Harmon Jay Jose

BSED – Social Science

Observation
In our daily lives, we are called to make choices at our homes and in the marketplace,
how much to spend and save, how to allocate our savings between different kinds of
financial assets, whether to take a regular cab or an Uber, how much to pay for health
insurance, whether to switch jobs, to move to a different city, where to go for vacation,
and so on. These decisions are so much a part of our everyday life that they are also
the domain of much of what politicians constantly make promises to us about.
How should we evaluate what our elected leaders tell us? How should we participate in
a democracy as responsible, informed citizens? We cannot answer such questions
without having a proper understanding of economics. It is a basic civic literacy
requirement. It teaches us how to make choices, how to interact in society, how to
evaluate the work being done by our elected representatives and much more. Every
citizen in a country needs to know economics so as to live and participate meaningfully
in the society.

Analysis
We claim all economic systems to be under the judgment of God no less than other
facets of the created order. Therefore, we recognize the responsibility of governments
to develop and implement sound fiscal and monetary policies that provide for the
economic life of individuals and corporate entities and that ensure full employment and
adequate incomes with a minimum of inflation. We believe private and public economic
enterprises are responsible for the social costs of doing business, such as employment
and environmental pollution, and that they should be held accountable for these costs.
We support measures that would reduce the concentration of wealth in the hands of a
few. We further support efforts to revise tax structures and to eliminate governmental
support programs that now benefit the wealthy at the expense of other persons.

Reaction
Because God has a purpose, He needs an economy. The Greek word for economy is
oikonomia. This Greek word is composed of two words—oikos meaning house or
household and nomos meaning law. Economy is a “house law,” a household
administration. This household administration is for the carrying out of God’s purpose,
God’s plan. God’s economy is God’s planned administration to carry out His eternal
purpose....
If you trace the root of the word economy, it goes back to a word that refers to the
parceling out of food, the distributing of food as in parcels. Joseph is a good illustration
of this. His job was to distribute all the food supply of Pharaoh to feed all the hungry
people. This root word also means to distribute food to the cattle for grazing. To
distribute is to dispense. In God’s economy, He dispenses Himself into His people as
life, as life supply, and as everything to them. God wants to dispense Himself as food to
us.
The Holy Bible tells us that God is rich as food to us. The Lord Jesus declared that He
was the bread of life (John 6:48), and Paul said that he was charged to preach the
unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). Christ is life, and His riches are unsearchable.
All these riches of life are to be dispensed into His believers. Paul was commissioned to
be a dispenser of these riches, a steward. He was to be a steward in the same way that
Joseph was a great steward to distribute the rich life supply of Pharaoh’s household....
By this we can see what the proper denotation of the word oikonomia is—God’s
household administration to dispense the divine riches of the Triune God as life and life
supply into His chosen and redeemed people....

Reflection
Economics is important for many areas of society. It can help improve living standards
and make society a better place. Economics is like science in that it can be used to
improve living standards and also to make things worse. It partly depends on the
priorities of society and what we consider most important.

Conclusion
God’s good creation, the fullness of its bounty, and the loving, nurturing relationships
that bind all together are intended by God to be enjoyed in freedom and responsible
stewardship. To revere God’s creation is a sacred trust that enables us to fashion just,
equitable, sustainable relationships and communities. The strength, stability, security,
and progress of such relationships and communities depend on the integrity of their
social, economic, political, and cultural processes, institutions, and stakeholders. Graft,
referring to unfair or illegal means of acquiring money, gain, or advantage, especially by
abusing one’s position in politics, business, and social institutions, transgresses human
dignity and violates human rights. Corruption, referring to dishonest and undue
exploitation of power for personal gain, subverts God’s intention for the fullness of life
and creation. Graft and corruption tangle the social thread of communities, erode the
moral fiber of human relationships, and sully the reputation of social institutions.
Legislative and judicial mechanisms, including a strong, just criminal justice system,
must deal with graft and corruption at every level of society. Good, just political
governance characterized by transparency, accountability, and integrity is crucial to the
eradication of graft and corruption. Societies that are graft-ridden and plagued with
corruption are needful of God’s pardoning love and redeeming grace.

Application
Give, Because God Gave
We’ve been given everything through the gospel. Nothing we own or possess comes
from our will, but from God’s gracious will. Therefore, let us not hold on tightly to worldly
gain, and let us give abundantly even to those who do not deserve it—as we don’t
deserve the blessings of Christ.
Let us give even when we have little to give, for all that we have was also given to us.
And may we not forsake to give others the best gift we’ve been given—the good news
of Jesus Christ—so they too can enjoy his eternal blessings forevermore.

Recommendation
We call upon the agribusiness sector to conduct itself with respect for human rights
primarily in the responsible stewardship of daily bread for the world, and secondarily in
responsible corporate citizenship that respects the rights of all farmers, small and large,
to receive a fair return for honest labor. We advocate for the rights of people to possess
property and to earn a living by tilling the soil.
We call upon governments to revise support programs that disproportionately benefit
wealthier agricultural producers, so that more support can be given to programs that
benefit medium and smaller sized farming operations, including programs that build
rural processing, storage, distribution, and other agricultural infrastructure; which link
local farmers to local schools; and which promote other community food security
measures.
We call upon our churches to do all in their power to speak prophetically to the matters
of food supply and the people who grow the food for the world and to develop ministries
that build food security in local communities.