Power to Get Wealth: Dominion and Covenant Prosperity
April 2004
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A godly society will not come by waving a magic wand, nor by dictators, nor by any other way than God’s ordained way as set forth in His law. And basic to that is the tithe. The tithe is the abc’s of godly reconstruction, the alpha and the omega of a Christian society.
In 1979 my father, Rousas John Rushdoony, co-authored a book with Edward Powell entitled Tithing and Dominion.
God’s covenant with His people includes the created universe. It is both our area of service and our material inheritance.
Money is an instrument of commerce, a measure of value, a means of exchange, and storage for wealth.
For many theologically conservative Christians, it seems impossible to carry on a discussion of economics without eventually referring to the work of Gary North.
I took my first college economics course 25 years ago during a summer session. The material was boring and the professor was dreadful. The university was situated on a beautiful lake in northern Minnesota, and during the lectures it was easy to envision people swimming and fishing a few yards away on the beach. It was a long summer term.
The prominence of Christ’s economic thought is underscored by the incontestable fact that redemption itself is an economic concept.
Christians need to acquire influence in this world for one simple reason: Christ commands us to do so. If “subdue and have dominion over it” is not a mandate for acquiring influence in this world, we need a serious dictionary rewrite. The psalmist reiterates man’s influential position when he cries in awe, “You have made him [man] to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet” (Ps. 8:6).
Money. There just never seems to be enough of it. “If only I had more,” says the consumer. “Then I would not have to wait until next year, or even five year’s time, to buy what I want.”
For some people winter is the most depressing season of the year. They suffer from sunlight deprivation, which brings on the “winter blues” — a naturally produced depression. But an increasing number of people in America suffer from an unnatural “winter blues” that isn’t relieved until April 15 of each year, the deadline for filing income tax reports.
In the last issue of the Chalcedon Report I began a careful study of the Great Commission as found in Matthew 28. In that article I focused on the authority of the Commission; in this concluding article I will reflect upon the actual mission of the Commission as commanded by Christ when He commanded us: “Go make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19).
Unfortunately, in many churches there is little or no teaching about giving. Pastors are often reluctant to preach on the topic. Congregations often perceive such topics as thinly-veiled requests for a raise on the part of the pastor. Of course, there are churches — and other preaching places — in which the only topic seems to be sacrificial giving.
Proverbs 31 gives us a full-length picture of an intelligent, virtuous household administrator. Her worth is far more precious than jewels, and more valuable than rubies or pearls (Pr. 31:10).