by Mats Tunehag
We, as leaders of Lausanne and BAM Global, representing the Wealth Creation Consultation, appreciate Ron Sider’s kind and affirmative words about the Wealth Creation Manifesto. He says that “virtually all that this manifesto says is true and important,” as well as “helpful, and much-needed.”
On the other hand, we simply cannot agree with his assertion that it is “woefully one-sided” and “ultimately fails.” It fails, Sider argues, because it “fails to provide the balanced wisdom and guidance so urgently needed.”
Now, whether any deed or statement fails or succeeds depends on what it initially sets out to do. What this statement set out to do is to reverse decades of negligence by the evangelical community on this important topic. The great omission has been the role of wealth creation—through business—for the holistic transformation of people and societies, to the greater glory of God. This was the focus of our consultation and its resultant manifesto.
Additionally, Sider seems to expect more in a brief manifesto than it can deliver. He wants detailed attention to themes the manifesto only highlighted summarily. These themes are addressed thoroughly in the seven papers, which the manifesto’s authors also have produced. They deal with wealth creation and the poor, justice, creation care, cultural perspectives and more. Our findings will, we hope, help balance the debate that for far too long has been one-sided in favor of wealth distribution and material simplicity.
The evangelical focus has centered more on the problems associated with wealth and its production than on its positive benefits and possibilities. Statements abound on its godlessness, its idolatry, and its injustice. It is not that Sider or the evangelical community is wrong to highlight these abuses. It is simply that a one-sided emphasis on wealth’s problems rather than its possibilities is out of balance.
Wealth creation is a godly gift and command, and business is a “noble calling,” as Luther and Calvin put it, a “noble vocation,” in the words of Pope Francis. Business and wealth creation can and should be solutions to justice issues such as human trafficking and environmental challenges.
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SOURCE: Christianity Today
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