A Fixed Pie Or A Growing Pie?

Seeing that wealth is neither to be avoided nor praised but rather stewarded wisely and generously, how should we think about material wealth creation? This is an important question worthy of thoughtful biblical and economic reflection. And it is preceded by another: Is material wealth a static or dynamic realty? Sometimes we assume there is a “fixed pie” of wealth or fruitfulness in the world.

When we embrace this idea, we tend to believe that because there is only one wealth pie, and because that pie can only be divided into so many pieces, we must cut smaller and smaller slices so everyone can have a bite of roughly the same size.

From a perceptual perspective, daily economic life in biblical times was pretty much a zero-sum game. Though the potential for remarkable growth in wealth existed—as it always does when creative image bearers are free to innovate in God’s abundant creation—technological limits, agrarian focus, and the lack of legal protections and basic human rights prevented great advances. Grasping this helps us read the biblical text through a more culturally clarifying lens.