Sally* produces a fashion line which has made a very successful entry into the market. Sally has become her church's single largest financial contributor. Her church teaches tithing and offerings (above and beyond tithing) and has set up a business club which openly exists for the purpose of giving to the work of the church. Sally is a member. Sally is more an entrepreneur than a manager.

She has a poor record of staff turnover because of inadequate people skills; her suppliers are paid late, her financial management systems inadequate. She does not really care as she believes God will honour her business because financially she honours Him in her giving. The church business club has never addressed the issue of management style or skills. Despite the attractiveness of the brand her business finds itself in serious trouble and both her tithing and giving are down. The church moves to find her a management consultant to save her business.

These two true stories capture something of a poor theology of work and business that exists within the church. A church that views business through surprisingly narrow and materialistic eyes. 

Scenario one reflects a style of church that ‘honours business' When the honouring is examined closely it is usually for their capacity to give. Some churches have set up business clubs and these are quite often openly ‘giving clubs' with little attention to business practice or support. Business people may even be stood up in church services with prayers asking that God might bless their business. This is a good thing but why do we not stand up regular employees and pray for them that they might also prosper and for the unemployed that they might find work. Business people are even told that business is their "calling". Called to do what? To do well, to give and give generously. The clubs offer little guidance or training, on employee relations, ‘a just weight', gleaning, creation care good management. They seldom address the other principalities and powers of materialism and consumerism, collectivism and libertarianism. At its worst these are offered as being acceptable provided the giving is adequate. The giving being indicative of putting the Kingdom first.

Story two has roots in Greek dualism, despising the material world in favour of the spiritual and associating the material with sin. It is left wing in its view of business and somehow spiritualizes that political position to declare business as evil. It tries to link ‘having money' with the love of money and incorrectly declares ‘the having' as the root of all evil. This model does not understand business or innovation or the marketplace and allows no possibility for the rich sometimes also to be righteous. Business people with some profitability are invited to ‘buy indulgences', to do a form of penance by giving at a level that may compensate for this evil. If business people are not required by those churches to be like the rich young ruler and give it all away, they are called upon to act like Zaccheaus in penance and as proof of salvation.

Dr Gordon Preece in a public presentation in Sydney Australia challenged the church to restore business to a proper foundation.

"In the 20th Century attempts to revive the concept of calling in business have had some success although it has been sometimes sidelined by churches focused on political advocacy or business ethics or funding growth aspiration. With the contemporary global dominance of business and still considerable suspicion of it, the time is ripe to sanctify business as a calling with professional standards." ¹
(italics mine)

Biblically we need to affirm firstly that business is an activity created by God that predates sin and ordained by God it is "very good ". In this act of creation business is given meaning and purpose in and of itself.

Secondly; that entrepreneurial and managerial behaviour is an expression of the image of God. God acts entrepreneurally when he brings an idea (the creation) into being from nothing, gathers the resources land, and labour together and capitalizes it (with seed). He establishes both management and worker in the Genesis delegation to rule in his image as stewards and to work the soil. (Gen 2:15)

Thirdly we must acknowledge that business like marriage, childbirth, and work itself, as part of creation is subject to sin, but not sinful in itself. We confess that Christ died to redeem all of his creation from sin and therefore business too is capable of and intended for redemption

Fouthly; that biblically giving remains a choice, exercised "cheerfully" and without duress on the part of the business proprietor. It is not the purpose for business existence but is a likely or desirable consequence of income from business.

What role and relationship might we then give to business in God's economy. Primarily business is to be in itself an expression of God's Kingdom. It is to be redeemed and demonstrate the kingdom in action within the marketplace. Very practically Robert Fraser ² suggests there are ten kingdom things business can do.

Business can teach life skills including the ability to work well with people, maintain a good work ethic, solve problems, be diligent, persevere, follow through, resolve conflict, communicate, manage people, manage projects, have confidence, be teachable, motivate others, recruit, plan, make decisions and exercise good judgment. Good businesses are life skills factories. They make their trade in identifying, training, modeling and rewarding life skills.

Secondly; business can develop leadership. Most gifted leaders are in the marketplace where they  are almost always welcomed as "rainmakers," those who will bring success in the future. The best businesses master the ability to identify and develop leaders. Churches, don't tend to value leaders  as much. Leaders think strategically, not just tactically. They anticipate and solve problems in advance instead of reacting to crises as they arise. Conversely, churches tend to operate tactically, solving problems as they come up.

Thirdly; business develops management skills. While leaders create energy and activity, managers" harness activity and bring productivity.. A leader provides the vision; the manager the plan. Without good management there is chaos, inefficiency, poor results and frustrated people.

Fourthly; mentoring and discipleship are a core mission for believers and for business. The best businesses recognize the importance of mentoring and devote significant internal resources to it. Church are inherently limited. They can't effectively improve a person's life skills because there is not enough real life contact to encourage lasting change. Similarly, they can't effectively address negative character issues because these issues rarely surface in a church setting. But in business, these negative issues surface as a matter of course. Identifying them and developing remediation plans and accountability is standard management practice.

Fifthly; business is an arena for everyday every person ministry. The modern church has become too meeting and ministry program oriented, and have unwittingly undermined and disempowered the ministry taking place in homes and workplaces. In contrast authentic, historic, biblical Christianity was not practiced primarily in church meetings but at home and in the marketplace. The traditional church model has been ineffective in unlocking everyday Christians' spiritual potential.

Sixthly; In business believers mix with non believers. As real friendships developed the gospel can surface as a topic of legitimate conversation out of an authentic Christian life. This interaction is natural, comfortable and easy.

Seventhly; When Christians gather together and "work as for the Lord", it creates an oasis of Kingdom life. Christians feel free to pray for 'one another and encourage one another.

Eighthly; One of the greatest opportunities in business is to help people in need. Caring for the poor is a critical biblical concept. In the scriptures, business was to care for the poor through the concept of gleaning - business owners were to leave behind some of the harvest for the poor who provided for themselves by harvesting the leftovers. The brilliance of gleaning is that it is not charity. It lets the poor help themselves  One example is low level casual jobs open for anyone who might be in need.

Ninthly; humans are designed to be in community together. The workplace is a natural community. People spend forty hours a week together working side by side, forming teams and setting and achieving goals. As a result, they bond together as an organic, functioning community.

Finally; business provides jobs that allow families to be fed and meet needs. It provides the opportunity for individuals and groups to generate surplus to share with others.

A business that is an example of the Kingdom has much to offer a needy world if it is allowed to shake off the bondages placed upon it ...... by the church.

1 Rev Dr Gordon Preece lecturer in Ethics Ridley College Melbourne in a conference paper (Sydney 2001)

2 Robert Fraser Marketplace Christianity (New Grid Books 2004) Pg 17 - 34

*The names and contexts in these real life scenarios have been altered for reasons of privacy

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