Eden's Bridge

(This essay is a reflection on the central thesis of the book Eden’s Bridge: The Marketplace in Creation and Mission, © David B. Doty, 2011, available from the author or from Wipf & Stock Publishers.)

In recent decades two strains of theological development have gained a significant amount of attention: the theology of work and the theology of stewardship. Both have proven important in informing us about God’s explosive movement in the marketplace, especially in the last few decades. I spent a fair amount of time investigating both these areas of concern in my own research over the past several years.

But I hit a wall when I came to Deuteronomy 8:18 – “But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” In this passage, God is reminding Israel that their economic success does not emerge from either their inherent goodness or the diligence of their work. But there is little to nothing in the surrounding text to answer two critical questions: How did God give them the ability to create wealth?, and how does the increase of their wealth fulfill the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

Unpacking that verse in an attempt to answer those questions is what ultimately led to me writing Eden’s Bridge: The Marketplace in Creation and Mission. While all this is taken up in detail in the book, I offer the following as a brief on the theological message it articulates: the marketplace is an institution of God, implicit in the creation narrative of Genesis 1–2 and vital to God’s mission in the world (the missio Dei).

The first question – How did God give them the ability to create wealth? – is answered by two provisions God made for Israel – land and community. “How is wealth created” as a generic question is answered most simply by three economic components: access to the means of production, the division of labor, and advantageous exchanges between workers, i.e., trade. My quest to understand the interaction of these three, in effect, the functionality of a market economy, as a partial answer to the original question led me to the conclusion that the marketplace, as a means to create wealth (as abundance), is an institution of God. If that is so, I wondered if it was an original intent, that is, in creation or something that came later.

My curiosity led me to re-read Genesis 1–2, which I had read many times before but now from a different perspective. Were those foundational components of the marketplace present in the Garden narrative? Hopefully, the reader has already surmised the conclusion that I finally reached that they are indeed.

In creation, the Garden (the earth), like the land for Israel and now for all, is the foundation of the means of production. Given energy from the sun (and now through materials mined from the ground, gravity, such as tidal and wave energy, environmental energy, such as wind, and ground source, or geothermal, energy), the Garden produced all that the first family needed, not only to survive but to thrive. Adam had only to put forth what must be assumed to be a nominal effort to do well. The land, the eco-creation, is the primary means of production, and remains so even today as buildings, vehicles, electronic devices, clothing, food, and machinery are all constructed or derived from the elements of the earth.

Interesting to note, at least to me, is the realization that God never commanded Adam to work. To work and take care of the Garden, rather, were part of Adam’s reason for being and in particular relationship to his physical context. “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). To work and take on the responsibility of overseeing the Garden were, in effect, written into the DNA of what it means to be human in the sense of the purpose, at least in part, for our having been created. But this was Adam’s work . . . alone. His “calling” to work and to stewardship, if you will, was in isolation.

Then God deemed that Adam was not to be or work alone, that it was not good. God did not simply create a wife for Adam to produce progeny and perpetuate the species. God first identifies Eve as the ‘ezer neged, an appropriate or suitable help mate, in Genesis 2:18. She is not identified as wife until 2:24. Not only the foundational elements of labor and stewardship were established in the Garden but the introduction of Eve introduced the expectation of the division of labor.

The division of labor creates the opportunity for expanding economies. The first step is simply by making labor more efficient, dividing the tasks within a given project, whether as foundational as gathering food or complex as transnational manufacturing and marketing of goods. Efficiency gains are productivity gains, the foundation of creating new wealth as an abundance greater than can be produced alone. The division of labor, through increased efficiencies, allows for the development of specialized skills which further enhance productive efficiency within a community.

Thus far we have seen that God has provided, from creation, two of the three elements critical to the establishment of a market economy – access to the means of production (land, in this case) and the division of labor (to move work beyond work in isolation). The third element – exchange – brings up being made in the image of a Trinitarian God, a self-contained community.

Sadly, the only exchange between Adam and Eve given in the creation narrative is when she shared with him the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is easily understood that this awakened them to the determination of their own sense of morality. It was also the violation of the relationship they had with God.

But other exchanges between them are implied by the introduction of the help mate. A lone actor can be diligent and godly in both the mental and physical tasks of their work. A lone actor can also be diligent in protecting and optimizing whatever means of production, whether land, machinery, or information, is available. Hence, the theologies of work and stewardship can be taken as individual concerns. But Adam, even before the introduction of Eve, was never alone, and nor are we. He walked with God in the Garden and now we abide with a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1).

For many of us, to walk with God (or even having an unseen cloud of witnesses) is largely an ethereal experience given that God is spirit and fundamentally intangible, having no body. The introduction of Eve made the idea of relationship tangible, visible, present in a real way. Adam may have been able to distance himself in his relationship with God if the Presence of God was ethereal but Eve was as real as real could be.

Adam was created in the image of God but his rebellion altered that image. His rebellion changed the relationship with God, who put him out of the Presence in the Garden, and it altered his relationship with Eve. At the heart of God’s creation were two people, designed to work together as a reflection of the image of a holy God. They were designed to be holy as God is holy, that the character of righteousness and justice would dictate their relationships with God and with one another.

To move beyond the theologies of work and stewardship, in fact to create the biblical foundation and the fullness of those theologies, we must come to understand the theology of the marketplace, of the interpersonal exchanges between God and humankind, within the human family, and between humankind and the environment created for our sustainability.

The marketplace is the most pervasive institution in human experience. To some degree, every person is affected by economic interactions with others. At the heart of the theology of the marketplace is God’s design for human community, that we live together in mutual support striving toward the re-establishment of God’s reign in the world, that is, moral order directing and fulfilling economic, political, social, and environmental justice (though, given the multitude of directing moral philosophies, even within Christendom, how that justice works out remains somewhat open to interpretation).

In no way does the Bible endorse socialistic or communistic models of governance or economics as they have come to mean in the present day. It is for freedom that we have been made free (Galatians 5:1) . . . free from the penalties of sin and death, free to worship God without encumberance from within or without, free to become as God originally intended us to be. The governmental, social, political, and economic endeavors of God’s children, however, are undertaken in obedience and response to God’s leading and goodness toward righteousness and justice, by choice rather than by the coercive influences of state or sect.

Though the marketplace was established in creation itself, there was no need of profit for sustainability . . . only obedience to God. We now live in a fallen world and sustainability hinges on working with and within the world’s system to a great degree. A re-oriented view of the marketplace, in Kingdom perspective, however, may lead us to pursue restoring godliness in our relationships with God and one another and, seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, allowing God the freedom to bless us anew as we cling to His ways and priorities, even if sometimes He asks us to risk worldly security beyond our understanding.

The marketplace, in God’s original intention, was a means to more than sustain us. It is for us to enjoy Him and His creation in abundance. It is for us to develop holy living in relationships. Economic discipline is vital to our survival and flourishing, all of us, and many in our world are not flourishing. Jeffrey Sachs, in The End of Poverty, points out that we have sufficient wealth to end global poverty but lack the political will. Accumulation in the hands of too few keeps too many from the basic needs of nutrition, health care, education, and economic freedom. That is why understanding God’s design and purposes for the marketplace, in creation and now moving toward redemption, is vitally important for the church and the world: because God cares for the least of these.

Once we have established the presence of two independent producers, i.e., recognizing the division of labor as the foundation of the potential for a marketplace, if those producers can be found to be interested in the product of the other, opportunity arises to exchange, whether goods, services, information, or any other currency item of value to both parties.

From the ability to enter into exchanges arise a plethora of economic relationships. Parties to exchange bring whatever advantage they possess to the bargaining table in the pursuit of the products brought by the other parties. Interestingly, God sought an exchange with human kind that was not material or valuable to God in a financial way. What Adam received was sustenance in abundance beyond our imagination. But what God sought from Adam was loyalty, a commitment to obedience, to holiness, that would allow Adam to remain in God’s presence. To God the valuable was fellowship. Perhaps we find some degree of equivalence in the idea of paying a retainer, knowing that we have not paid for the services of an attorney or accountant per se but when the time comes to engage their services, we already have their commitment to our cause. In that sense, material provision is exchanged for allegiance, or obedience in Adam’s case.

Economic relationships need not be simple, direct exchanges, as in bartering chickens for wheat or giving money for bread, but can be defined by any number of other arrangements, varying by degrees of complexity and depth. Specifically, the economic relationship between God and humankind follows most closely on the model of patron (pater, meaning father or benefactor) and client (cliens, meaning dependent or follower). The patron-client arrangement is typical thought to be one of endurance and may involve a myriad of exchanges in kind and number.

The patron typically does not need the loyalty or efforts of a particular client but does desire that commitment from someone. The client may not need the favor of a particular patron but is able to live more readily if they receive the favor of some patron than if they do not. The exchange between the patron and client then is an agreed upon arrangement, not one of overt coercion by either party but of convenience to both. Either party may suffer unnecessarily without the presence of the relationship but both recognize the greater opportunity to achieve desirable results if a symbiotic balance can be struck.

Opportunity can be created but operators / actors / producers must engage that opportunity to make it a reality. Opportunity can exist on a conceptual level, present and at the same time lost, if passed by. God’s intention in creation is best summed up in Hebrews 2:10 – His desire to bring many sons (and daughters) to glory, to create for Himself a divine family beyond the Trinity itself. A friend of mine is currently finishing a doctoral dissertation on sonship as the unifying theme of the Epistle to the Hebrews, perhaps one of the most important theological developments in the history of biblical research. Through the work of Jesus on the Cross God has made the Way available to enter into redeemed life but, sadly, it is often a door passed by. The glory of God, largely unseen except by being in relationship to God, is disregarded by the passersby.

God created Adam and Eve (made in the image of God both male and female – Genesis 1:27) and in so doing created the opportunity for humankind to live in harmony with Him. After the Fall, the act of the redeeming kinsman, Jesus, re-invigorated the opportunity (Leviticus 25:25). The relationship between God and humankind is a family structure as the Latin pater implies (father) but also an economic arrangement implied by that same term (benefactor, or provider). When Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac and Isaac questioned where they were to find an appropriate animal for the sacrifice, Abraham responded “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering” (Genesis 22:7–8).

The combination of provide and God in the passage above is that from which we derive the name Jehovah-Jireh, God-My-Provider. Popular English translations of the Bible interpret the Hebrew raah (Strong’s 7200) as provide. But this meaning may be shortsighted, if you will pardon the pun (about to be revealed). Raah is a primitive Hebrew root which means to see. It appears more than 1300 times in the Old Testament and is only interpreted along the lines of providing in five places, an occurrence of less than one half one percent. Raah has many, MANY interpretations into English in the Old Testament. The predominant uses have to do with sight: seeing, looking, appearing, and so on.

It would almost seem as if Abraham could have been saying, when questioned about the material sacrifice, that God will appear. I take that tack to think along the line of exchanges. In this passage it was an exchange of a material sacrifice in obedience to God’s command to Abraham, a demonstration of Abraham’s loyalty, out of gratitude for God’s goodness to Abraham in the giving of fruitful land and an heir.

If God were to appear in the midst of this exchange, a material sacrifice of loyalty, perhaps we can see a correlation to how we undertake marketplace activities. We live with the promise that God blesses the home of the righteous (Proverbs 3:33). When we act according to holiness in market exchanges, that is, acting righteously and generously trusting in a God who rewards, does God appear in the midst of the transaction? How do we judge our marketplace behaviors, our exchanges, as witness to the glory of God? When we negotiate trade, do we facilitate the manifestation of God’s glory or the presence of others gods? How might God show up in the midst of doing business?

(David Doty has been a serial entrepreneur, a seminarian, and an author. His first book, Eden’s Bridge: The Marketplace in Creation and Mission – Wipf & Stock Publishers, January 1, 2012 – articulates the first theology of the marketplace as an institution of God, implicit in the creation narrative of Genesis 1-2 and vital to God’s redemptive mission in the world.)

The topic of land in the Old Testament is said to be only secondary to that of God Himself. It is a complex topic and one I find myself delving into more deeply as an analogy of the marketplace as the means of human provision. Land, from the beginning of creation, has been the primary means of production. It is from the earth that we draw our livelihood as crops for consumption and materials for creating an unfathomable range of products and buildings.

Walter Brueggeman, in his seminal text, The Land, creates a mental picture of the interconnectedness of Yahweh, the land, and God’s people. They are inextricably linked. But God provided for Israel even in their landlessness of the desert journey with meat (quail) and bread (manna) and water, all connected even to that barren land. Their clothes did not wear out and their health was maintained.

We often hear phrases in the church like “taking back the land” as reclaiming something that has been taken from us. The sentiment seems to be that we must take charge of the situation and forcefully drive out those who have misappropriated that which was somehow “ours” (as the people of God).

The land of Canaan was the land promised to Abraham. It represented provision and security, even prosperity, the actualization and fulfillment of the very shalom of God. This was by no means taken by the Hebrews to mean some future, spiritual heavenly status. This was temporal and at hand, in contrast to the slavery of Egypt and the un-settledness of the desert. This was a real promise in real life.

As Joshua and the second desert generation entered the land, God went before them. They had only to march around Jericho, according to God’s command, and the walls tumbled to the ground. The city was taken without war or coercion or the loss of Israeli life or livelihood. The wealth of that great city, except for the foolishness of Achan (Joshua 7), was consecrated to God.

The nation of Israel was walking into a promise that seemed even more unbelievable than the giving of the land. They were to have cities they did not build, houses already furnished, cisterns they did not dig, vineyards and olive trees they did not plant (Deuteronomy 6:10–11). Prosperity was being handed to them on a silver platter!

The phrase “taking back the land” has a clear militancy to it. But as we have just seen, the Lord went before them and prepared the place for Israel (sound familiar?–John 14:2–3). Israel had to do little other than to walk in and take up residence. The Lord had promised that He would do the work of clearing the land (Exodus 23 and Deuteronomy 11:23). It seems reasonable that the Israelites had to war against the inhabitants only as they disregarded seeking God’s counsel and were deceived by the Gibeonites (Joshua 9), and  they fell into disobedience, perhaps in following after the gods of the inhabitants. They lost the purity of their worship of Yahweh and possessing the land became strife laden.

To receive the gift of the land of promise, Israel had only to seek after God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. This is where I draw a strong analogy to Christians in the marketplace today. It is easy to see how the marketplace has been corrupted by sin.

Our work, whatever our vocation, as worship or service to God (see ‘abad–Strong’s 5647), programmed into the DNA of being human at creation (Genesis 2:15), is a sacred calling and trust. But the land, as gift, should give us pause as to how we work and how we “take back” the marketplace for God. We tend to strategize and create actions plans, we control and manipulate, we scheme and execute . . . all by our striving and, perhaps, by some leading of the Spirit.

But the land, and now the marketplace, as the place of our provision was simply to be lived in, in obedience. We even find encouragement that the marketplace and its wealth is a promise of God for his people and for His glory in Proverbs 13:22b,  “And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.”

 Missiologists (those who study the mission of God, the misseo Dei, in the world) are just beginning to observe, catalog, and study God’s movements in the marketplace. In God’s grand scheme of the redemption of all creation, meta-institutions, like government and the marketplace, continue to undergo reformation.

As marketplace Christians, “living into” our vocational callings by obedience, we demonstrate the glory of God in how we first rely on God for His provision amidst the dryness of our deserts and act wisely as he leads us into His promised land, where righteousness, as economic and social justice, will overcome the sinfulness of humankind even in the marketplace.

The work that God gave to Adam, to cultivate and keep the Garden (Genesis 2:15), was without the toil, resistance, and sweat brought on by the sin of disobedience (Genesis 3:17–19). Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy, and My load is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Work is a key component in our daily lives. Our vocations can be fulfilling or troublesome. Hopefully this leads us to question our vocations, or how we are performing in them, if we find ourselves vexed at worked, despising our bosses or even the work itself. If we are “living into” God’s Kingdom, we will stop striving after our ambitions but seek only to please God in the marketplace. By pursuing righteousness, we will see the reward of His “Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10), the shalom that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), even at work.

(David Doty has been a serial entrepreneur, a seminarian, and an author. His first book, Eden’s Bridge: The Marketplace in Creation and Mission – Wipf & Stock Publishers, January, 2012 – articulates the first theology of the marketplace as an institution of God, implicit in the creation narrative of Genesis 1-2 and vital to God’s redemptive mission in the world.)