What does a good citizen do?
If you paid attention in eighth-grade civics class, you can rattle off the standard list of a citizen’s duties, including voting, obeying laws, becoming informed on pertinent issues, investing in your community, paying taxes, serving a jury panel, or perhaps even defending your country.
But this list is missing something. Have you ever thought about the importance of seeking profit as a citizen?
Exploring Citizenship
Most of the things we identify as being characteristics of a good citizen are outward-facing actions, things that require a measure of supposed selflessness.
Often, the law may require us to adhere to stipulations that are personally inconvenient. Voting involves effort to step outside of our routines, and often the array of candidates is underwhelming. Attending a town hall meeting may not fit nicely into your schedule, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone enjoying paying taxes.
Yet these are all things in which many of us participate regularly.
We recognize that sacrifice is essential to a healthy polity. As we understand what the Bible says about government, the role of the citizen is essential. The burden of maintaining freedom lies with those benefiting from the prosperity stemming from it.
Exploring Profit as a Form of Citizenship
How does profit relate to these other aspects of citizenship?
Profit is designed to reward value creation. To earn profit, an entrepreneur—or in this case, a citizen—must turn his or her gifts and talents to the most productive use to those around him or her.
On the surface, this may seem self-serving. And in the sense that there is a tangible reward for certain actions, it is. But it’s more complex than that and inherently involves service to others and sacrifice of self.
When resources are used in a way that benefits others, everyone prospers. Ultimately, an entrepreneurial project benefits the community as a whole because the end result is a product that prices reveal to be valuable.
The technology that Apple has developed clearly leads to profits that benefit the makers and executives, but the beneficiaries of the developments are widespread; the benefits of the technology extend far beyond company profits.
In fact, the value created by Apple and other technology companies for ordinary individuals far outweighs the monetary profit received by Apple. We are much better off as an aggregate because of a few individuals’ pursuit of the talents they have been given.
Citizens of Another Place
As Christians, we are aware that our citizenship is not just of the country in which we physically live. How we behave in our local and national communities reflects the nature of our citizenship in God’s family.
While we cannot expect the complete restoration of this world until Christ returns, we can rest in the knowledge that God will use us for his glory and our good even while still on earth.
As Hugh Whelchel says in a post about elections,
As Christians, our participation in this great American experiment enables us to bring a biblical influence to our culture. While this is not a silver bullet that will fix all the ills of our society, it is a part of being salt and light in the part of the world where we live. Our call to serve our communities in this way is just as important to God as the work we do in our churches, our families, and our vocations.
For those called to the for-profit space, seeking profit in a way that glorifies God is an extension of our community service. It is important that we, as Christian citizens, consult the Bible as we cast our votes, but we should not neglect to actively seek value creation through the use of our gifts and talents as part of our good citizenship.
Editor’s Note: On “Flashback Friday,” we take a look at some of IFWE’s former posts that are worth revisiting. This post was previously published on Dec. 9, 2014.
