The Market, The Kingdom
And The Terrorists
- An analysis of the current crisis in world terrorism and the spiritual dynamics underlying our present global disorder.
The September 11th attacks in the USA have shattered the peace of mind of the developed world. Finally things are striking back and we are vulnerable. Terrorists can invade, get under our guard and strike at some of the most powerful institutions in the Western world. Christians in particular are asking a few good questions such as:
Why are the terrorists doing this?
Why is God allowing this?
What is this leading to?
What are some of the causes?
How should Christians respond?
Some have realized that our wealth is not as good a fortress as we thought and that as Proverbs says: Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death. In other words the cure for our insecurity will lie in repentance and righteousness not in power and wealth.
As an Australian missionary working in the Philippines I think I have tried to put the perspectives of the developed world, the developing world and the Scriptures together in one book to try and answer the above five questions and in particular to inform the Church’s response to the crisis. This is a book for Christians, while it contains some economics in its discussion of globalization and the causes of poverty it is not primarily an economic treatise. It is a pastoral treatise that is meant to guide the Church in her actions toward the world. As such it takes up the classical Christian themes of compassion for the poor, separation from worldliness, proclamation of the gospel, the doing of good, the coming of the Lord, and the prophetic calling of Christians in announcing the righteousness of God to the social structure to which he or she belongs.
To this extent it is quite
a standard treatise. In many other aspects it is quite provocative.
One of its main themes is that of a dynamic tension between the Market
and the Kingdom and how international trade is now, in essence, anti-Christian.
I need to make it clear from the outset that “trade” and
“business” are generally different. Trade is pure market
activity – that is buying, selling, charging interest etc. Business
tends to involve production of some sort. Businesses produce the product,
which is then taken to the marketplace for sale, and it is the Market
that can either make or break them. This Market has become dominant
and in doing so, has become unjust. The collapse of biblical civilizations
has always been preceded by a time of deeply unjust market forces
and predatory international trade. To put it bluntly, we will burn
like Babylon unless we change our ways.
I will argue that God’s design for prosperity does
not involve unjust speculation or the charging of high rates of interest
or the manipulation of currencies. We will look at what Scripture
calls “the power to make wealth” – the ability of the
saint to create a righteous engine for wealth generation through the
diligent application of specific and focused wisdom and knowledge
to a productive economic end – in the context of community and
just and fair relationships. But I am getting ahead of myself here.
We will also look at the process of radicalization and see how people are being made increasingly angry by the unjust economic practices that come from globalization. Then we will analyze how fundamentalist Islam proves a framework for a deadly reaction to economic injustice and helps turn anger into terrorism. The conclusion will be that when a greedy system oppresses a crazy religion then war is inevitable. (The crazy religion is the extreme fundamentalist version of Islam not Islam as a whole).
The Christian response to
the “greedy system” is then outlined in two ways. Firstly
developing a proper Christian view of prosperity and showing how it
can be achieved with justice and dignity so that we have an alternative
to offer. Secondly we develop how the Church can be a prophetic voice
on economic issues and globalization. Finally the Christian response
to the “crazy religion” is dealt with and the dynamics of
dealing with inter-religious peace-making with integrity. Muslims
and Christians can never agree or unite but they can at least stop
killing each other.
Throughout the book is a stern note of warning “The
Lord shall return, repent and do justice or perish.” In that
sense the book is prophetic. However I do not set times and dates
for the Lord’s return or engage in conspiracy theories. This
book is a clear call to economic justice and to peace-making and to
the development of a prosperous and effective Church that can engage
the world in powerful and practical ways.
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