Money Enough: Everyday Practices for Living Faithfully in the Global Economy

Douglas Hicks -

How can Christians apply their faith in their spending, saving, and giving while living in a world that encourages unbridled consumerism? Money Enough uses a practical, lively, meaty, and engaging style to help readers connect their faith with their Monday through Saturday lives. Packed with ideas for meeting the everyday pressures, questions, and anxieties of economic life, Money Enough provides level-headed counsel to believers who want to honor God with their practices as consumers, investors, and earners.

Features and Strengths
Author.  The first thing to note about Money Enough is the uniqueness of the author. Douglas Hicks completed his doctoral work at Harvard under the noted theologian Ronald Thiemann and the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen. He has also served as a Presbyterian minister. That background helped create a very interesting writing style: Hicks is comfortable quoting economists (i.e. Adam Smith) and theologians (i.e. John Calvin and Reinhold Niebuhr) while also weaving in cultural references to U2 lead singer Bono and the Costco wholesale chain stores.

Topics.  Hicks devotes one chapter each to 9 everyday financial topics:
1) Surviving - a Christian response in an economic downturn.
2) Valuing - life cannot be reduced to money.
3) Discerning Desires - how advertisers confuse desire and need.
4) Providing - perspectives on God's providence when a billion people scrape by on a dollar a day.
5) Laboring - rethinking our attitude towards work (i.e. time is money)
6) Recreating - enjoying daily life in our homes and communities.
7) Expanding the Community - an understanding of who our neighbor is today.
8) Doing Justice - setting up and maintaining an orderly system of economic life.
9) Sharing - share with those with needs when we have abundance (could be us in need).

Perspective.  Hicks challenges readers to think beyond personal stewardship: "Viewing economics as managing God's household redefines our thinking about money in terms beyond the mere pursuit of our individual self-interest. It requires us to think carefully about doing justice, sharing burdens and bounty, and meeting the needs of people we care about deeply and people we do not even know or like."

Abundance.  Money Enough compels believers to love God and others with an abundance mentality: "Like God's provision of manna in the wilderness, when the community sticks together and cares for one another, there is enough for everyone."

Dilemma.  Hicks doesn't shy away from difficult issues, pointing out that so many of the things Jesus said seem impractical in a global economy where half the population lives on less than $2 a day but most of us never spend significant time with people outside our economic class and education bracket.

Use.  Although designed and very useful for individual readers, this book would be most helpful in a class or small group setting. The content is provocative, and provides ample discussion opportunities for anyone who is serious about the challenges of applying their faith to their money - locally and globally.

Things to Be Aware Of
Although an excellent recommended resource, the title (Money Enough) is somewhat misleading as one of the strengths of this book is how it shows that one's economic life is about far more than just money.

Available at: Christianbook.com