#141 Christianity is Good for You
An “investment” in Christianity pays twice: Here on Earth, AND in Heaven.
As the Christian Economist, I operate in two camps: Christians are concerned about the means, and economists are concerned about the ends.  It just happens that being a Christian is good for both.  The ends are good because we “end up” in heaven, and the means, here on Earth, are a bonus.  The apostle Paul said “To live is Christ.  To die is gain.”  We win either way.  

Christianity is a “Two-For”
CS Lewis quipped, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.  Aim at Earth, and you will get neither.”  Ginger and I sometimes call this a “twofer.”  You get twice what you expect.  Some call Christianity “fire insurance,” because it keeps you out of hell.  But, it’s a very different kind of insurance, because, instead of paying premiums, you receive premiums.  Let me explain.
As Dennis Prager asked me in an interview this summer, “If people are not getting their ideas from the Bible, where ARE they getting them?”  Well, the answer is: Their answers DO come from the Bible, and more specifically from the Christian view of the Bible.  They just don’t know it.  So much of the cultural water that we swim in, comes from Christianity.
In the book titled Martin Luther, Eric Metaxes makes it clear that there would have been NO American revolution, without the Protestant Reformation.  He’s right.  So the outcome of America itself is a testimony to the power of Christianity.
William Wilberforce said, “God has set before me two great objects:  The suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.”  By manners, he meant morality.  I like the book titled Amazing Grace, but there are other Wilberforce books that are good also.  You may have noticed I cited two Eric Metaxes books in a row.  He has a gift, and his writing IS a gift to current-day Christians.  A member of the royal family was keeping track of how many women he slept with.  The number was in the thousands.  The point is: That was acceptable until the very committed Christian named Wilberforce changed culture’s view of “manners” as he called them.  While caring for the poor has a long history in Christendom, Wilberforce also renewed that call.  
Oh, and about slavery: William Wilberforce was a devout Christian who ended slavery in the UK 30 years before we did in the US.  His crusade was clearly an expression of his Christian belief system.  And, his counterpart who ended it in the United States, Abraham Lincoln said “God told me to free the slaves.”  

Economics
In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber did what all good social scientists do: He showed a difference.  After the reformation in 1517, northern Italy went protestant and capitalist.  Southern Europe remained Catholic and feudal.  There are still remnants of this difference.  Simply looking at a map of Europe, you can draw a straight line through the four countries that struggle in the EU.  They are the PIGS countries: Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain.  I often express it this way, “How I see God determines how I see my fellow man.”  There, a Baptist just crossed himself.
Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opium of the masses.”  Well, it’s better than taking real opium.  It does enable us to live in a fallen world with greater joy, that’s absolutely clear.  But while opium only helps you FORGET your troubles, while disabling you from fixing the world, Christianity BOTH heals your current wounds and gives you the impetus to go out and do something about the fallen world.  It’s a two-for!  
John Stonestreet at the Colson center is one of the smartest people I know, operating in the Christ and Culture space.