Jim Wallis: Rediscovering Values

Wallis says that Jesus the Son of God many times spoke about and demonstrated the art of giving—the hope found in redistributing the wealth of a few to retard the poverty of many. In fact, the Bible is replete, he argues, with examples of “redistribution of wealth,” such as the spiritually and financially enriching practice of Jubilee (Leviticus 25). Further, it was the early Church fathers—such as Clement of Alexandria, Augustine, and John Chrysostom the Patriarch of Constantinople (115, 116)—who challenged the early Christians to reconsider the possession of their wealth, and to advance economic communitarianism (Acts 4:32-37).

Wallis’ ideal society is one predicated on the belief that social parity trumps individual opportunity; where the avarices of the market economy must be subdued by the regulatory arm of the state. Although he gives lip service to re-establishing “self-governance” (3), meaning that people must reassert self-regulation and prioritization of their needs from wants; it is clear throughout the text that of the three institutions—public, meaning government, private, and non-profit—that frame and contain the problems and solutions of society, it is government, and specifically the federal government, that must play a sizable role in creating a better balance between the other two institutions (225), a balance that will ward off further crises, economic or otherwise, that might one day plague our nation.

Wallis calls for a variety of economic and social changes. They include: developing and re-energizing the concept of “community” (125-126, 128); reiterating the need for more public and private service (137); is an advocate for the clean-energy economy (149); strongly encouraging the recreation of the “healthy family” (159); recommitting to the “meaning of work and the ethic of service” (173), which is tantamount to establishing and developing a healthier and more productive work environment, one where people care for people rather than just themselves; and where recovering the “commons” (187) and dismissing the myth of the “sinless market” is the centerpiece of a new society. These all sound good, but what is the bottom line for Wallis?

He believes that a “social transformation” is necessary, one that is rooted in spiritual and political values, values that according to Wallis are found in the social justice gospel of the evangelical Left. He concludes with a clarion call saying, “Change begins when some people make different choices. Change grows when people make different choices together. And when the critical mass of those who are making different choices gets big enough, change becomes a social movement. It is those movements that change history…” (228).

Wallis is correct, but only partly. A transformation is necessary, but he only gets to the first of two necessary questions. Wallis answers, “How will this crisis change us?” with the social justice gospel. This theology promotes the gross misunderstanding that Jesus was more concerned about society and its institutions than He was about the individual. This “gospel” argues for the intervention of social, economic, and political regulations imposed and enforced by government. It is a gospel that wrenches the heart and soul of man toward belief in redistributing wealth as a means of assuaging one’s conscience, especially when the imbalance of wealth is too great. This is a gospel that Jim Wallis believes is the salvation of society.

But Wallis is politically savvy, if not worldly spiritual. He understands that this economic crisis is not one that will easily be dismissed, or one that will be solved solely by the political and economic regulations. It will require a response from the every person in every town across America. It will require civic and economic sacrifice. It will require families, neighborhoods, faith-based organizations, and communities working with each other and with local and state governing bodies.

Tags: jim, rediscovering, values, wallis

Category: Living the Faith, Winter 2011