age. We are still faced with endless
dilemmas and frustrations as the numbers often don't work and things happen
that are not easily resolved. This is where faith comes into play – a faith not
needed by those who are wealthy. They have their bases covered not just with
cash but with extensive insurance, investments, back-up plans and the like.
I won't judge someone else's conscience on these points and I
admit what the Scriptures posit on this issue is extremely difficult. But I'm
not going to explain it away in Lutheran Law/Gospel fashion either. I respect
those who wrestle with these questions. I do not respect the myriad financial
teachers who do little more than a put a Christian gloss on the world's
teachings and in some cases (such as Dave Ramsey) the gloss is almost
indiscernible. Mammon is his god and it shows. A creature of unbelievable
hubris, he effectively wipes his mouth and says that he's done nothing wrong.
But in reality he hurts people and teaches others to do the same. He does not
teach Biblical finances or ethics. His ethic is usurious in the broader sense –
it's not just about charging interest. It's about using people and being
selfish in your dealings.