Part Three
Prosperity With Justice
This section tackles the tensions between the Kingdom and the Market and how to have both prosperity and justice. Christians are faced with a central paradox “God wants us to be prosperous but forbids us to love or serve money or act unethically”. Prosperity is seen as a good goal but a subsidiary one. The pursuit of prosperity does not justify wrongdoing. This section commences with chapters giving a Christian view of prosperity and poverty and Christians are shown how to generate “the power to make wealth” in God-honoring ways. “The power to make wealth” is the God-given capacity for the righteous to generate prosperity through the diligent application of specific and focussed wisdom and knowledge towards a definite productive and useful economic goal. Much emphasis is placed on the importance of having a good biblical work ethic and wisdom from God. Prosperity and poverty can have a spiritual dimension and this unusual topic is discussed at some depth. Prosperity flows from a practical mindset and the term “solution-focussed” is used of the practical search for ways to succeed and prosper rather than just blaming others or over-indulging in analysis.
The analysis continues with a look at how Christians can be actively involved in challenging the forces of globalization yet do so in a manner that is compatible with their faith. Christian involvement in politics is examined and a balanced and astute approach recommended. Finally the outlook of Christians is reviewed and some common assumptions about how we think and operate are challenged. We find out how to be masterful, practical and incisive - developing strong personal leadership in life’s situations, and how to transform our thinking and methods so we can be truly effective.