What is Redemptive Economics?

Posted July 2, 2024

by Mike Hatch

The idea of Redemptive Economics was born out of much study and research of the scriptures and economic literature, as well as trial and error with practitioners. The title officially came about while I was a men's pastor and decided to create a digital course for men who were entrepreneurs and business owners in our church.

Since then, Redemptive Economics has taken on a more and more profound meaning. Clearly God brought it into existence and has clarified over time what he meant by it.

Since that digital course, I interacted with hundreds of business leaders over the last five years, soliciting their feedback and refining the idea. I further developed the idea to include 15 redemptive economic principles which has been helpful in integrating the concept into everyday business operations.

So, what is Redemptive economics? I’m going to answer that by defining each of those terms - redemption and economics. Then I'll pull it together for an overall definition.

• Economics is the study of how mankind utilizes finite resources to produce, distribute, and consume goods and services. In addition, the transfer of wealth, which serves to facilitate the trade of these goods and services is an integral part of this choreography.
• Redemption means to buy something back or regain possession of something that was lost. As Christians, we believe God redeemed us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the grave.

Jesus paid the ransom for our sinful rebellion, restored us to a right relationship with God, and empowers us to live a godly life through the gift of the Holy Spirit. In addition, God has entrusted to us with the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

Therefore, God, through his sovereign will and the power of the Holy Spirit, is accomplishing his redemptive purposes in and through us, His people. Even our economic activity is being used for God’s redemptive purposes, which includes but is not limited to - your business and entrepreneurial endeavors, how you spend and save money, how you handle debt, the type of money you use, etc.

Consequently, our role in that economic choreography either conflicts with, or contributes to, God's redemptive purposes. For the Christian, redemptive economics means participating in productive economic activities that…

1. Add value and contribute to human flourishing.
2. Reflect the materiality of God's kingdom.
3. Promote God's redemptive purposes.

Adding Value and Contributing to Human Flourishing

Throughout history, the definition of human flourishing has been up for debate. Not everyone defines it the same way. For example, WW2 Nazis believed the extermination of the Jews would bring about human flourishing. In the United State of America, early deep south settlers from Barbados and landed aristocrats in tidewater believed they were promoting human flourishing by enslaving Africans on their plantations. They even used scripture, taken out of context of course, to bolster this worldview.

Today, we have things like the World Economic Forum and Claus Schwab advocating for the eradication of private property. They believe they should own everything, dictate how to use that property, and rent to everyone else in the world. This is their vision of human flourishing.

The bible advocates for its own definition of human flourishing which is in stark contrast with the world’s priorities, and this has significant implications for our economic activity.

Reflecting the materiality of God’s kingdom 

God's kingdom has come and is present with us. In fact, Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is upon you” (Luke 17:21). In one sense Jesus meant that He was there physically, the Son of God, as a physical representation of the kingdom, but also that the kingdom of God has come by virtue of the presence of the Holy Spirit that resides in each Christian.

The kingdom of God is very much at work in us and all around us, in every aspect of our lives. In fact, it is subversive of the current world order. Theologically we talk about the kingdom being here now and not yet. It is ever-present but we aren’t experiencing it in it’s fulness yet, and we won’t until we enter eternity. Nevertheless, our everyday economic activity should reflect the reality of the work of the kingdom of God. Our allegiance is to God’s kingdom, not the United States of America, or any other nation state for that matter.

Promoting God’s redemptive purposes

God is in the process of reconciling all things to himself. He's making all things new and we are either playing a role that conflicts with those redemptive purposes or contributes to God's redemptive purposes.

Unfortunately, as Christians, we rarely think about these things from an economic perspective. Rather, many of us have been carried along by the conventional mindset of the day. Author and financial expert, Garrett Gunderson , in his book, “Killing Sacred Cows ,” said it well when he said we allow custom formed by social agreements and vested interests to dictate our economic behavior.

We take for granted that certain financial “experts” architecting our economic policy - in government, banks, and the finance industry - have our best interest at heart. Like floating on a raft down river we’ve let our culture take us along, defining our economic priorities without inquiring of God’s word. In fact, we’ve manipulated scripture to justify our involvement in corrupt and debased economic activities. I plan on identifying specific examples on the Redemptive Economics Podcast, as well as in future blogs.

So in review, Redemptive Economics means participating in productive economic activities that, 1) add value and contribute to human flourishing, 2) reflect the materiality of God's kingdom, and 3) promote God's redemptive purposes.

Eventually, we developed 15 Redemptive Economic Principles divided into three categories...

1. God's Dominion & Our Stewardship
2. Aligning with God's Redemptive Plan
3. Adding Value with a Kingdom Mindset

In subsequent blogs I will outline these 15 redemptive economic principles associated with each of these three characteristics.