Better-Off: Benevolence

It was previously stated that America’s 1776 experiment resulted in generating more production, more industry, and more wealth than any other cultural and economic phenomenon in the history of the earth. America has also generated morebenevolence and humanitarian aid to the rest of the world than any other cultural and economic experiment in history. 

A review of the economic and cultural story of America reveals that it is not only fascinating, but it is a one-of-a-kind story. A lot of textbooks completely leave out the uniqueness of the God-fearing aspects of the early incorporators. Without their respect and inclusion of what we have just been calling the Economics of the Interior, the grand experiment of 1776 would have turned out very differently. But nothing could be more important to the understanding of the 1776 experiment’s uniqueness than an investigation of the Economics of the Interior as it fits into the sequence and scope of the cultural economics of America. 

The Americans developed and adopted a philosophy based on the rule of law and the adherence to the Bill of Rights. They were a grateful lot and often spoke of God’s kindness and generosity and thanked him for his blessings. They honored and supported their neighbors and respected those rights of individual and personal property. When their neighbors were in need, they would gather around to protect them or even help them plow a field or erect a barn. 

They experienced the freedom to pursue their own individual self-interests, but never confused that freedom with the license to become greedy or given over to destructive selfishness. Through the years they discovered as individuals and as a culture that the more they generously gave out to help their neighbors become better-off, the more they all individually became better-off. Their personal qualities of morality, honesty, industriousness, and their religious faith worked to bond them into a functioning and successful community, and gave them the necessary strength to overcome the hardships and uncertainties of a new nation. 

Those cultural and economic traits became the ethos and identity of America. The country became a nation of people who loved, who cared, and who reached out to help others become better-off. And, as we learned in the section on Economics of the Interior, when you practice those characteristics of goodness and transfer them into the lives of others, then goodness is multiplied and returned to you as a result. That truth applies to individuals and that truth applies to a nation. 

America became strong, healthy, and capable. Its wealth was not just in financial strength but in character of the citizens, and favor in the sight of other nations. As we learned earlier, the wealth of a nation is measured by production. Production results in income. The ability to generate income through individual production determines the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. GDP is recognized as a measure of wealth. No other country has produced like America. But neither has any other country in the history of mankind been as generous as America. If there were to be such a thing as gross national generosity (GNG) America would be champion there as well. 

This year the United States government will give out of our nation’s wealth nearly fifty billion dollars in aid and assistance to other less fortunate countries. That is a lot of money from our production and earnings. It is unprecedented. No other country in history even comes close to that amount. 

But in addition to what our government gives to the needs of others around the world, our private sources, like Project C.U.R.E., church denominations, private and public foundations, corporations, and individuals give another whopping seventy billion dollars in charity and aid to other countries. 

What would this old world look like were it not for the kindness and concern of America? What would have been the recorded history for the past nearly two hundred-fifty years had the 1776 experimenters not included into the cultural and economic design of the nation the Economics of the Interior that included and encouraged these generous philosophical distinctives?

God Has Given, God is Looking for a People, God’s Economic System is not Based on Greed, God Always Repays when you Give . . . but You don’t Give to Get, God’s Multiplication begins with Your Subtraction, Success in God’s Economic System will Cost You Everything You Value More than God.

Next Week: Messed up Psyches? 

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics) 

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

Better-Off: Beliefs Become Nations

Personal belief systems matter. National belief systems matter. Personal belief systems grow and morph into cultural and economic systems. Traditions grow into policies and laws. Laws and policies require institutions to see to it that the systems function and move in perpetuity. Perpetuity is brought to a halt only when another set of personal beliefs grows and overrides the existing system of culture and economics.

That is why we have spent considerable time investigating the almost unbelievable potency of the economics of the interior. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. As a nation believes, so it becomes. Beliefs are important. Beliefs become nations.

The unlikely experiment of 1776, that began in Philadelphia at Independence Hall, really began at Runnymede, England, in 1215 with King John’s signing of the Magna Carta. But it all started as a personal belief system in the hearts and minds of a small group of people. I have personally stood there at Runnymede, along the river outside of London, where the signing took place eight hundred years ago. I have tried to imagine what this world would be like today had it not been for those two extraordinary events that took place, one at Runnymede and the other at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. But behind those unique events there existed a dedicated system of personal beliefs in the hearts of a handful of stalwart dreamers.

If your goal were to change a nation, your mission would be to first change theeconomics of the interior of a certain percentage of the citizens of that nation. If successful, you could eventually take control of that nation from the inside out; from the interior. The supreme advantage to your method would be that by your not electing to blow up everything by military force, you would not damage the infrastructure, treasuries, or production capabilities of the nation. You would simply inherit the new control position by sabotaging and altering the personal and national belief systems.

The participants of the 1776 experiment in America were amazingly unified in theireconomics of the interior. Their personal and national belief systems included the rule of law, personal and real property rights, constitutional liberty, and the individual right to pursue their own self- interests. They also relied on a justice system of jury trials, including habeas corpus, taxation measures imposed only if the citizens approved such by their own vote, fair elections, uncensored media, and, perhaps most importantly, the freedom to exercise free enterprise in a free market. They all agreed that the government should work for the people and not the people work for the government.

That experiment has resulted in generating more production, more industry, and more wealth than any other cultural and economic phenomenon in the history of the earth. It has also generated more benevolence and humanitarian aid to the rest of the world than any other cultural and economic experiment in history.

Following World War II, it became obvious that no other military power in the world could conquer the United States of America from the outside without mutual mass destruction of their own country. Control of the U.S. could only be achieved through the conquering and altering of the economics of the interior of the individual citizens, as well as the collective nation.

After the 1930s, the experience of the Great Depression gave the European Marxist socialists the chance to declare that the American system of democracy and free enterprise had failed. They predicted that it was only a matter of time until the people of America would reject capitalism and turn to the security and comfort of a collective and centralized system of economics and culture. Politicians, beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt, under the mentorship of socialist economist John Maynard Keynes of the UK, began testing the readiness of the American people for more and more dependence on the American government in exchange for more and more regulation and intrusion by the government. A highly surprising number of American citizens began to vote for personal subsidies and government aid in exchange for independence and free enterprise.

Let’s compare the changes that have been offered to today’s citizens in order to expedite the alteration in the economics of the interior of the voting individuals. We will use some of the principles adhered to by the participants of the 1776 experiment compared to concepts marketed to economic and cultural participants today:

                     1776                                                                                   TODAY

If you can alter the economics of the interior by subtly changing the personal belief systems of the constituents, then you can effectively change that nation and its future.

Next Week: Benevolence

Research ideas from Dr. Jackson's new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

Economics of the Interior Part 8: The Cost of Success

Every situation or your life includes alternatives. You were faced with many alternatives even today. Alternatives demand choices. You must continually choose the alternative you most highly desire. The cost of the alternative you choose is the value of the next highest alternative that was foregone in the selection process. In other words, the cost is the value of the alternative you could have had but decided to do without. 

Principle #6: Success in God’s Economic System Will Cost You Everything You Value More than God

When dealing with the economics of the interior it is imperative that we sit down and count the cost. We would not be considered a worthy construction superintendent if we failed to sit down and figure out the cost demands before we ventured into an important project. It was William Buckley who once said, Idealism is fine, but as idealism approaches realism . . . the cost may become prohibitive. 

It is not unusual for some people to consider the cost involved in a choice and then back away from the endeavor. The cost to them seems too prohibitive. Others, however, need only to have someone to come along and help them turn the price tag over so that they can more clearly understand the price/benefit ratio. 

The little story is told of the pig and the chicken standing on the curbside watching a great parade go by . . . and it was for such a wonderful cause. The chicken said to the pig, 


I would like to do something to help out these fine folks. Let’s get involved and help them. 
What do you have in mind, asked the pig? 
Well, I’ll bet they are hungry out there parading around . . . Maybe we could fix them a little breakfast. 
You mean like bacon and eggs? grunted the pig. 
Sure! 
No way . . . For you that would be contribution . . . for me that would be total commitment! 

The cost question is a prudent consideration. The choices regarding cost, however, seem to be the very on ramps to the interstate freeway of new opportunities and exciting adventures. The widow realized the oil and flour she gave up were very insignificant in comparison to what happened to them in historic retrospect. But she had to make that decision regarding the cost. The cost to the lad with the loaves and lox was small compared to the twelve basketsful left over, to say nothing of the multiplied amount that fed the 5,000 hungry people! But he was required to make a decision regarding the cost. 

When dealing with the economics of the interior, it makes good common sense that economic success will cost you every alternative that is not consistent with the principles prescribed for your everyday life.

  • God Has Given
  • God is Looking for a People
  • God’s Economic System is not Based on Greed
  • God Always Repays when you Give . . . but You don’t Give to Get
  • God’s Multiplication begins with Your Subtraction
  • Success in God’s Economic System will Cost You Everything You Value More than God

Next Week: Why is it so important to spend this much time on Economics of the Interior? 

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics)  

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

Economics of the Interior Part 7: Subtracting Your Rights

Principle #5: God’s Multiplication Begins with Your Subtraction

A couple of the most powerful principles I ever learned as a Cultural Economist I learned from the American legend, Johnny Appleseed. He helped me understand the economic principles of leverage and also the principle as to when to take your hands off and let go of a situation. Born in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1774 as John Chapman, he was raised on a small farm, and his favorite place in the whole world was his father’s apple orchard.

When traveling settlers would pass by, he would ask questions about the fertile lands of the frontiers of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Those curious conversations spawned the inspired dream of one day planting apple seeds throughout the new frontier. By 1792, when he was 18, he headed west. Johnny Appleseed received all the apple seeds he desired free of charge from the cider mills. He set off on a mission to plant apple trees.

As to the principle of leverage, I learned the concept that you can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you can never count the number of apples in a seed! The power of multiplication through leverage is astounding. And you can never really quantify the true potential for growth by simply measuring what you hold in your hand today.

As you place those seeds in the rich, fertile ground of your new frontiers, the silent miracle of multiplication takes place. Soon you will have seeds from many, many apples growing in the autumn sunlight waiting for you to harvest the plentiful crop. Then, once more those multiplied numbers of seeds can again be replanted with the exciting expectation of an exponential harvest.

As to the other principle, I learned that if I expected there to be a multiplication of harvest, I needed to plant the seed in the ground and then subtract my rights to that seed and let it grow. Johnny Appleseed could not go back to the seed every six months, rip it out of the ground, and ask it how it was doing. He had to let it go and let it grow.

As you subtract your rights of ownership to what you possess, God has the opportunity to bless and multiply it for his purposes. In fact, my reading assignment validated the notion that God enjoys taking what he owns already and blessing it and multiplying it. A good example was when the little boy gave the five barley loaves and two small fish, and God multiplied it to feed 5,000 men, plus women, plus children, and had baskets full of food left over. The lad learned that as he released his possessions God could see to it that lots of other people could end up better off!

That was the same principle Solomon was addressing when he said “It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything . . . .” (Proverbs 11:24)

Solomon was not just talking in riddles. He was trying to communicate an extremely important principle of the economics of the interior. The things that you hold on to so tightly in life are the things that usually have a way of being squeezed right out between your fingers and you lose them anyway. The tighter you squeeze, the more they slip through. But the things you are willing to release are the things that multiply. God’s multiplication begins with my subtraction.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt. 16:25)

I love this next story I read about because I was actually able to see where it all took place. One day I was riding in a car with my very good Israeli friend, Shaul Amir. We were driving from Tel Aviv to the port city of Haifa to meet with some government officials. We passed a road sign that pointed to Zarephath.

I turned to Shaul and asked him, “Is that the same town that is close to the Cherith Brook where the old prophet Elijah hid out during the famine?”

“How would you ever know about that story, and how do you know anything about our old prophet Elijah?” Shaul ask me with a puzzled look on his face. “That’s has become one of my most favorite stories ever,” I answered. “Let me recite the story I know and you tell me if we are both talking about the same story.”

Elijah had confronted the wicked king Ahab and his double-wicked wife Jezebel telling them that because of their evil, God was going to withhold the rains and send a famine. In anger Jezebel tried to murder Elijah. He ran for his life and hid along the Brook Cherith where the ravens brought him food until the famine dried up the flow of the brook.

When there was no more water in the brook, God sent Elijah to this little town called Zarephath, where God instructed an old widow to take care of him. As he approached the town, he spotted an old woman collecting wood and asked her for a drink of water. She turned and started to leave to fetch him some water. Then he hollered at her to also bring with her some bread for him to eat.

That brought an emotional response: “This is a famine. I am trying to go to find some water for you, and you tell me to also bring some bread. I don’t have any bread. All I have left is a handful of flour in the bottom of the barrel and just a bit of oil in a jar. As you see me, I am collecting an armload of dry sticks in order to make one last fire. I am going to mix and bake the last little oil and flour into a little cake of bread. My son and I are going to eat our last meal of that bread and sit down and die.” 

Elijah looked straight into her eyes and said, “Go and do as you have said: make the fire, stir the flour and oil, and bake the cake. But make for me a cake of bread first. And afterward there will still be enough for you and your son to eat . . . until the famine is completely over.” In other words he was saying to subtract the rights to that which you possess and then watch what God will do with it.

“Well, I’m amazed,” said Shaul. “I didn’t realize you knew our history that well!”

So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat from her supply of flour and oil as long as it was needed. For no matter how much they used there was always plenty left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. (1Kings 17:15-16) 

But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matt 6:33) 

All mankind scratches for its daily bread, but your heavenly Father knows your needs. He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the kingdom of God your primary concern. (Luke 12:30-31)

The old woman had hit on a revolutionary aspect of economics of the interior and the way God’s economic system works in real life. Her inventory was limited. If she had relied on her supply alone, she and her son would have certainly died of starvation. But she discovered that as she subtracted her rights to the things she possessed, God had the opportunity to bless and multiply it for his purposes. Through her surrender she had tapped into a never-failing sufficiency. God’s supply knows no shortage. 

Next Week: The Cost of Success

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

Economics of the Interior Part 6: You Can't Manipulate God

Many people throughout history have whole-heartedly accepted the invitation to take from their possessions and share with those who have needs. They discovered that when they obeyed the admonition to give to others, they themselves somehow ended up better off.

For the man who uses well what he is given shall be given more, and he shall have abundance. (Matt. 25:29)

Of course, human nature has a way of putting a spin on a particular truth, and people end up dealing with half-truths. The problem with dealing with half-truths is that we almost always end up with the wrong half. The tendency is to conclude that since God’s principles are predictable, the circumstances and applied motives relating to the principles are open for manipulation. For situations such as that we need to be reminded of this truth:

Principle #4: God Always Repays When You Give . . . But You Don’t Give to Get

Several years ago we heard a lot about the gospel of prosperity and the theory of give to get. The deal was that if you wanted to become rich then all you had to do was to give a little to God and he would be obligated to make you wealthy and give to you the items on your wish list.

I listened to a fellow whose religious endeavor was in financial trouble. He quoted some of the references like, give and it shall be given to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. His proposition was for his listeners to quickly send him one hundred dollars in cash, check, or credit card and by the end of the year God would guarantee to give them back at least one thousand dollars, in cash, check or money order. It was a half-truth and his greed had promoted him to get hold of the wrong half.

Recently, I had to chuckle at the story dealing with even another religion. There was a nicely dressed man standing at a very busy intersection of our city. But he was not begging with a forlorn countenance. His hand-printed sign on a piece of cardboard box said that he was the intersection angel. He was there to collect your money. In exchange for your money he would guarantee to upgrade your Karma report. And people were handing him money like crazy! Charlatans need not to be much more removed from the truth than a few degrees. But they are removed, none-the-less.

In my reading assignment I ran across an interesting statement, “And who could ever offer to the Lord enough to induce him to act?” (Romans 11:35)

The simple answer to that question is no one. If God created everything and owns everything already, he cannot be bribed, manipulated, or blackmailed! We can count on the fact that God always repays when we give; that is a characteristic of his economic system. But the selfish motive of giving to get is not part of the deal. Like any other aspect of greed, the product received through selfishness will always be different from that which we had anticipated.

The true joy of giving begins when we can give to others in need and see them become better off, but expecting nothing in return.

Next Week: Subtracting Your Rights

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

Economics of the Interior Part 5: An Invitation to Give

Earlier we discussed the fact that everything we possess today was either given to us as a direct gift from God or is in our personal portfolio as the result of a gift exchange. We have traded from the inventory we were first allotted for the acquired possessions we now have. But the basic commodities that we used as trading materials for everything else were given to us.

We did not purchase our time allotment which we now hold as a possession; it was given to us. We did not negotiate for our physical characteristics; we inherited them. We did not bargain on the open market for the basic intellectual capacities; we received them as a gift. We did not ardently go to battle and finally win the power to choose; indeed, that power was given to us. Even the environment in which we move and perform our trading activities came to us as part of our inheritance.

Ultimately, there is only one source of all possessions, one sole proprietor of all that exists whether ordinary or yet to be discovered. That makes for a very interesting economic model. But isn’t it amazing how quickly and how completely we presume that we are totally entitled to all that is in our portfolio? Our daily behavior reveals that we totally own it all without encumbrance.

Then comes the interior economic admonition for us to take that which is in our portfolios and give it to someone who is in need so that he can become better off.

Everything we have has come from you, and we only give you what is yours already! (1Chron. 29:14)
Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. (1 Timothy 6:18)
Your care for others is the measure of your greatness. (Luke 9:48)
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. (2 Corinth. 9:11)

In my research I discovered that the practice of selfless giving to the needs of others was not just a suggestion, but an integral characteristic of the economics of the interior model. The expectation to give generously, however, was accompanied by a residual benefit:that which you gave away would be replaced with even more, in the form of a heavenly compensating deposit from God’s economy, so that you could duplicate the experience again and again.

For God, who gives seed to the farmer to plant, and later on good crops to harvest and eat, will give you more and more seed to plant, and will make it grow so that you can give away more and more fruit from your harvest. (2 Corinth. 9:10)
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. (1 Corinth. 4:2)
For the man who uses well what he is given shall be given more, and he shall have abundance. (Matt. 25:29)
Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. (Luke 6:38)

During my reading assignment of the Holy Scriptures I became abruptly aware of why it is necessary to label it God’s economy. There would be no other way in all the earth to keep track of how all this was to work out. For example, if we were to respond in obedience and give away out of our earthly portfolios to some situation of need, how would we, or anyone else, ever know what would be needed to be deposited back into our account as a compensation? I learned that the things that are deposited back into our portfolios are exactly the things needed for our next episode of giving out. The compensation is determined by the next situations of need. God determines the amount, kind, and timing of the compensating deposits. We are responsible only for the current inventory in our portfolio.

In the early 1970s, when Anna Marie and I decided to give our wealth away and start over on the economic model of the interior, we gave away what would in today’s values be worth approximately one hundred million dollars. Did God deposit back into our portfolio prime real estate, financial instruments, and cash? No, he was much wiser and more creative. He did, however, deposit into our portfolio the concept and inspiration for an entity of goodness called Project C.U.R.E. that has saved thousands and thousands of lives around the world, and has donated in excess of one billion dollars’ worth of medical goods to needy hospitals and clinics in nearly 150 countries.

If you are really eager to give, then it isn’t important how much you have to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what you haven’t. (2 Corinth 8:12)
Day by day the Lord observes the good deeds done by godly men, and gives them eternal rewards. He cares for them when times are hard; even in famine, they will have enough . . . I have been young and now I am old. And in all my years I have never seen the children of the godly go hungry. Instead, the godly are able to be generous with their gifts and loans to others, and their children are a blessing. (Psalm 37:18-19, 25-26)
It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the generous man shall be rich! By watering others, he waters himself. (Proverbs 11:24-25)

Is it possible, in this model of the economics of the interior, that all the stuff I possess has been given to me and I simply have the power of attorney, along with a fiduciary responsibility, to see to it that I do not hoard that inventory, but utilize it to see that other people in this world end up being better off?

The Lord will give you an abundance of good things in the land, just as he promised: many children, many cattle, and abundant crops. He will open to you his wonderful treasury of rain in the heavens, to give you fine crops every season. He will bless everything you do: and you shall lend to many nations . . . (Deut. 28:11-13)
Those who love and follow me are indeed wealthy. I fill their treasuries. (Proverbs 8:21)
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there will be food enough in my Temple: if you do, I will open up the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing so great you won’t have room enough to take it in!
“Try it! Let me prove it to you! Your crops will be large, for I will guard them from insects and plagues. Your grapes won’t shrivel away before they ripen,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land sparkling with happiness. These are the promises of the Lord of Hosts.” (Malachi 3:10-12)
Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. (1 Timothy 6: 17-18)

We have been given a marvelous invitation. The one who has given first and is the sole proprietor of everything that exists has asked us to join him in a life-changing adventure of giving. It is the basis of the economics of the interior model.

In the earlier chapters we agreed that people succeed in a free enterprise system only to the extent that they make other people better off. So it is likewise true when it comes to success regarding the economic system of the interior. You, personally, as well as the entire model, will be successful to the same degree that other people become better off. And we have the opportunity through our management of living and giving to see other people become better off.

Goodness is the created wealth of God’s economy, and we get to be a part of that! 

Next Week: You Can’t Manipulate God

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

Economics of the Interior Part 4: What about Greed?

In considering the subject of God’s economy, we have already looked at the fact that God has given . . . and has given first . . .; and we also discussed that he is looking for a people who will live out their lives in accordance with his economic principles. But additionally, we need to recognize that

Principle #3: God’s Economy is Not Based on Greed

The word greed is a slippery word and needs to be tacked down at the beginning of our discussion. Traditionally, greed is defined as an excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions. That kind of greed, however, is not to be confused with, or allowed to splash over negatively onto, the rational concept of the pursuing of one’s own personal interests.

The desire for humans to pursue their own personal interests could be, but is not necessarily, greedy or selfish. To possess the desire to make good decisions and have the experience of you and your family ending up better off in this life may actually display the admirable quality of accountability. Good stewardship of life regarding those things we possess reveals our willingness to accept and practice personal responsibility.

Greed or selfishness, however, is the attitude and spirit where an individual insists on his or her own arbitrary demands on other people and their surroundings, regardless of cost or consequence. It is the whole idea of me first . . . it’s all about me. That spirit of greed or selfishness is counterproductive to goodness because everyone does not end up better off in greedy situations.

The negative spirit of greedy selfishness is in direct opposition to the spirit of God’s economy. Sometimes it is difficult to discern greed in the beginning. But you can be assured that harbored selfishness will sooner or later surface into observable and destructive behavior.

The kingdom of Christ and God will never belong to anyone who is impure or greedy, for a greedy person is really an idol worshiper – he loves and worships the good things of this life more than God. (Eph. 5:5)

In my reading assignment I ran across some extremely interesting examples of how, in the end, greed actually delivers a far different result than the person had anticipated in the beginning. Some of the examples are very dramatic and well worth the reading. I will give you the references and know that you will enjoy the research:

Eve . . . in desiring the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6)
Lot . . . in choosing to live in the lush, green valley (Genesis 13:10
Jacob . . . in defrauding Esau (Genesis 27:6)
Saul . . . in sparing King Agag and the livestock (1Samuel 15:8)
David and Bathsheba . . . in cheating on Uriah (2 Samuel 11:2)
Achan . . . in stealing and hiding the loot taken from battle (Joshua 7:21)
Gehazi . . . in falsely taking the gifts from Naaman the General (2 Kings 5:20)

The last story I listed, regarding the fellow Gehazi, is just too on point to let go without telling. Not only is it on point, but I personally relate to the story, because I have spent time in Samaria, located in Israel, and also worked in Amman, Jordan, and traveled all by myself in spooky Syria, and stayed alone in dangerous Damascus. In my mind I know right where this incident took place so many years before.

Naaman was the commander-in-chief of the Syrian army, and a dear friend of the King of Syria. He had won many battles and was a great hero, but had tragically contracted leprosy and his skin and body parts were beginning to rot off. On one of his military raids against Israel, he had taken captive a young Israeli girl whom Naaman had given to his wife as a servant. One day the young girl told her mistress, “I wish the master would go back to Israel and find the prophet Elisha. He could heal him of his leprosy.”

The King sent Naaman back to Samaria with a letter of introduction and sacks of gold and silver and suits of clothing. When he arrived at Elisha’s house, Elisha didn’t even go out to greet the great commander. Instead, he sent his servant Gehazi out with a message for Naaman to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan River and the leprosy would go away. Naaman was insulted and became very angry. “Aren’t the Abana and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus better than all the rivers in Israel? If I need to wash, I’ll go to a nice river to wash.” So, he left in a huff.

But some of his faithful men talked him into doing what Elisha had told him to do . . . since they just happened to be in the neighborhood. When he came up out of the river water the seventh time his skin was like a baby’s skin, and his lost body parts were all restored . . . an astounding miracle! Naaman and his entourage returned to Elisha’s house and declared that there was no other God except Israel’s God and said, “Please accept all my gifts.” Elisha answered, “I swear by Jehovah that I will not accept them.” Naaman turned and headed back for home.

Gehazi the servant had been observing all that was going on. After Naaman had traveled a distance, Gehazi caught up with him. Naaman came down out of his chariot, “is everything ok?”

“Yes,” Gehazi said, “but my master made a mistake and remembered that he was in need of the sacks of silver and several suits of fine clothes.”

“Not a problem,” Naaman told him, and gave him twice as much silver as he had requested, plus the fine clothes. Gehazi went back and hid the silver and clothes in his house. The next time Gehazi met up with the prophet, Elisha asked him where he had been. “I haven’t been anywhere.” Thereupon, Elisha informed him that he had seen everything and that now Gehazi not only had the bags of silver and the fine suits of clothes, “but you and your children and your children’s children also will have Naaman’s leprosy. And Gehazi walked from the room a leper, his skin as white as snow.

When you go after something with the motive of greed that which you receive is different from that which you thought you would get! It is always twisted on you . . . thus, the life of disillusionment and regret.

Sometimes, however, judgment and penalty in dealing with greed is not immediate, and that is confusing to those of us who are observing. Sometimes greed is allowed to run its course and the sad results are only viewed at a later point. But, we can be assured that God’s economy of the interior is not based on greed, because selfishness is not consistent with the characteristics of goodness:

Purity is best demonstrated by generosity. (Luke 11: 41)

God, who has already generously given, is looking for a people who will be characterized by their giving and not their grabbing. 

Next Week: You Can’t Manipulate God 

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics) 

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

More Economic Possibilities

If God is the source and all else is resource, why is so much time and effort expended on scrambling for and dividing up the meager familiar when there is so much abundance yet to be utilized? Why isn’t more emphasis placed on discovery and development of things yet unseen and underutilized, instead of on redistribution of the meager familiar? My research indicated that God’s offer was quite clear:

. . . my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches . . . (Phil. 4:19 KJV)

Principle # 2: God Is Looking for a People

Another economic offer that seems quite clear is that God’s economy is not a closed economy. It is not a Zero Sum System. In economic terms, some say that there is only so much pie in a pie. If one person gets more of the pie it simply means that another person must get less of the pie. They compare it to a poker game or a game of Monopoly, in which one person gains only at the expense of another person losing.

In my assigned reading, I discovered scores of examples where needed appropriations were actually created at the time they were needed. Elements of the economy literally expanded, rather than contracted. On one occasion, 5,000 men, plus women and children, were fed to satisfaction with the multiplying of five small loaves of bread and two fish . . . and afterward, there were twelve baskets full of food left over. On another occasion, water came right out of a rock to take care of thousands of thirsty people, and food actually came from the sky every morning for years just to feed them.

Instead of being a closed economy, the research indicates that the threshold has been lowered, and open enrollment has been declared for as many people as would like to join the economy. They are now welcome to become involved. In fact, it appears that the economic model actually works better the larger the number of people there are who get involved.

It appears that throughout history God has always had a collection of people who were convinced enough of his integrity that they would risk their possessions and even their lives on his economic principles. It seems that he is eagerly on the watch to locate people, even today, who would become part of the economic model.

For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward him, so that he can show his great power in helping them. (2 Chron. 16:9 TLB)

Evidence is recorded that when God can find even a handful of people who seriously pursue the economics of the interior model, the course of history is usually altered.

A fellow named Haggai presented the economic characteristics to a group of people of his generation and challenged the way they were managing their personal lives:

You plant much but harvest little. You have scarcely enough to eat or drink, and not enough clothes to keep you warm. Your income disappears, as though you were putting it into pockets filled with holes! 
You hope for much but get so little. And when you bring it home, I blow it away – it doesn’t last at all. Why? Because my Temple lies in ruins and you don’t care. Your only concern is your own fine homes. That is why I am holding back the rains from heaven and giving you such scant crops. (Haggai 1:6, 9—10)

An exciting thing happened. A handful of people responded positively to the challenge. They realized that Haggai wasn’t against fine houses. They realized what he was really saying was It’s not so much what you have . . . but what has you . . . that makes all the difference in the world! That small handful of people began earnestly following the economic model of the interior and exciting things began to happen, and the Lord told them,

Take courage and work, for I am with you . . . “The future splendor of this Temple will be greater than the splendor of the first one! For I have plenty of silver and gold to do it! And here I will give peace,” says the Lord. (Haggai 2:4, 9)

God seemed eager to show his desire to validate the handful of obedient participants. He promised to alter their outcomes even before their project was completed:

“Before, when you expected a twenty-bushel crop, there were only ten. When you came to draw fifty gallons from the olive press, there were only twenty. I rewarded all your labor with rust and mildew and hail. Yet, even so, you refused to return to me,” says the Lord.
“But now note this: from today, this 24th day of the month, as the foundation of the Lord’s Temple is finished, and from this day onward, I will bless you. Notice, I am giving you this promise now before you have even begun to rebuild the Temple structure, and before you have harvested your grain, and before the grapes and figs and pomegranates and olives have produced their next crops; from this day I will bless you.(Haggai 2: 16-19 TLB)

We are assured that those same principles are equally transferable today to participants of the economic model of the interior.

Next Week: What about Greed?

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

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Economics of the Interior Part 2: Some Characteristics of God's Economy

Throughout my reading assignment regarding God’s economy I noticed the reappearing of some interesting economic characteristics. Consistently, the model of the economic system in the ancient Scriptures elevated the individual above the collective, and it revered the law and goodness above raw power. Moral standards trumped oppression; integrity and perseverance proved to be stronger than brute force or skullduggery in the end.

Other characteristics that seemed to continually recur were a call for personal responsibility and accountability, a promotion of fairness, frugality, production, and a conscionable work ethic.

At all times the power of individual choice was emphasized and discrimination was frowned upon. Respect was one of the underlying characteristics, whether it was the respect required for all of God’s creations or the presumed respect for the phenomenon of time, and the relative shortness of a person’s life.

There was, in addition, an expectation that the participants in the economic model would strive to make things better while they were involved in the system, and that they would hold in high esteem the elements of wisdom and knowledge. I was impressed that there was an emphasis on society and even governments punishing wrong and encouraging good.

Especially in the Gospels, economics of the interior appeared to be almost counter-intuitive at times and mostly up-side-down in logic. This is particularly true in theSermon on the Mount. Instead of a person being concerned with activities of getting,it placed a premium on the behavior of giving. Instead of an emphasis on accumulation, it was concerned with relinquishment. Instead of consumption, it emphasized stewardship. That is counter-intuitive and up-side-down logic!

I think it is fair to say that, usually, economic models of a society are largely designed with group behavior in mind. The economic system of the interior deals more with the innate value system and behavior of the individual who, coincidentally, finds herself or himself actively involved in a society.

In addition to the above listed characteristics of an economic system of the interior, I would like to pull out and discuss six additional characteristics that we will refer to asprinciples of God’s economy. This list is in no way an exclusive list.

Principle # 1: God Has Given

If God has an economy, this characteristic would certainly be the most unique. All other economic models are based on the economic trilogy known as Scarcity, Choice, and Cost. It is assumed that all things are in limited supply, because all those supplies have alternative uses. Humans are presumed to have unlimited needs and desires. There is no way that all those desires can be met by the limited supply. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that choices be made as to which needs and desires will be satisfied by the limited supply.

The real cost of making a decision as to which limited item will be used to satisfy the chosen need or desire has nothing to do with money or wealth. The real cost comes in the foregoing of the next highest need or desire that is forfeited. You decided to use the item or commodity on procuring the one good or service at the expense of not being able to procure your next highest desire. You, therefore, lost the opportunity to use that supply to meet another need or desire. That is known as opportunity cost.That is the reason that some people through the years have referred to economics as the science or study of making good choices. How can you make better decisions in determining which limited resource should be used for which need?

So, from whence did all those resources come . . . in the first place? My research found that there was no hesitation in the Holy Scriptures when it came to answering that question: 

. . . Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as being in control of everything . . . Everything we have has come from you, and we only give you what is yours already! For we are here for but a moment, strangers in the land as our fathers were before us; our days on earth are like a shadow, gone so soon, without a trace. O Lord our God, all of this material that we have gathered to build a temple for your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you! (1 Chronicles 29: 11-16 TLB)

Everything that exists came from the hand of God. Everything that I have has come to me as a direct gift from God or is a by-product of a gift exchange. Nothing exists that did not come from God.

The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is his! (Psalm 24:1TLB)

The balance of the entire economic system of the interior rests upon that factor. He never requires anything of his participants that He has not already given to them. In God’s economy there is no such thing as successfully cheating or robbing, because when the participants finally get through playing their greed-games with earth’s possessions, God ultimately reassumes and repossesses all the stuff.

O Lord, what a variety you have made! And in wisdom you have made them all! The earth is full of your riches. There before me lies the mighty ocean, teeming with life of every kind, both great and small. And look! See the ships! And over there, the whale you made to play in the sea. Every one of these depends on you to give them daily food. You supply it, and they gather it. You open wide your hand to feed them and they are satisfied with your bountiful provision. (Psalm 104:24-28 TLB)

God is the source; everything else is a resource in the economics of the interior. That is what prompted me to consider that the whole model is counter-intuitive and a bit up-side-down.

Since everything has always belonged to God, it is impossible for you to try to influence or bribe God by giving something to him first. But by giving first, God has set into motion the expectation for the participants in the model to join him in his giving and, likewise, give from their inventories to the needs of others whenever he so prompts or requests. That is called obedience.

If God is the source, then the whole paradigm of scarcity, choice, and cost must be revisited. Is that whole concept a ploy of political manipulation? How should we respond if there is truly no such thing as scarcity? Should not our real concentration then focus on abundance and allocation rather than accumulation and hoarding?

Next Week: More Economic Possibilities

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

Economics of the Interior Part 1: Does God Have an Economy

In 1982, I ventured out in my economics book entitled What’cha Gonna Do with What’cha Got?, and asked the questions, is it possible that God has an economy? If He does, what would it look like? I wanted to stay away from my own platitudes and hyperbole, and I also desired to not engender any knee-jerk reactions on the part of my readers. I didn’t want the folks to race to judgment and say “see there, God is a Socialist, and believes what Karl Marx, Engles and even John Maynard Keynes were writing about.” I, likewise, didn’t want them to simply say “See there, God is a Capitalist, just like Adam Smith, Milton Freidman, and Michael Novak might have written about.”

So, I took the Holy Scriptures that I had available to me, and read all sixty-six books of the Bible (several books more than once). I tried reading them just with the mindset of an economist (whatever that means), attempting to discover if God had an economic system.

I hadn’t systematically read very far until I caught myself saying, “Oh, my goodness! This is a virtual economic text book . . . Just look at the Egyptian’s economic model of production, consumption and distribution and the Israeli’s division of labor model.” And by the time I got farther, into the Book of Proverbs, I was stunned at the 21st century wisdom of Solomon telling everyone how dangerous it was to even think about co-signing and guaranteeing a note for someone else. I didn’t know all that was in the Holy Scriptures! I was amazed.

Economists talk a lot about the differences between positive economics . . . the way things are, and normative economics . . . the way things ought to be. One of the first things I noticed in my reading was an interesting blend of positive and normative economics. Another thing I observed right away was that tribal and national politics kept getting the normative and the positive aspects of economics all jumbled up.

By the time I had finished my reading assignment, I had concluded that indeed God had an economy, and without doubt, He was the greatest economist imaginable. His economic principles were clear and consistent, and the principles fell more into the category of the normative economics. But the thing that continued to impress me was that even though the principles were couched in settings of society and cultures, yet they were particularly designed and aimed at the attitudes and behaviors of the singular individual.

The emphasis seemed to be on the interpretation and response of the individualwithin the society to a certain economic principle. Then would come the question,What’cha gonna do with what’cha got? The economic model was not one of politics or culture. It was more of a personal economic model that influenced and guided the individual. It was not an economic model of the outside, but rather an economic model that influenced the personal life of the individual. It was an economic system of the interior.

Once the economic system of the interior was embraced and implemented within the individual, then he or she could successfully impact the family. Eventually the family would influence and develop traditions. Then institutions would be established that were intended to carry on those accepted traditions into the future. The stories of Abraham and Joseph were great examples of the process.

As has been repeated here so often, where the components of traditions, institutions, families and the individuals intersect with the components of land, labor, capital, and the entrepreneur, global transformation takes place.

I began to perceive that the nucleus of God’s economy, regarding people and societies, starts with the economics of the interior in the hearts and minds of individual people and then spreads out to influence and affect societies and cultures. It also seemed to me while reading that those individuals who were grounded securely in their own economic systems of the interior had the ability to operate with ease and security when they were expected to function according to outside models and systems of politically controlled economies. Frequently, those outside economic systems were not even compatible with their own interior systems. They seemed to successfully survive, and many times they excelled in those foreign or imposed systems.

Throughout my investigation I found many examples, like Daniel, who for one reason or another, were forced to live under the expectations of a contrary economic model. But they successfully survived, none-the-less, and functioned by staying true to their own individual system of interior economics.

Next Week: Other characteristics of God’s economy 

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

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