February - Christ’s Economic Solution: Discipleship

* *Among the bad economic news that the media has thoroughly reported overthe last 6 months, one particular statement from a government officialcaught my ear. Alan Greenspan, whose Chairmanship over the Federal Reservespanned 3 different presidents, spoke up at a Congressional inquisition tosay that he had been “wrong” about his operating assumption that marketswould necessarily “self correct” themselves. The man whose very words couldpush or plunge the stock market admitted that he had been wrong about howthe markets that he was in charge of worked. To the shock and dismay of allcapitalists, our American wizard behind the curtain admitted an inherit flawwith the system: people in the financial sector of our economy (the markets)could not be trusted to correct the problems that they created. You couldhear a collective sigh of anxiousness from the country the next day, asordinary Joe American wondered “who can you trust to fix our economicsystem?” If the Greenspan Wizard was wrong and the markets don’t necessarilycorrect themselves, maybe our federal government can solve the problem? Andlike a perfect storm of socialist leaning politicians, the untrustworthinessof Capitalism echoed by every uncovered fraud or ponzy scheme in the lastfew months has given a compelling reason to now trust Big Brother toredistribute our money for us to solve our economic woes. Of course, even acursory review of the headlines from the exact same newspaper announcing thefailings of private business and capitalism reveal the failings ofgovernment as well.

Alexis De Tocqueville was a French aristocrat who traveled around Americain the early 1820’s to survey and better understand the success of our youngconstitutional republic. From his travels came a now famous bookcalled *Democracyin America*, in which he states that America is great, because America isgood; and when she ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. DeTocqueville had been struck by the numerous churches that dotted thelandscape from Georgia to Massachusetts and believed this vibrant piety tobe the catalyst to the young nation’s moral character, unity, and vision.The absence of these qualities in his own native France, spelled the doom ofa similar attempt at “revolution of liberty” around the same period of 1789.The result was anarchy and Napoleon, in that order.

And so we come to America’s worst economic downturn since the 1930’s, andthe question remains, will America return to greatness, and if so, how? IsSocialism more trustworthy than Capitalism as an economic system? Are theleaders of Congress more trustworthy than the wizards of Wall St.?Remembering De Tocqueville observation might serve to steer our course backto economic health, for evil resides in the hearts of all men, whether onWall St., Pennsylvania Ave., or Main St., and therefore natural man, left tohimself, can never be fully or continually trusted. But that same evil isovercome with the goodness & virtue that flow from a heart, mind & soulconverted and ruled by Christ. And so America, make more disciples of Christto oversee industry and government, and more leaders, like Truett Cathy ofChick Filet will seek to care for his employees and shareholders, ratherthan line his own pockets. Make more disciples and we’ll have fewerpolitical scandals in Washington and state houses around the country, ashusbands will remain faithful to their wives and constituents, seeking tohonor and serve them, rather than misuse and abuse them. Make more disciplesof Christ, and at every level of every institution, there will return asoundness of wisdom and judgment and truth, which will benefit all of ournation. “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a disgrace to any people”(Prv 14:34) and “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps 33:12).