“Spreading the Wealth Around”

For some time, I have been thinking of the principle of justice in our civil government. What is justice? How should it be defined? And what will it take for this country to undertake the effort to get back to first principles of a government based on justice. Nothing has better crystallized this discussion than the recent quotation by Barak Hussein Obama, when, in response to “Joe the Plummer,” he declared that his goal is to “spread the wealth around.” Is this an adequate definition of justice?

When I try to analyze first principles on any subject, I like to start with Scripture. For me, there is no passage that summarizes the concept of justice better than Romans 13: 3 and following:

3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.

As I have pointed out before in this blog, all of creation is covenantal. Typically, every obligation will have a reciprocal obligation. I will be their God and they will be my people. To parents: remember the Sabbath day before your children. To children: honor your parents. Here the obligations are no different. Citizens, be subject to the governing authority for conscience sake. Governing authorities, punish wrong conduct and do not punish wrong conduct. The obligation of the citizen is fairly strait forward: obey the law and pay taxes. The obligation of the governing authority is to execute justice, and this focuses on conduct.

The extent to which our corporate understanding is all screwed up is highlighted by the reaction to the counter position to the “spread the wealth around” philosophy. That reaction in this presidential debate has taken the form of a condemnation of greed. The McCain straw man has been summarily portrayed as a position protecting greed. I am willing to admit for the sake of argument that the characterization may be true, although I am not sure McCain's position actually protects greed, but would rather spread the wealth around just a little less. So assuming, just for the sake of argument that the characterization is true, I ask the next question: Is the characterization relevant? Is the correction of greed something that justice can remedy? And, if so, should it?

The answer to these questions is resolved by our reflection on Romans 13. Is the action of the government contemplated by the governing authority based on good conduct or bad conduct? If a man, out of selfish motives, works hard and saves, where is the wrong conduct? If such a man is punished in the form of confiscatory taxes, is this not punishment for good conduct? I think we would all have to agree that it is. If the man steals out of his greed, he is liable to punishment for wrong conduct. This is justice. However, to take from some just because they have is not based on justice, but is itself wrong conduct arising out of greed.

We must all be willing to admit that we all are tainted by some sense of self interest. Whether this takes on the character of greed in the form hard work to achieve or taking from someone else is the critical question. Taking by the usurpation of power makes the taking no less wrong than taking by physical force or deceit. What we also must be willing to admit is that justice can not remedy greed because it is a motivation and not a conduct. The governing authorities can not correct motivations, because they are internal. As long as these motivations work themselves out in proper conduct, the governing authorities have no place to act, because they can not change what is inside a man.

Does this cause us to conclude that there is not remedy for greed? No, but the answer is not in the governing authorities, it is in the church. It is the church that must teach compassion and generosity. It is only the church that can speak to the heart. Will the governing authorities allow that to happen or will they take on a task that they are incapable of completing?