Christian Capitalism
All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all of my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Ecclesiastes 2:10
Reward – What is your reward for your effort? Are you working to accumulate whatever your eyes desire or whatever your heart longs to have? If you’re like most modern capitalists, you are in pursuit of something, exchanging your labor for some possession, wondering all the while how you will ever be free from the vicious cycle of consumption. The Bible has an answer, but before we can hear it, we need to remember the words of Solomon.
It looks as though Solomon says that the “reward” of his labor was the good life. But the Hebrew word is heleq. It means, “a portion, a share, a part.” This is not quite what we expected. What Solomon is really saying is that he received his share as a result of his efforts. That implies that his portion is only a part of the whole. He is not out to gain the world. He is not trying to take what belongs to another. He only wants his piece of the pie. Tragically, he discovers that the piece that he desired leaves him empty. After he has eaten his portion, his appetite is still unsatisfied.
Solomon knew about rewards for labor. He took full advantage of his power and position, denying himself nothing. He thought that he could discover happiness in accumulation, but he learned one of life’s hardest lessons. In the end, all that we have acquired is left behind. In the end the poorest and the richest rot together under the ground.
Capitalism requires community to make it work. There must be buyers and sellers. I need others if I am going to turn my labor into possessions. God blesses this process, and He has done so since long before Solomon. But what God intended for good, men often twist just a bit. The result is perversion of something holy. In the case of capitalism, the perversion is believing that once I have used the community for my own purposes (wealth), then I don’t care what happens to others. I move away from the community I needed to gain for myself toward my individual goals: what my eyes desired, what my heart longed to have. I supplant capitalism for divine purposes with capitalism for self-sufficiency.
God wants me to be successful for the purpose of distribution to the community. God grants me my share for the purpose of using it to benefit others. God is about community. He provides and equips us to act as He would act in this world – and in this world God gives.
If you are feeling like Solomon today, wondering what it will take to bring satisfaction to your empty world of accumulation, try God’s way: give your share to someone else. You might discover that life is not vanity after all.
