And the chief practical indicator of that is their willingness to pay for it in the marketplace. This does not mean, of course, that Christianity supports complete laissez-faire . It is the freedom expressed in the market's showing, by the price mechanism, what services people want, and what prices they are willing to pay for them. Coupled with love is justice, which, if we look carefully at what we find in Scripture, means rendering impartially and proportionately to everyone his due in accord with the right standard of God's moral law. And so justice necessitates different rewards for different actions.
Economic policies designed to equalize economic condition are therefore inherently unjust.
Because while love may go beyond the demands of justice, it never goes contrary to them. In Christian thought, the moral law of God is the standard of justice, and love, insists the apostle Paul, summarizes that law. Some immediate handouts are good and necessary, although Scripture treats them more frequently as beneficial to the givers' souls than to their recipients. What is more important is that we find ways to release people from dependency, to help them express the image of God in intelligent, creative, productive work. In part, this means simply that we contribute to the growth of the market by saving and investing so that more capital is available by which to employ those presently unemployed.