Today, Christian leaders from political, cultural, business, and theological sectors have come together with the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics (IFWE) and The Washington Times to publish a special report on economics, entitled, “Faith at Work: Economic Flourishing and Securing Our Future.”

This release builds on two previous reports IFWE has published in partnership with The Washington Times, the first on “faith and work” and the second on “economic flourishing” with an emphasis on creativity and innovation. This report incorporates those foundational ideas with a focus on what the United States needs to prioritize in order to preserve the blessings of economics flourishing for the future. 

Appropriately, today is Constitution Day (September 17), the day that we recognize the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1787. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich writes the featured article celebrating the Constitution as the “greatest self-governing document ever written” and highlighting the biblical principles found in it that need to be reaffirmed today.

Newt Gingrich, “Celebrating the Greatest Self-Governing Document Ever Written”

If the Declaration of Independence is moral poetry, then the Constitution is the meticulous result of political engineering. It outlines a carefully constructed machinery of self-government.

We invite you to download a PDF copy of the report or visit The Washington Times website, where you can share individual articles to social media.

This report represents a unique collection of voices, coming together to contribute to and elevate this important conversation about what economic freedom truly means and looks like. From Speaker Newt Gingrich, Sen. Tim Scott, and Rep. Robert Aderholt to Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Alveda C. King, and Mike Sharrow, these contributors speak to the deep connection between faith, freedom, and economic life. Drawing on scripture, history, and lived experience, they demonstrate that economic flourishing is about people living out their God-given callings.

Collectively, these articles affirm that our work truly matters, and that our faith can (and should!) shape how we engage in business, government, education, and culture. Through our work we love God, serve our neighbors, and build a freer, more flourishing society.

This report has the potential to reach millions online through The Washington Times website and subscriber list. In addition, the paper is distributed to thousands of offices and leaders in Washington, DC, including every Congressional office and the White House. Please join us in praying that this report reaches people with ears to hear—from elected officials to college students—inspires those people to take up the work of preserving these necessary principles and virtues, and ultimately, brings glory to God through our work.

Here are a few highlights from the report. Please check out the whole report, and help us share the articles with your own friends and family and on social media.

Economic Flourishing in the United States

Sen. Tim Scott, “Economic Flourishing Tied to ‘One Nation Always Under God’”

There is a lesson in Proverbs that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” When hope is dependent on a government coming to rescue you, your hope is too often deferred. When our government gets out of the way and unleashes opportunity, the American people respond in accord. 

Rep. Robert Aderholt, “Flourishing Through Freedom: Restoring the Moral Foundations of US Prosperity”

For America, flourishing has never been about material wealth alone. Our founders never talked about mountains of money. From the beginning, our prosperity has been rooted in virtue, in family, in faith and in freedom. This nation was born out of a deep conviction that liberty matters and taxation without representation was a violation of the God-given rights of free people. Economic flourishing, in its fullest sense, for any nation, is not the byproduct of government programs or market forces alone. It is the fruit of a society that prioritizes family and faith, honors personal responsibility, promotes opportunity and rewards hard work.

Biblical Foundations for Economic Flourishing

David Bahnsen, “Why the Faith and Work Movement Matters”

It is time to take to heart what the prayer means, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” It is time to understand the profound meaning of being made in the image of God, and what the “Imago Dei” anthropology means for Christian work.

Alveda C. King, “From the Womb to the Tomb: One Blood, One Race, One Hope”

Let us remember that our greatest strength is found in the eternal truth that we are one blood, one human race, united under one God. America needs more decisions, not divisions. Decisions for truth, for compassion, for life. And most importantly, we need more people to make the decision that I made in 1983 to follow Jesus Christ.

Understanding Economic Principles for Flourishing

Alexander William Salter, “A Biblical Perspective on Sound Money”

Sound money is a moral and theological issue. While the Bible doesn’t contain a worked-out macroeconomic theory, its teachings are absolutely relevant to monetary issues like inflation. We should take its prescriptions for sound money seriously.

Anne Bradley, “Socialism’s Dangerous Appeal to a New Generation”

God, in his infinite wisdom, created us to be interdependent. We need each other, and we must find ways to cooperate as well as to learn and improve our conditions. Regardless of the economic system, we cannot flourish alone.

Societal Flourishing

Mike Sharrow, “Business as a Force for Good and Human Flourishing”

It’s time for a reimagination of business, one in which entrepreneurs and executives see themselves as “kings and queens” with jurisdiction over their spheres of influence. This calling involves accountability. It means declaring, like Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” That declaration applies in our hiring policies, customer experiences, our supply chain choices, use of power and how capital is distributed. It involves tearing down cultural “high places” of exploitation, vanity and injustice and building pillars of excellence, virtue and generosity.

James Whitford, “What it Means to Flourish like a ‘Watered Garden’”

The development of relationships between those who are poor and those who aren’t is called bridging social capital. Recent research makes the case that these relationships are vital for the poor to flourish economically. Consistently, the poor who have relational connections to those who are prosperous have higher rates of upward income mobility. 

Once again, we invite you to download a PDF copy of the report or visit The Washington Times website to view and share individual articles. Thank you for your ongoing support of IFWE.