Neighbor Love Inc.

This fall, I plan to launch into a topic I am deeply passionate about. Presbyweb linked an article called Neighbor Love, Inc., from Christianity Today, that goes right to the issue's core. Here is a quote from that article.

First, the Christian's calling in the business world is not primarily about evangelism. Nor is it about being "nice." As good as those things may be, business is fundamentally about serving others. As Robert Sirico of the Grand Rapids-based Acton Institute writes: "When people accept the challenge of an entrepreneurial vocation, they have implicitly decided to meet the needs of others through the goods and services they produce. If the entrepreneur's investments are to return a profit, the entrepreneur must be 'other-directed.' Ultimately, business persons in a market economy simply cannot be both self-centered and successful." (Emphasis in the original.)

R. Paul Stevens, in his book The Other Six Days, makes a case for a Trinitarian view of call.

Father = Creation Stewardship – Being stewards of creation and co-creators with God.

Son = Kingdom Service – Carrying on the works of Jesus.

Spirit = Exercising Gifts – Using gifts for the growth and health of the Church and humanity.

All are called to participate in all three. The callings are integrated, and yet each has identifiable aspects. However, in terms of how we spend the hours of our days, for the great majority of us, the great majority of our time is in Creation Stewardship. Creation Stewardship includes accounting, farming, sales, factory work, teaching, art, plumbing, and even (and especially) diaper changing. God gives us temperaments, gifts, life experiences, and passions, constituting a personal call. That personal call shapes how we live out the Trinitarian call above. I once heard “call” described as the place where our deepest passion meets the world’s deepest need.

Here is the problem. I have gone to many presbytery meetings. Every time a new Minister of Word and Sacrament comes before the presbytery, they are asked, what is your call and how did you discern it? Bam! Without missing a step, they can give you a direct answer. I have been an elder for years now. Guess how many times I have been asked about my call? Zero! Oh, I have been asked about how I became Christian and my past service in the church, but call? Nope.

What would happen if pastors turned to their congregations and one by one asked them what their call was and how they discerned it? Other than naming their occupation and maybe saying it seems like it is where God wants them to be, how many could answer that question? I would be surprised if 5% could give a coherent response. We say we believe in the Reformed idea of call. We lie!

The principle calling of Creation Stewardship has at its core, economics. How do we effectively and justly produce and distribute resources to enhance individuals and societies? Creation stewardship existed before and after the fall and will be present for eternity. This co-creative stewardship is at the heart of what it means to be human and created in the image of God.

The scandal is that, as far as I can tell, our seminaries and denominational hierarchies are, at best, indifferent about calls to business and economics and, at worst, hostile and derisive of these calls. It never ceases to amaze me the utter cluelessness with which many clergy make pronouncements about economic issues, often advocating actions that, if implemented, would have disastrous effects on society well beyond economic concerns. Especially when it comes to poverty, the question is asked why some people are poor. Wrong question! The question presumes that having some wealth is the norm. We are all born without anything. We all start in poverty. The question is, where does wealth come from?

It may be a month before I get to this topic, but I just wanted to give you a fair warning.