Chapter 48: Charity

Christian Economics: Teacher’s Edition
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 16:19 – 21).
AnalysisThis is correctly seen as an otherworldly concept of rewards. Jesus clearly taught that money or wealth that is used to extend His kingdom in history will result in greater individual rewards in the world beyond the grave. There is economic continuity between personal history and personal eternity. More than this: this continuity is assured. Continuity in history is not assured. Moth and rust destroy: here is strong rhetoric. Thieves break in and carry off earthly wealth, most notably silver and gold. That which men trust in to provide them with continuity between the known world of the present and the uncertain world of the future is not reliable in history. Men’s departure from this world strips economic capital away from them. Paul put it this way:
But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs (I Timothy 6:6 – 10).
This is a deservedly famous passage. It focuses on the temporary benefits of riches, meaning the temporal benefits of riches. It contrasts the benefits of wealth, which are universal lures to destruction, with contentment with food and clothing: bare necessities. This is the mentality of a monk, yet Paul presented it as the correct guide to personal wealth.
How can this outlook be reconciled with the obvious benefits to mankind of accumulated capital? The benefits of tools in increasing men’s productivity and wealth have been at the heart of the defense of free market capitalism ever since the days of Adam Smith in 1776. He called his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. His inquiry came to a monumental conclusion: the pursuit of individual wealth has produced the wealth of nations, in which the entire society participates and profits. This idea has shaped Western civilization ever since. This is the central idea of free market economic theory. Opponents of the free market have attacked it ever since he wrote it.

This post was published at Gary North on July 29, 2017.