Church Socialism 4/5

The church is seen as something that is only spiritual, traditionally, but there are some churches who have seen the value in backing Kingdom minded companies; for a people to flourish there needs to be these type of businesses that want to see it happen! It's through gospel oriented companies where a big part of the tangible, real world changes take place; without these type of businesses then we are missing a big part of being the light.

Posts 1-3 are basic for any church; a lot of churches already live in that framework and some churches might want to, but not realize how vital it is for them to support their whole neighborhood vs just their congregation. However, this 4th point is followed by a much fewer percentage of churches, because the mainstream belief that heaven and Earth are two separate places limit our view of what the church can do. Like I said in previous pts, Church Socialism is not anything new. I have been able to see an entire network of churches who lived this out where the city and people flourish! "Church Socialism" is simply a name that I wanted to brand it with :) but this is nothing more than a holistic view of the gospel.

No matter how mature or seasoned we think we are as Christians or how much we know about how the world works, we still have to take a step back and examine our view of the gospel. We need to make sure our view of the gospel isn't being placed inside our beliefs about the world or our political boxes. The gospel needs to affect what we believe about things, not the other way around. I know this is basic and obvious, but I wanted to bring this up, because the gospel should affect how a business is ran, where we as customers buy from, and the church's role in the business world.

We know that the church isn't only "four walls," Sunday morning service, Wednesday night bible study, men's group, youth group, etc, etc. We know that "we are the church," but we still want to live inside the cultural norms. We sometimes think slapping a Jesus fish on the business card and giving tithes to a church makes it a christian company. We don't always realize what impact a Christ-centered organization might have on the community and how much we can change the world by simply being the light in our industry. But it takes more than just a company doing their part, we customers need to do our's. An incredible business that has plans in their budget to give to to the community, use quality product, and the best customer service won't go any where if we as customers are too scared or lazy to leave the okay-brands we've grown comfortable with.

The mindset behind Church Socialism isn't just bringing our money together so we can give it to the rest of us who need it at the moment, Church Socialism is rearranging our system by using the free market so that the companies who are there for the neighborhood can 1) remain where they are, or 2) start up and know they're charity budget won't kill all the profit and 3) through competition cause other companies who would remain self-focused have to become community-focused to stay in business. For this to properly happen it will require the whole village to work at it, trusting that it is best for us.

Donating money to those who need it is important, but it's not a long term solution; investing money into companies that can strengthen the neighborhood is a long term solution. Studies have shown that 45% of money spent at a local business will recirculate back to the area (https://www.amiba.net/resources/multiplier-effect/). A local business owner that is focused on improving the community and not only themselves is worth the church supporting. This is where the free market can truly shine. Not to mention the church will have a hard time sharing the good news of salvation when all their people are trying to leave their neighborhoods to find a more sustainable place to live.

The vision is simple: invest in businesses that will invest in the good of all.

However, the church or the cctc should have a budget and a board for helping start these kingdom businesses and like I said, this is already being done in some places. It not only requires the whole village to support it, but to help start it.

#church #socialism #business #localbusiness