The economic ethics of jesus

I rarely emphasize my denominational identity when I speak or write. I am by calling a Christian minister with a specialized service as a teacher-scholar in Christian ethics. I am by conviction an orthodox Christian, an irenic evangelical Christian, and a Baptist, probably in that order of loyalty and priority. But being "Baptist" provides an opportunity to ask several questions relevant to a discussion into the integration of Christianity in economics. Is there a unique emphasis or cluster of themes that characterize Baptist ethics generally? Is there a distinctive Baptist moral witness on economic life? Actually, these are issues with which ethicists who claim Baptist identity are just now wrestling. In January 2003 a group of Baptist ethicists gathered at the annual meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics to discuss whether there is such a thing as Baptist ethics and what it might look like. It is certainly the case, I think, that there is no well-developed tradition-not a consensus tradition, anyway-of Baptist economic ethics. What it means to be a Baptist, just like what it means to be a Christian, will always be a contested matter. Those of us who are or have been Southern Baptists in recent decades have lived through a particularly public contesting of the meaning of that identity. But in more subtle ways, the shape and contours of Christian or denominational identity are always contested. Perhaps the Baptist identity and distinctive character are more unsettled now than in previous generations or more unsettled than that of many other ecclesiastical communities, or perhaps not. I cannot speak with authority about the struggles of others. I can say that little can be claimed with certainty about what it means to be Baptist. But at a normative theological and moral level, I want to stake the claim that being Baptist means focusing on Jesus Christ. Further, focusing on Jesus Christ means not just attending to his atoning death on the cross, but also his entire sojourn among humanity: his incarnation, teachings, and deeds, as well as his suffering, death, and resurrection. Baptist ethics is Jesus-centered. And I want to claim that being Baptist means attempting to enter the story of Jesus, situate one's own life there as best as one can, and follow after him. Therefore Baptist economic ethics must be both Jesus-centered and discipleship-centered. My mentor and friend Glen Stassen has labored alongside me for six years to complete a book that we are calling Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. In that book, released in 2003 by InterVarsity Press, we offer an approach to Christian ethics that is relentlessly Jesus-centered. In turn, any book that is relentlessly Jesus-centered is going to be relentlessly centered on the kingdom of God, for this was the heart of Jesus' proclamation and the cause for which he gave his life. Thus I stand with Glen Stassen in presenting material from our book, though the particular arrangement of the material in this essay is my responsibility alone. In sharp contrast to the other writers in this book, my focus is on the broad ethical issues relating to the contemporary economy. In this chapter I offer an inquiry into the economic ethics of Jesus as presented in the Gospels (especially the Sermon on the Mount), situated in light of what we understand to have been his concept of the reign of God, as well as what is now known about economic and political realities in Jesus' own context. My thesis is that Jesus offered concrete kingdom practices that are just as transformative now as when he first offered them, and just as authoritative for anyone who claims allegiance to Jesus Christ. The challenge for Christian economists is to recognize the significance of these ethical principles in everyday life and their relevance in scholarly pursuits.