The Audacity of Apostolic Economics

This past Sunday in church we got a lesson in economics unlike one gets at a secular university.

Our associate Pastor, Kent Shane (photo), pointed out that “apostolic economics” (a term used and apparently coined by Dr David Tiede, former president of Luther Seminary and current Bernard M. Christensen Chair professor at Augsburg College) does not involve either “supply side” or Keynesian points of view.

Instead, the term suggests something relatively simple and easy to understand: you must give away what you have in order to gain everything.

What?

Pastor Kent’s sermon focused on our lectionary reading of 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 and reminded us that even as we give away love, our lives become rich in “meaning, purpose and promise.” Following the service, I commented on the term “apostolic economics” and he pointed me to Dr. Tiede’s commentary on these same scriptures.

“God’s distribution of the manna in the wilderness set the standard in Israel that ‘the one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little,’” says Dr. Tiede.

He goes on, “The Gospel of Apostolic Economics is about ‘our Lord Jesus Christ:’ ‘though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor’ (2 Corinthians 8:9). This is the theology of the cross in economic language, leading not to human privilege to possess our wealth, but to Christian freedom to put the well-being of the neighbor ahead of our own interests.”

For me, that’s “the audacity of apostolic economics” stated about as well as it could be expressed. If only we had the audacity to live by it.