A CHRISTIAN OBLIGATION TO LOCAL ISSUES
One of the things I hope to explore at Fels is this notion of city services for various classes of people. We are learning about how cities are like any other products: if they offer more value (trash removal, recreation department, public schools) than cost (taxes and user fees), people "buy" (i.e. move in or don't move out), and if they don't, they "sell" (i.e. move out or don't move in).
Free-market dynamics, then, help cities reach equilibrium in terms of rewarding cities that do a good job of offering value and managing cost. This is, of course, predicated on peoples' mobility, i.e. the ability to choose to move to whichever city or suburb offers the most value to them. But what about the poor, who are not nearly as mobile as you or me? Essentially, the city has a monopoly over them. And you know how inefficient monopolies are in dispensing services and allocating resources.
So what is our role as upper-class Christians living in cities in terms of making sure that our cities do not act like the inefficient monopolies that they are to entire populations of poor people? Somewhere in between "not my problem, screw the poor" and "let's make everybody equal" is, I think, an effective and Biblical solution. But what is it?
It is not, obviously, everyone's calling to push on these issues; it may not even be mine. But nor is it right for Christians to completely ignore such dynamics. We would be wise to understand that we are in positions of privilege, and compassionate in desiring to leverage its perks on behalf of those less fortunate, and ultimately for the sake of the Kingdom. We should not feel guilty about making money or accumulating wealth or making decisions to enrich our families. But nor should we choose to be ignorant as to how our upper-class lifestyles and choices and consumptions affect our neighbor.
One of the things I hope to explore at Fels is this notion of city services for various classes of people. We are learning about how cities are like any other products: if they offer more value (trash removal, recreation department, public schools) than cost (taxes and user fees), people "buy" (i.e. move in or don't move out), and if they don't, they "sell" (i.e. move out or don't move in).
Free-market dynamics, then, help cities reach equilibrium in terms of rewarding cities that do a good job of offering value and managing cost. This is, of course, predicated on peoples' mobility, i.e. the ability to choose to move to whichever city or suburb offers the most value to them. But what about the poor, who are not nearly as mobile as you or me? Essentially, the city has a monopoly over them. And you know how inefficient monopolies are in dispensing services and allocating resources.
So what is our role as upper-class Christians living in cities in terms of making sure that our cities do not act like the inefficient monopolies that they are to entire populations of poor people? Somewhere in between "not my problem, screw the poor" and "let's make everybody equal" is, I think, an effective and Biblical solution. But what is it?
It is not, obviously, everyone's calling to push on these issues; it may not even be mine. But nor is it right for Christians to completely ignore such dynamics. We would be wise to understand that we are in positions of privilege, and compassionate in desiring to leverage its perks on behalf of those less fortunate, and ultimately for the sake of the Kingdom. We should not feel guilty about making money or accumulating wealth or making decisions to enrich our families. But nor should we choose to be ignorant as to how our upper-class lifestyles and choices and consumptions affect our neighbor.
Comments