The kingdom economy is built on trusting more in the principles of the kingdom of God as taught in the Scriptures than in the trends and principles of this world’s economy. Of course, there are many areas in which the principles of both overlap, or are at least similar, but there are many areas where they are diametrically opposed. We will examine a few of the most basic ones here.
KINGDOM ECONOMIC PRINCIPLE #1: “Love never fails” (see I Corinthians 13:8).
This is the foundational principle upon which all of the other kingdom economic principles are built. How does this apply to an economy? We would do well to understand this, so we will examine this with the way love is defined point by point in I Corinthians 13:4-8 and look at how each one applies:
“Love is patient” (see I Corinthians 13:4).
The lack of patience is found at the root of many financial catastrophes, including the present world financial crisis. You will almost certainly find impatience at the root of every case of over-leverage. Impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit, and if we are seeking to live by the Spirit, we cannot allow impatience to rule us, but rather patience, which is a fruit of the Spirit.
Just about every major mistake I have made financially I can trace to my impatience. I now take any kind of pressure to rush a financial decision as a good reason to back off and reconsider what I am doing altogether. I do not think I’ve ever met a real estate agent who didn’t try to rush the process by telling you to hurry since other people are looking at the property or are close to making an offer. Every time I have succumbed to that pressure, I made a mistake, and every time I resisted it, I have come out much better. Remember, the Holy Spirit will never lead you with impatience.
If this is true, and we are seeking to be led by the Spirit as real estate agents, shouldn’t we also refuse to use such tactics to pressure others? Love means that when we are involved in a business transaction, we are going to consider the needs of the other person above our own, which certainly means that we would not use pressure or manipulation on others. There is a reason why the first characteristic listed for love is patience. Impatience is selfishness, not love.
“Love is kind” (see I Corinthians 13:4).
What would our business dealings look like if they were always done with kindness? One thing it might affect is requiring us to always treat our fellow workers, employees, or those we do business with, with the utmost consideration. It might also cause us to refuse to do business with companies or people who mistreat or exploit their employees.
For those who might think this could cause them to lose their competitive advantage, that is true, it might. What is more important to us—obedience to a biblical code of ethics or profit on a deal? This is the kind of thing that can determine whether we are building our businesses, careers, or lives on the kingdom of God or the ways of this world.
I do not think this means we must check out every company we do business with to ensure they treat their employees right or have no other ethical issues, but if we are supplied with knowledge of such things, we should settle in our hearts that we will not compromise our convictions just for profit. We also need to consider that not doing business with such a company may not be the only or best option. Having customers express their grief at something like this could be more effective in making needed changes.
We should understand that living by biblical ethics is not going to be easy, and it can be costly. That is the nature of the true Christian life. In this age, evil does get rewarded, and often righteousness gets penalized. However, the true Christian life and true kingdom business principles can never be measured by what we get in this world or this life.
We will continue with the study of how love is the foundation of the kingdom economy next week.
