I watched a series on TV a while back about various influential economists and their differing theories.
Although they had very different ways of understanding economic systems, and disagreed with each other over many fundamentals, it struck me that the profit motive - both at an individual and corporate level - was taken for granted by all of them. But then, they were economists!
Our western economies rely on the same assumption. Businesses exist to make a profit, pay grades are structured so as to motivate the successful, and individuals aspire to raise their income and thus their spending power. (Even thieves and the corrupt share the motivation, but look for short-cuts for all the hard work that is normally involved.)
There is no denying that this profit motive has led businesses to innovate and increase their market share, to amazing advances in science and technology, and individuals to work hard to move up the ladder. In this way, the theory goes, civilisation advances, the human lot improves and the world goes round.
And so it does seem!
But, considering the centrality / ubiquity of the profit motive, as a Christian I find it surprising that it seems to be completely absent from the teaching and lifestyle of Jesus!
Ah, we may think, he lived and taught in a pre-industrial age, in a simple hand-to-mouth society; what could he know about the profit motive? Yet a closer reading indicates that he was indeed acutely aware of the profit motive - and he wanted nothing to do with it!
Jesus and the Bible speak very plainly against the love of money. For example:
"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matt 6v24)
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ “ (Hebrews 13:5)
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
(However, the Bible also makes clear that there is nothing wrong with money per se: we are to work to earn our living, we are to pay taxes, we are to have honest dealings in trade.)
But what is the ‘love of money’? It is precisely the profit motive - for without the love of money there is no motivation!
So, how does Jesus expect civilisation to advance and the world to go round, if we are not to be motivated by money?
He poses a clear choice: love God or love money. So the alternative is to love God - and love our neighbour as ourselves (Matt 22v39). If we were to choose to love God and our neighbour, that would motivate us to seek the good of others, for they are also God’s creation. Thus we are motivated to educate, to find new remedies for illness, to work to address poverty, to be good stewards of the world for the good of all people, and to share God’s love to all people. And in so doing it is reasonable to earn one’s living - for “the worker deserves his wages.” (1 Timothy 5:18.)
But would the world still go round, would civilisation advance? It would look different, for sure, but I believe it would!
In fact there would be less inequality, less pollution, less corruption, less meaningless ‘stuff', less waste, less destruction of the environment - for these are also the results of the profit motive. And there would be more time, better relationships and a greater sense of community, better care for the sick, the poor, and the disabled - for these are all cast aside by the profit motive.
But, for now, as most people assume the profit motive is an unquestioned good, those of us who disagree must live in such a way that demonstrates Jesus’ radical alternative. I think that this way of living is called ‘being in the world but not of it’.
