Copyright © 2006 Ron Schwartz
All rights reserved.

"Cause and Effect"

What the Christianity has learned from Economics  

March 20, 2006

By Ron Schwartz

To see more of these notes: Ron's Thoughts    

2 Peter 1:21 KJV

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

This scripture describing how the prophets were “moved by the Holy Ghost” has been much misunderstood.  Many Christians use it to grant themselves license to disobey their commission.  They just don’t “feel moved” to preach the gospel.  Because of this license to keep silent, many Christian go through their entire lives never telling a single soul about the saving grace of God.  About the only time you hear the term “moved by God” is in an excuse given to explain why they are not obedient to God.

So where did Christians learn this behavior?  They’ve learned it from their church.  Most churches are not moved by the Spirit.  Instead they tend to “react” to economic and social pressures.  Most churches aren’t lead by the Spirit.  They simply respond to worldly “cause and effect” principles.

Cause and Effect

Romans 12:2 KJV

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Church leaders have learned too much from the economics of the world.  An economy is the “thrifty management (or control) of resources, such as money, material, or labor.”  Since churches today consist of these types of resources (building, staff, members, money, etc.), they tend to be influenced by the same economic principles that govern this world.  Therefore, most church leaders see nothing wrong with responding to economic pressure in the same manner that the world does.  This is worldly “cause and effect.”  When church leadership uses this “common sense” approach, they lose the spiritual “cause and effect” that comes about when people respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s consider several economic “causes” and the typical “effects” that those causes have on most churches.  Just as the cause is a worldly economic pressure, the effect is almost always a response that causes the church to embrace worldly values, values that rarely reflect the teaching of the scripture.

Effect 1.  Market Saturation

1 Timothy 6:5-6 KJV

5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Economics teaches that as population density increases there is a corresponding effect on the economy of a society.  Consider the following from the January 14, 2006 issue of the Taipei Times:

“…China and India could present one of the world's gravest threats to the environment. The two countries have 2.5 billion people, or nearly 40% of the world's population. China eats up one-third of the world's rice, over one-quarter of the world's steel and nearly half of its cement. The Earth cannot supply these countries' rising demands for energy, food, and raw materials. The use of oil has doubled in India since 1992, while China has becoming the world's second largest importer in 2004. Prices worldwide have soared as India and China scooped up shares in oil companies. The US is still the greatest burner of oil, using 25% of global annual supplies and producing 25% of carbon. The average US citizen requires about 9.7 hectares to provide resources and space for waste, 205% of what the country can provide…”

What we see at work here is “cause and effect.”  An increasing population (the cause) has an “effect” on the economy of a geographical area.  The effect is a corresponding increase in the competition for natural resources (land, water rights, etc.), prices of resources rise, farmland slowly disappears, and farms become smaller.

Now, what happens to churches when they are faced with the same economic challenges?  What happens when the number of churches in a given community experiences a steady increase?   What happens when the general population seems to be already evangelized?  This is what we see all across this nation.  There appears to be an overabundance of churches with dwindling resources.

To begin with, what is a church?  As practiced in the scripture, a church is “the people of God” in certain geographical area who work together for God’s glory.  Today, the meaning of “church” seems to have changed.  Now it is a building with furniture, staff, membership, and money defining it.  A church is now less about people and more about property.  And it is the property that “causes” many of the worldly economic “effects” that were foreign to the first generation Christians.

Because church leaders have elected to see “their” church as a composition of economic part (building, staff, members, money, etc.) they have little choice but to respond to economic challenges with worldly economic responses.   What we have today are churches that only appear to be “moved by the Holy Spirit,” and are instead driven by carnal economic values and principles that govern this world.  Churches have become “independent economic systems” that work autonomous and competitively against other churches of a given community with each church trying to improve its economic position over its “only” competitors (other community churches).

Like retail stores churches have come to view their geographical location as their “market.”  Like retailers churches identify an invisible line that defines their market.  Because of this churches have come to embrace retail store economic principles, and respond to retail pressures.  Therefore churches feel threaten by other churches in their “market (community).”  Churches have learned from retail that the easiest way to grow their market share is to cannibalizing sales of their competitors.  When this happens the church ceases to be a church and becomes a business competing to improve it’s economic position.  It is no longer defined as God’s people but by the material resources that now constitutes it.  It no longer functions for God’s glory but for its own profitability and gain.

Effect 2.  Foreign Supply

2 Samuel 12:1-4 KJV,

1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

Consider what happens to an economy when natural resources become harder to find.  Many times it is not that they are gone, but that they are just harder to reach.  In the USA, there is plenty of oil, but much of it requires drilling too deeply and/or building costly platforms to recover it.   Therefore, many US oil companies have found that it is easier to get oil from foreign countries.  It is the common sense approach to economics. 

Most churches believe that they face a similar economic situation.  Why go out and win the lost when they can simply attract Christians from other churches?  It’s not that there aren’t plenty of people in their community.  There are, but they are lost.   To evangelize these souls is much more difficult than to simply do a marketing campaign to attract Christians from other churches.  

The Holy Spirit places a church in a certain location for the glory of God, not for its own gain or economic prosperity.  Thus each church should explore how to win the lost of its own area rather than how it can grow by attracting the resources of other churches.

Like countries, some churches face a more hostile environment with resources that are difficult to mine.  Some churches find themselves in an area that is crime- and drug-infested, often with street gangs in control of the community.  In such a case, it is easy to understand why a church would try to draw Christians from other communities and churches.  But this only shows how cowardly the Church has become.  Is this really all there is to the Church?  Is this the reason for its existence?  Most certainly not.

When a church loses its focus on winning the lost in its community and becomes focused on growing the church by cannibalizing Christians from other churches, that church has lost its way.  That church is no longer the people of God who work together for His glory.  That church has become a retail store.  Do you suppose that the words of the prophet Nathan spoken to David is ever considered by these churches?  I somehow doubt it.

Satan has successfully turned the Church against itself.  He did it not through persecution but by making it rich.  This economic wealth (which can be something as simple as having a large number of people) has caused it to set local churches to attacking other area churches, endeavoring to see them fail.

Effect 3.  Maintaining an Economy

As mentioned earlier, an economy is the “thrifty management (or control) of resources, such as money, material, or labor.” 

2 Samuel 11:1 KJV

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle…

Long ago, men learned that the easiest way to maintain and grow an economy (and thus for the merchants to prosper) is by “thrifty” control of the resources of a given area.  For this reason, people began to make men their kings.

People knew that a king would bring order and safety.  Sometimes, people would name their own king.  Other times, kings would name themselves king, though not without the backing of a multitude of people (like an army).  But having a king is a two-edged sword.  On one hand, they bring the people together under a single banner by creating a formidable army, but on the other hand, they demand taxes and obedience (conformity).

In the above verse, Samuel writes that there was a time of the year when people expected Kings to go out to battle.  Why?  Because that’s what kings do. 

Kings were expected to go out and battle one another because that’s what they did.  When men are placed as kings, they will begin to see other men who also are set as kings to be a threat to them.  It is cause and effect.  The writer of this scripture understood this.  The cause of having a king is to protect and maintain an economy.  The effect of having a king is that they would go out to do battle with other kings.

Like merchants, people in most churches want the economy of their church to grow and to be protected.  Therefore, they force men into a kingship role.  The “cause” may seem good: to protect and manage their economy.  But the “effect” is that these kings do what kings do.

Let’s consider kings for a moment.  David was an exceptional king.  At first he didn’t act like a typical king.  He understood that the kingdom he managed belonged to God and the people were God’s people.  As such, he saw himself as God’s servant.  Consequently, God blessed both David and Israel.  But it didn’t stay that way.  Eventually, the power given to David by the people created in David’s heart many king-like attributes, and so King David began to do what kings do.  David took that which did not belong to him and sacrificed people for his own gain because that’s what kings do.

I find it interesting how many churches were originally founded by men who (like kings) brought spiritually profitability to a certain people (territory), and God blessed these churches.  The initial profitability and blessing occurred because the men (kings) were like David was originally.  These men (kings) saw themselves as servants for God and His people.  But eventually, just like David, they began to do what kings do - cause and effect.  They began to assume a sort of power and control over the people of God that was meant for God alone.  Eventually, like David, they consume (or destroy) people for their own benefit, and they began to go out with other kings (of the community) to battle one another in order to expand “their” kingdoms.

When church leaders, as kings, harm the people of a church (like David did Bathsheba), or battle one another by cannibalizing one another, they cease to work on God’s behalf and become workers for their own gain.  This happens continually among churches because that’s what kings do – cause and effect.

David showed us that it is possible for a man to be set in place as a king (by the people of God) and “not” act as kings do.  But even David was eventually swept away by the power at his disposal.  I have known a number of men who have founded churches and each initially had the same heart as David.  Sad to say, most of these men also ended up like David.  People no longer were of consideration.  It eventually became all about growing and maintaining “their” churches.  They turned into businessmen, and their churches became organizations.

Effect 4.  Economic Equilibrium

1 Corinthians 10:24 KJV

Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.

Sometimes referred to as Nash Equilibrium, it is all about how companies (or nations, or people, or players, etc.) find it difficult to improve their economic positions because other companies 1) are trying do the same, 2) pretty much know each other’s strategies, 3) and are working just as aggressively and independently without concern for the interests of others.

Economic equilibrium is partly based on the “game theory” and is all about winning against your competitors.  It is a sort of “cause and effect” that many companies and nations use.  It is a very competitive environment.  Yet when you read what it is, it is apparent that most churches embrace this carnal economic principle just like the world has.  And instead of using it against the evil of this present age, they use it against each other.  How is it that churches that claim that we are all one body and one people can condone the worldly practice of “every man for himself?” 

Conclusion

Here now we find the contrast.   There is a spiritual “cause and effect” that takes place when we yield to God (the cause) and are then moved by the Holy Spirit (the effect).  This is how the Church should operate.  But instead, most churches have succumbed to the economic pressures of this world, the carnal “cause and effect” that is mutually exclusive to that of the Spirit.

Secondly, there is NOT an overabundance of churches.  There are only lazy churches. 

Jesus said:

John 4:35  KJV

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

There are enough unsaved people in every community to fill every local church ten times over.  Yet rather than work in the community to “harvest” the unsaved, they fight over the limited resources that each other has.

Secondly, many churches consider that because of their doctrinal distinction, they must separate themselves from other churches, thus making it impossible for unification.  I do not care about unification.  That is not what I am describing.  I am suggesting that churches must go back to the basics of winning the lost in their communities rather than wage this continuous war against one another.  Church leaders justify their devilish behavior all in the name of God by flying the flag of doctrine.  They believe that everyone else is wrong.  They believe this somehow justifies their ignoring of the lost and their attacks against their Christian brethren.

Do you really believe that God finds more favor with a church that sits back smugly in the rightness of its doctrine than He does with a simple church that crusades against the gates of hell by winning the lost in its community?  If you do, then you have lost your way.  It is not about being right.  It is about winning the lost.  Only when a church lays down the battle-axe it uses against its neighbor and reaches out to the lost will they be truly blessed by God.

Thirdly, how can God bless churches that use the carnal economic principles of this world for growth and gain?  He doesn’t!  Much of what churches attribute to God’s blessing is nothing more than a result (the effect) of the economic war they have waged against other area churches.  That is not the Lord’s economy.  It is fraud.  It is worldly “cause and effect.”

Fourthly, in the Lord’s economy, churches would feel free to merge when it makes sense or to divide when they become of such size that the group loses its personal touch.   In the Lord’s economy, there is no cannibalization of resource, and there are no kings creating private kingdoms or battling one another.  In God’s economy, there is but a single people with one objective: to win the lost.  Their gain is not measured by how many people they steal from their neighbors but by how many souls are saved in their communities.

In God’s economy, there is no worldly “cause and effect.”  There is only the moving of the Holy Spirit.  Churches that are driven by worldly “cause and effect” are only a shadow of what they once were and a mockery of what the Church is destined to be.  They have ceased to be the Church.  Now they are merely merchants and businessmen of worldly corporations that we call churches.