Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... Romans 12:2
Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators
A Biblical Response to Ronald J. Sider
by David Chilton
Institute for Christian Economics, 1985
432 pages
Reviewed by Gerald Epp
Man is acutely prone to guilt, real or imagined; and guilt, when fabricated by man, can be a powerful political tool. Reaching into the realm of intentions and motivations, David Chilton not only addresses this most fundamental of human dilemmas, but delivers a convincing defense of the free market as the Biblical economic model for society. In his penetrating, at times biting, response to Ronald J. Sider's influential book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (1977, 1984), Chilton exposes the thin veneer of theology Sider has applied to make his socialist dogma palatable to Christians.
Economics is the study of human action. It is not, as most people seem to believe, a complex issue best left for the intellectuals and politicians to sort out. As Chilton opens the Scriptures and their context to us, we begin to see that economics is all about daily life and the choices we make, and ought not to be difficult for each of us to understand. In fact, we begin to see that the complexities of economics (read: the politics of economics) are a creation of intellectuals and others who want to control human action (the economy).
Behind all of it's various facades (including modern liberalism) socialism is the political system which makes economics the realm of the state. It seeks to conform people 's choices and values to the values of those in control. This is usually done in the name of justice—justice as defined by those in positions of power, of course. Such people have no use for the laws of One higher than themselves. They freely manipulate unwitting groups by making them feel guilty for manufactured crimes—such as being responsible for causing the plight of the poor. Removing wealth from a guilt-plagued people becomes then much easier.
Sider selectively uses Bible verses to claim that God is on the side of the poor, and the rich are to blame for their dilemma. His proposed solutions are, according to Chilton, statist (socialist) without exception. He also believes that the only way to help the poor of the world is to expropriate the wealth of the rich. This is a revolutionary faith, as Chilton makes abundantly clear in his introduction, and anti-Christian to the core.
Perhaps we think the affluent deserve to be relieved of some of their wealth. But do they? Is this the kind of justice the Bible commands?
Chilton responds to Sider and to socialism with an orthodox and reformed view of Scripture: God is the Creator and Sovereign over all things; man is created in God's image, and was given stewardship over the earth, but fell into sin; sin is the transgression of God's law, which is holy and just and good; man is saved not by the keeping of the law, but by reliance on Christ's atonement for sin; nevertheless man must not continue sinning—i.e. God's perfect law is the standard upon which society must be built—man 's laws must not supersede God's.
Chilton goes on to show that Biblical law is in fact the key to a prosperous society and that the blessings of Western society were based on a post-Reformation obedience to Scripture. Scripture indeed has much to say about justice, but it is very different than the kind of thinking espoused by Sider and many modern intellectuals.
Romans 13 says the state must be a minister of God, administering God's laws in it's sphere. Civil government is never given the right to delve into economic matters or to provide for the poor—it is there to punish those who transgress certain clearly defined laws of God, like stealing or murder. Chilton points out that God's laws do make clear provision for the poor, but that charity is to be personal. God is not on the side of the poor, but on the side of the righteous—those who obey Him, rich or poor. He is gracious to those who seek Him. Will the poor man cry out to God for help, or will he demand it from the government? In turn, will the rich rely on their wealth, or will they see it as a stewardship from God? Will they help the truly needy?
While "christian socialists" decry materialism as a modern evil, which it is, the mere possession of material goods is not evil—God gave man to rule over the material earth. Materialism is a dependence on such goods, and is idolatry. From this point of view, socialism is the worst offender because all it offers people is material solutions to their problems, and pathetic ones at that. More dangerously, it encourages, indeed demands, dependence on the state instead of God.
Chilton calls to task a Church that has slowly accepted a set of laws which are foreign to the Bible and has failed to uphold God's law as an ethical standard to be obeyed. Many Christians have become enslaved to guilt over imagined wrongdoings, while ignoring real transgressions of God's law. We have lost the ability to speak confidently to the systems of this world about true righteousness and justice. While the systems of man grope blindly for answers to monumental societal problems, the Church assures all who listen that they don 't want to impose their religious values on others.
Chilton traces the West's economic progress back to cultural values, which in turn spring from religious beliefs. Western societies did not start with instant wealth—they too were peoples slowly transformed by the gospel. Sadly, they are now slowly being transformed by humanistic philosophies. Without a return to the gospel in our lands, we will see our prosperity removed from us.
Individuals and societies need a change of mind and heart. They are sick with apathy generated by handouts from faceless bureaucrats. The only solution is the gospel of Jesus Christ. When a man has true faith in God, he becomes part of the solution rather than a part of the problem.
Who cares for the poor? Chilton shows us that the welfare state certainly does not. He says we need to change our minds and begin to speak out against such idolatrous systems. Only when the gospel is believed and God's blueprint for a society is followed, will the poor be truly liberated.
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