“Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class” (Al Capone)
No one is going to confuse me for an economist or political scientist so if at any point when reading this post you say to yourself, “Craig has no idea what he is talking about” then you are absolutely right. However, my thoughts regarding capitalism don’t come from an economic or political perspective. They come from a perspective that is more concerned about how capitalism has seeped into my theology. I acknowledge that my emerging post-evangelistic views are not shaped by bible study alone. Rather they are shaped by a prolific array of points that shape how I see who I am in light of my relationship with Christ. Since I am an American I must realize that the American ideal has played a significant role in my spiritual development.
No healthy society, Christian sub-culture included, can be defined by its economic structure alone. When values are determined by the way a society shapes its economic framework than it is vulnerable to not only the obvious consumerism and corporate manipulation, but also shaped by those who value such things. This is not to say that a society can’t be defined by the way it “spends” its money. In fact, I think that the way a culture spends its money is a significant variable in its identity. Rather, I am referring to the infusion of the economic system into theology. Nor am I saying that capitalism is un-Christian. Capitalism has shown itself to be one of the great stabilizers in politics and has help promote quality and ingenuity in every sector. So in fact, this entry is not about capitalism as an economic issue, but capitalism as a philosophical issue.
Capitalism, as an economic term, has four components: (1) free market, (2) open competition, (3) profit motive, and (4) private ownership. These values have found their way into western psyche and the Christian evangelical mindset. Specifically I am considering church growth. I have avoided discussing church growth because I have feared that it would sound as though I am against churches growing or considering how to grow, at least numerically. Church growth, however, should be the result of something other than church growth strategies. At times a church will experience large growth for factors neither related to the work of God nor church growth strategies. A particular church could experience growth due to the unintentional charisma of leadership of worship or something as simple as geographic population growth. But when the value of the ministry of the organization is measured simply on head count and satisfaction than the church has become institutional in nature. This is not to say that the church and especially that God are unable to work in an institutional church. I believe that God has proven His mercy repeatedly throughout the history of Christianity. There is no doubt that the churches of the middle ages were some of the most unhealthy church models ever, but somehow people continued to experience the presence of Christ during those times. As an assessment professional I have to balance business growth with attainment of desired outcomes. Likewise, church growth must balance numeric and spiritual growth. The attainment of spiritual growth, however, cannot be limited to the appearance of growth for it to be a true measurement though. In fact, often the appearance of spiritual growth is only valuable for numeric growth. The church will come to rely on the illusion of spiritual growth to fuel numeric growth. This is a difficult message to convey because a mega-church can create powerful worship experiences for an individual and small home-church can create powerful intimate experiences for individuals but neither is necessarily producing spiritual growth. Likewise, a church can appear dead and stagnant and actually be producing significant growth for the individuals. Growth should be the result of a tension between numeric and spiritual growth. Church growth strategies, however, help the church appear to be spiritually vibrant for the sake of numeric growth. The outcome, for those with innocent motives, being that simply have more people will give way to deeper spiritual vitality. This is likely not to happen if the foundation of the growth strategy is an illusion of spiritual vitality. However, for many, the outcomes are far less innocent. For most, the desire to grow is motivated by capitalism.
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