“The way forward on economic growth seems clear to me. We are called to do authentically productive work. This will normally lead to economic growth, because productive work creates value, and it therefore increases the total amount of value in the economy. So we should welcome growth. But we have to be careful not to make growth an end in itself; our motivation is to make the world a better place, not get rich. And we have to teach people how to use their wealth as stewards of God to benefit their neighbors, not squander it or let it go to waste.”
Greg Forster in Joy For The World: How Christianity Lost It’s Cultural Influence and Can Begin Rebuilding It (Wheaton: Crossway, 2014) 237.
Forster provides leadership for the Oikonomia Network at Trinity International University. With this statement, he’s helping us grasp life in God’s economy. God made us to work (it was part of his design for us before the fall of man) and our productivity is not to get rich but to serve as conduits of blessing for our neighbors.
What is your motivation for productive work?