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Money. What would we do without it? Very little really. Capitalism has become the central life giving force of the modern world. But despite this, I’ve always found that the concept of money has been wildly over-rated, and if we are not careful it can give us a very unbalanced view of ourselves in relation to other people.
So, what should our attitude be in regards to the green stuff that lines our pockets? Well I think we have a lot to learn from the past.
The German sociologist, Max Weber, argued that there was a crucial link between certain forms of Christianity and the development of Capitalism throughout Western Europe in the Seventeenth century. Capitalism spread through Western Europe and North America long before it touched countries such as India and China, this wasn’t due to the lack of resources but rather due to the lack of an ideology which would support capitalist growth. It has been suggested that Calvinist Christianity provided such and ideology in Western Europe and North America. The ‘Protestant ethic’ (as it has become known) encouraged a life of hard work and frugality with any surplus wealth being reinvested rather than consumed. Some Calvinists believed that the creation of wealth was a concrete indication of success in their vocation, thus they had glorified God, and also found a place in heaven. This idea has been supported by some of the great Christian leaders of the past. John Wesley once said: “For religion must necessarily produce industry and frugality and these cannot but produce riches. We must exhort all Christians to gain what they can and to save all they can, that is in effect to grow rich.”
It would not seem too far fetched to presume then, that ascetic Protestantism had some influence on the Creation of a ‘Spirit of Capitalism’; which seeks only the pursuit of profit and forever renewed profit.
But what is this Spirit of Capitalism? Some would argue that it is a way of life which has its own ‘religious’ implications. Though if this is true then it’s teaching could not be more removed from that of Christ. It is centred on the acquisition of more and more money, as a result, virtues such as honesty only remain virtuous whilst they are centred to the making of profit. Honesty in surplus is therefore wasteful.
At this stage in the article I’m going to become
rather political, if you can’t stand that please skip a
paragraph or two, or just browse through the cartoons.
Still here? here I go …
… it is this sort of ideology which fitted in quite neatly with much of the rhetoric of Thatcherite Britain during the 1980s (or indeed, Major’s Britain today). Thatcherism emphasised the importance of the individual, the accumulation of personal wealth is wasteful, therefore it is no virtue to provide for those who cannot survive in the ‘rat race’. The worth of the individual is determined solely by their position in the economic system. This principal was illustrated beautifully by the ex-housing minister, Sir George Young:-
“The homeless are the sort of people you step over when you come out of the Opera.”
How different this would seem to be from the teachings and action of Christ who seemed to share a certain solidarity with the poor, who spoke of giving unselfishly, who spoke of love, who spoke of camels going through the eyes of needles, (or not as the case maybe). Christ brought good news to the poor, (they needed it, for since then they have received little else but bad news.)
Our attitudes towards money speak volumes about our priorities, it’s easy to become slaves unto ourselves and to our own personal gain, and so developing an overinflated view of our own importance. The church has stumbled well and truly over this red herring, large parts of the church have become so obsessed with raising money in order to keep the roof over its head that it may need to have the roof blown off completely in order to gain a clearer view of God and the needs of the people it seeks to serve. Perhaps ‘House Churches’ are not such a bad idea after all.
Our management of money and the way in which we let it control our lives does much to shape other people’s perception of our faith. It is perhaps a significant opportunity for evangelism, but more importantly it shapes our priorities regarding God and the people around us.
We should therefore approach the subject as unselfishly as possible, with as much humility as possible and with as much love towards others as possible.
So, where does this leave John Wesley? Well, I’m afraid that as far as this issue is concerned his halo has slipped somewhat.
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Last modified: 25th November 2005
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