Listening In preview - Chuck Bentley

MEGAN BASHAM, HOST: Coming up next, a preview of Listening In.

This week, host Warren Smith talks to the president of Crown Financial Ministries about threats to our financial future. One of those threats is the rise of democratic socialism.

In this excerpt of their conversation, Warren presents Chuck Bentley with a possible reason why some young people are drawn to this economic theory these days.

WARREN SMITH: My argument would be look at what you free market capitalists have done with things. I mean, we’ve got folks like Donald Trump, we’ve got folks like Gordon Gekko from the movies. We’ve got the sort of the libertarian philosophy of Ayn Rand, who advocates for sort of a radical, free market approach. And my Christian beliefs won’t let me embrace these guys, either. So how do you answer those young people, kind of without a tribe right now, where where should they go? What should they think?

CHUCK BENTLEY: Well, Warren, I love the fact that you paint a picture of the whole spectrum, because that’s the way it’s looked upon today, as it’s an either or sort of a binary choice where we have to embrace capitalism, and accept greed and all of the nasty things that we see where it’s being abused. 

My view is this, that what’s really necessary is that we help people understand God’s economy, and God’s economy says that we’re not to covet, that’s the 10th commandment. And so to those who are trying to embrace it, Biblically, I’d say to me, you can’t do it because socialism is legalizing coveting. It’s basically saying, we’re going to take from the people who have and give it to those who don’t have, when that’s contrary to the scripture all the way. 

The other thing that the scriptures say that we should not do is to be hoarding, to be selfish, to be greedy, and to be filled with just selfish ambition and lack of generosity. And so we’ve got our work to do if we’re going to keep capitalism functioning, we’ve got to have a grassroots solution where people see themselves as God’s stewards, not as owners. Because if you’re an owner, then you’re going to measure your success with finances by how much you acquire. If you’re a steward. You measure success by faithfulness, if you honored God with how you manage what he entrusted to you. 

And look, it’s a steep hill to climb Warren, but that’s the hill that I’m trying to climb and is the hill that I believe God called me to climb, but that’s the balance between those two extremes.

BASHAM: That’s Chuck Bentley talking to Warren Smith. To hear their complete conversation, look for Listening In tomorrow wherever you get your podcasts.

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