Christ in Capital: What’s Going On?

This is why I decided to go to seminary. 

The capitalization of Christianity has been a hot subject for me for many years. I saw the underside of the Christian money machine during my time in a Christian band. This put a bad taste in my mouth for a lot of the Christian pop culture. It definitely made me more cynical towards American Christianity as a whole.

I stayed Christian, after years of rethinking the American tradition, by looking to Church history. I found pockets of amazing people doing amazing things. But I also found a lot of people and churches that seemingly flipped the purpose of the Gospel. Or at least my interpretation of the Gospel.

One of my favorite eras in the American Church is the Social Gospel Movement. I’ve written a 3-part series on this already and it’s important to this series. If you haven’t read them yet, check out PART 1, PART 2, and PART 3. This will help give you the national framework that led to the rise of Christianity as a marketing strategy.

Why Should I Care About This?

You might be a staunch Conservative or maybe a hands-off Libertarian. Why should you care about this? Or maybe – why is this a bad thing? Capitalism is the best system that we have and its worked so far. America has been on top of the international stage for the last century – why change it now?

It’s interesting that we both allowed for the inherent combining of religion and politics in that last paragraph. We assumed that our political ideology (conservative, libertarian) were synonymous with our religious convictions. This is an American problem. So – let’s separate these two frameworks and look at them individually.

Capitalism v. Christ

We are all pretty familiar with capitalism. We love the ability to buy and sell things, open a business if we choose, or leverage the free market to earn more. It encourages competition, entrepreneurship, and individual autonomy in economic decision-making. Capitalism is often associated with the pursuit of wealth, market inequalities, and the prioritization of self-interest.

The problem is that some of these qualities are inherently un-Christian.

Central tenets of Christianity include love, justice, compassion, and stewardship of resources. Christians are called to care for the poor, seek justice for the oppressed, and prioritize the well-being of others. These principles emphasize the importance of community, sharing resources, and promoting social equality.

When someone chooses capitalism over Christianity, we see the use of Christian symbols and beliefs to make money. This is what I experienced in the Christian band. The industry knew people would buy a product if it was “Christian” or had a Bible verse printed on it. After all, capitalism is just the tool in which money flows. If a communist government decided to use Christian language to promote their regime, it would have the same ethical flaws.

What Now?

Because there are elements of capitalism that are anti-Christian, it is our job to limit its power. On its own, capitalism will steal and oppress the poor and the rich will continue to grow. What we can do is prioritize those who are being taken advantage of and work to bring equity to all. If we want to extrapolate the Sermon on the Mount to our modern day, this is a good place to start.