Faithful Finance: Five Principles

This is a revised version of an essay by Angus Ritchie which appeared in God and The Moneylenders – a report issued by the Centre for Theology and Community in 2013, as churches responded to the financial crisis by challenging payday lenders such as Wonga and supporting the development of ethical and mutual alternatives. As Angus explains, the successful campaign for increased regulation is only one part of a faithful response.

1. STEWARDSHIP

Christian thought about economics begins with the recognition that “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it” (Psalm 24.1). None of us are the ultimate owners of the world around us. This truth is foundational for all truly Christian economics.

It is this insight that led Pope Benedict XIV to entitle his encyclical Caritas in veritate (love in truth). Authentic love must be founded on the truth about our dependence on God: “Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation, especially in a globalised society at difficult times like the present.” (Caritas in veritate, 4)

Wealth, like all the blessings of our material world, is to be welcomed as a gift from God. To do good works, financial resources are often necessary - but never sufficient. It is only the inordinate love of money which is “at the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6.10). Wealth becomes an idol when it distracts us from the giver of all good things, leads us to value those who possess it more than others (James 2.1-9) and distracts us from the building of human friendships and relationships which reflect the life and love of God.

Christians and others in the financial system who recognise this will be open to the hard questions about the long-term and environmental impact of their decisions. If wealth and financial institutions are to be stewarded then they need to be considered at least partly as a gift we will give to future generations. We are learning the hard way that short-term profit maximising can lead to the crushing of opportunities for young people, and we are still a long way away from an economic system which doesn’t put unsustainable pressure on our natural environment.

2. LOVE

Christians believe that “everything has its origin in God's love, everything is shaped by it; everything is directed towards it. Love is God's greatest gift to humanity. It is his promise and our hope.” (Caritas in veritate, 2) The purpose of our stewardship is to enable human beings to grow in love of God and neighbour. Love is “the principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones).” (Ibid.)

The theologian Stephen Long gives us a set of questions to ask of all our interactions with other people:

Is charity furthered? Do our exchanges point us to our true source? Do [they] fit the mission Christ has entrusted to us? Do [they] allow us to participate in God's holiness and God's perfections? All Christian churches, orders and vocations cannot be faithful if they fail to ask and answer this question: How do our daily exchanges promote that charity which is a participation in the life of God?[1]

For the Christian, our economic interactions – like all our daily exchanges – need to fulfil the Great Commandment to love God and neighbour (Matthew 22.37-39; Mark 12.30-31). Therefore, loans need to be “good news” to both borrower and the creditor: expressing our solidarity as members of a common humanity.

This demands forms of banking and financial products which are of genuine and long-term benefit to the borrower – not ones which meet their immediate desire or need by deferring and then magnifying the gap between income and expenditure.

3. MUTUALITY

The divine love is a mutual love. Mutuality is at the heart of God’s Triune life, and Jesus calls his followers to a community which reflects that sharing of power and responsibility (Matthew 23.9; John 15.15). Luke Bretherton’s essay in God and the Moneylenders indicated the implications this has for our financial systems: “To be a lender and a borrower is to be situated within economic relations of inter-dependence, cooperation and mutual responsibility that reflect the God given pattern of life set out in Scripture. To lend and borrow is to be drawn into real relationships that demand we have to negotiate a common life in which my flourishing is dependent on the flourishing of others.”

This requires a financial system in which lenders and borrowers take responsibility for their actions, and where poorer communities have an active role in developing solutions, and a voice in decision-making. This is just one of the reasons why credit unions remain a much-needed part of the UK’s landscape of financial institutions – their co-operative model gives ordinary people a chance to help themselves and each other rather than being forced to rely on the ‘charity’ or ‘benefaction’ of those richer than them.

As well as institutions with structures which are literally mutual (like credit unions and cooperatives), Christians are called to work in other types of institutions with structures oriented to values of mutuality, liberation, empowerment and the common good.

4. MERCY

Justice is a minimal requirement of Christian ethics, but not its fulfilment. The love of God “transcends justice and completes it in the logic of giving and forgiving.” (Caritas in veritate, 6) This has profound implications for our social and economic relationships. “The earthly city is promoted not merely by relationships of rights and duties, but to an even greater and more fundamental extent by relationships of gratuitousness, mercy and communion.” (Ibid.)

Christians seek to build an economic system which encourages generosity (1 John 3.16–18; Luke 12.33–34) and discourages inappropriate dependency on others (Proverbs 20.4; 1 Timothy 5.7–10). However, Christians are conscious that every human being is indebted to God in ways we are unable to repay. We are people whose greatest debt has been forgiven, and who thus are called to show mercy to those who are in our debt, economically or morally (Matthew 6.12; Colossians 3.13). There is therefore a need for our financial systems to find a way of both encouraging responsibility on the part of borrowers and also showing mercy to those trapped in a spiral of indebtedness which is impossible to repay. Following this principle might lead to more financial products which are designed to consolidate unsustainable debts, and the linking of loans to money management courses to provide people with a realistic route out of indebtedness and financial crisis.

5. HOLISTIC: TOWARDS A COMMON GOOD

Christians cannot consider the issue of exploitative lending in isolation. A Christian response to exploitative lending must be integrated into a wider analysis of social injustice – the structural sin which deprives individuals of their dignity, their capacity to develop as God intends them to, and their ability to discern and promote a truly common good.

The growing gap many households face between income and outgoings and the reasons for it must also be addressed. ‘Money management’ and ‘ethical banking’ must complement - and not displace energy from - a wider discussion of how wealth is generated and shared in our society. Only then can our earthly cities reflect the true communion which lies at the heart of God. This is why the increased regulation of exploitative lending must go hand in hand with action to support the Living Wage and to ensure that the social security system gives individuals and families dignity and the means to grow and develop to their God-given potential.