Repenting of Capitalism: Great Reformation 5.0

2) Repenting of Capitalism:
This is post 2 of 6 on my list of reforms in honor of the 500th anniversary of the protestant reformation. The first word is repenting of Christendom, which is a reformation of power. The second word is repenting of Capitalism which is a reformation of trust.

Just saying repenting of capitalism feels a bit extreme and dangerous. Don't unfriend me just yet. This isn’t about becoming a communist. It is about misplaced trust. The west has been profoundly shaped by this emerging economic philosophy over the past 500 years. And some amazing things have been advanced under the banner of capitalism. The next 500 years however, we will need to confront the real limitations and unintended consequences of free market capitalism. The invisible hand of the market has not magically created justice for all or even justice for most. Continuing to trust that it will do so feels to me like a kind of religious fundamentalism. 

I am not an economist and my view is directed toward the church. I believe the community made up of students of Jesus has a responsibility to be a counter voice rather than a complicit voice when it comes to the blind trust in the market to usher in the new heavens and earth. 

Jesus, was making an astute observation when he declared that “you cannot serve both God and money.” Capital is an attractive rival for our allegiance. Jesus, seems to be saying it is THE rival for our allegiance. It is an easy trap to trust in the power of what money can do and accomplish. It is a force to be reckoned with. I know I feel entangled in it. But I do think the church needs to be a consistent voice that exposes the cult like energy and misplaced religious devotion around market capitalism. 

Here is the reticence...to question or criticize capitalism is just about one of the most un-American things you can do. It is unpatriotic. Capitalism is sacred and it is worshipped. We want the wizard of the market to stay hidden behind the curtain. "Please, don't break the spell pastor."

Repenting of Capitalism means we are no longer going to worship it and submit to its whims as if it was a god. It is not a god. It is an economic philosophy that is fallible. It is a power that we need to demystify and tame. That means we need to be honest about its upside and downside and be willing to consider course corrections.