Here is one of the best essays I have seen on the economic principles of Christian stewardship. I have never been comfortable with the “simple living” approach often taught in the church.

Kruse Kronicle: Theology and Economics: Personal Stewardship and Spiritual Formation

One of my favorite Proverbs is Proverbs 30:8-9 (NRSV):

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that I need,
or I shall be full, and deny you,
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or I shall be poor, and steal,
and profane the name of my God.

As Christians there are only two relationships to material possessions. One is to be a steward for God and the other is to forgo material possessions altogether. There may be some who are called by God to forgo material possessions in pursuit of some unique call. That is always a small minority. The rest of us are stewards. The only choice we have is whether or not to be good ones or bad ones. Will we use them with the mind and heart of God or will we use them toward our own satisfaction? (Not that the two necessarily are always, or even frequently, in conflict. It is a question of ultimate loyalty.) I hear church folk boast about being good stewards because they tithe 10%. That is all good and well but what are they doing with the other 90% of God’s resources?

All this ties in with what I am learning about developing a Christian worldview. While social darwinism keeps telling us that the spiritual and the secular are two separate spheres of life that must not be allowed to intermix, the economic principles in Kruse’s essay do not admit to such a dichotomy. Makes sense to me.

Dave, an economic animal.