We often read that an unexamined life is not a healthy or realistic way to live, yet when it comes to money, we tend to shy away from what Scripture teaches us about how we spend, give, and save our money. Practicing the King’s Economy: Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give provides readers a brief guide “about how to live economic lives that are more in line with the righteousness, justice, mercy, and generosity of our King Jesus.”
Michael Rhodes and his co-author, Robby Holt, begin the book reminding believers of their citizenship in Christ’s kingdom. This kingdom focus means Christians must understand how God’s kingdom values and ways of living are distinct from the “normal” American life, especially when it comes to economics and money. Rarely, if ever, do congregational leaders seek to hold us accountable about our economic patterns.
Yet this is problematic, because, as Rhodes and Holt argue, we live in a world dominated by homo economicus (being people who embody the way the world thinks about economic life) and we’ve been trained in routines for living in that economy. We need retraining — but few churches offer it.
