!!

1oards a Statement on the

Biblical Purposes of Business


]EFF \A! DLZER, ].D.
andjspu.edu
RA!DAL S. FRA!Z, Ph.D.
rfran-spu.edu
CARY L. KAR!S, Ph.D.
gkarnsspu.edu
1M DEARBOR!, Ph.D.
tdearborspu.edu
DE!SE DA!ELS, Ph.D.
ddanielsspu.edu
KE!MA! L. VO!C, Ph.D.
klongspu.edu





ntroduction
KLP1ICS \ONDLR lO\ COMMLRCIAL AC1IVI1\ can sere as a legitimate means o
doing God`s work in the world when it is conducted within a system that to them appears to be
antithetical to Christian alues. In particular, economic growth seems to hinge on exporting a
\estern consumption-oriented way o lie to all corners o the globe. An increase in the wealth gap,
the elimination o distinctie cultures and alue systems and damage to the enironment are mere
tradeos to be made in the pursuit o the goal o growth.
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As a aculty in an eangelical Christian uniersity`s business school, we hae been wrestling
with the undamental question o how God perceies the institution o business and how God
intends or it to unction. \restling` is actually an appropriate word, or our debates hae been
igorous as we seek to understand the ocation o business as an institution. ,1his paper ocuses
upon the ocation o business at the institutional leel rather than at the indiidual manager or
employee leel, which has been the ocal point in much o the wider discussions o ocation and
business., low should Christians, particularly the laity who work in business-oriented ocations,
thoughtully and aithully approach their work
1
listorically, Christians hae opted or dierent
orientations towards the world` and their role within it.
2
Is there a particular approach that should
be adopted or Christians inoled with business Should commercial actiity be engaged exclusiely
through hostile prophetic` means, enthusiastically embraced, or something in between
In an attempt to answer these questions, we hae undertaken to articulate a theological
perspectie on business rooted in an eangelical, Protestant worldiew. \e are coninced that such
a theology o business is needed because business substantially inluences the world, or good or or
ill. Clearly, the current way o doing business is morally deicient and we hae a unique opportunity
to inluence the direction o this piotal institution. But, without a solid theology, Christians in
business lack a sense o purpose or an adequate understanding o the spiritual enironment in which
they operate.
1his paper is a relection based upon three broad, biblical themes: Creation, lall and
Redemption. 1he Creation, lall and Redemption ramework was used by \alsh and Middleton
3
as
the basis or constructing a biblical worldiew on a ariety o lie issues. It has, more directly, been
applied to understand God`s purpose or work and can also be used to understand business
4
.
Creation airms that the world was created good, and that engagement with the world can
be embraced with enthusiasm. Speciically, the creation mandate inorms our understanding o the
charge gien to us to work with God in God`s continuing creatie actiity. lall is humankind`s sel-
conscious rebellion against God`s authority, and the consequences o this or all o creation. 1his
reminds us o the need or caution and that realistically cultural engagement is, and will remain, ar
rom perect. 1he actie interention o God into the low o eents to restore humankind ,and
creation, into right relationship to God, redemption, einces our role as participants in God`s
transorming work in the structures, institutions and actiities o the world, ensuring that our work
has ultimate meaning. Vol
5
emphasizes this transormational iew, asserting that we should not only

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reer to Creation and lall, or in light o the cross, the resurrection and the eschaton, are central to a
theology o business. I lall` is a word o caution and realism, Redemption` is a word o hope.


Creation - Cod's Design and the Purposes for Business

Understanding God`s purposes or business comes through understanding God`s purpose
or humans outlined in Genesis and understanding God`s purposes or institutions ,principalities
and powers outlined in the New 1estament writings,. Broadly, the purpose o business lies within
the context o the purpose o lie-i.e. the chie end o humankind is to gloriy God and enjoy
God oreer` ,\estminster Conession,. God is in the people-deeloping business` to make a
people to lie in harmonious relationship with God and one another. As a relational Being, God
chooses to relate to humans and endowed us with social abilities and needs. \e are made to relate to
other persons-both human and diine. God gies us not only ree will ,the ability,, but ree space
,the opportunity, to make a decision to respond to God ,and other people,.

Creation Mandate
Core to the purpose o business then, are the Creation mandates o proision and creatiity
ound in Genesis:

! God airmed the dignity o humankind by making us in the image o God. !"#$ &'( )*+(,
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.
! God gae us a ruling` role and airmed the alue o work as stewards o creation . *$(
4#. ."#0 2/4# ';#2 ."# 9+)" '9 ."# )#*< !"# -'2( &'( .''1 ."# 0*$ *$( =/. "+0 +$ ."# &*2(#$ '9 >(#$ .'
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! God inited men and women to participate in God`s creatie actiities - to ill .`B# 92/+.9/4,
9+44 ."# #*2." *$( )/C(/# +.?5<D# C2'/3". ."#0 .' ."# 0*$ .' )## 8"*. "# 8'/4( $*0# ."#0<@
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! 1he actiities o men and women were to presere-to guard . F*$( .*1# 7*2# '9 +.@
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.
! God gae men and women reedom with boundaries . you are ree.but you must
not.`
10
.


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Creation airms work as a God pleasing actiity
11
. \ork was mandated by God and was
intended to proide satisaction and joy. Lngaging in work is a means o what Martin Luther called
God`s proisional actiity.` According to Calin and later Puritan thought, it also is an outlet and
opportunity or to the expression o the creatiity inherent in human beings created in the image o
God. Business is a major enue in which people contribute alongside God in God`s ongoing creatie
work
12
.
Creation airms relationship. God created us because he desired to be in relationship with
us. 1he 1rinity is the model ater which people were created ,in Our image.`,. Such
ellowship,community is the end, or goal, or which people were created, and or which they were
uniquely equipped. At creation, God put into place all the pieces needed to realize a people or
himsel` but God did not ,due to the implicit nature o relationships, mandate the relationships.
People could relate to God, but would they In order to build` the kind o people with whom he
wants to relate, God imprinted them with his own image. God entrusted them with the dignity o
causality and gae them stewardship responsibility or creation.

nstitutions in Creation
1he creatie, illing, guarding proisional work goes beyond the sel-production that
indiiduals can achiee by themseles ,It is not good or the man to be alone, let us make a helper
suitable or him`
13
,. Community ,i.e. corporate structures, institutions and organizations, are part o
God`s design. 1hey are ways or people to organize their lie together and thus participate in God`s
purposes or humankind and creation. 1hey maintain order and acilitate God`s creatie actiity.
1hey can be understood as the pillars that hold the roo up and as tools in the hands o God that
God uses to achiee God`s purposes. Support or this iew can be ound in scriptural teachings
about goernment
14
, amily
15
and church
16
.

Indeed, institutions may be the ace o the principalities and powers` reerenced in many
New 1estament writings
1
. Institutions as collectie models ,i.e., shared social conentions, are not
subject to any particular person, nor are they conined to, nor owned by, one group. 1hey are
public property` and as such owned` by any who choose to adhere to them. In this way
institutions literally take on a lie o their own. 1hey truly become powers` and principalities` to

\hile there is Scriptural support or the establishment o these and other institutions, they hae taken ery dierent
shapes historically. Our modern understanding o the state` or the amily` is quite dierent rom that practiced in
biblical times. \e contend that while there might be preerred solutions to the human needs, there is not a single, God-
ordained solution to these problems. 1hat is, there are alues we can bring to bear, but no absolute models.

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be reckoned with. 1hereore God cares not only about how indiiduals unction within an
institution, but also about the acts and eects o the institution itsel. I the principalities and
powers` label applies, it appears that institutions are wholes greater than the sums o the indiiduals
at work within them.
1hat the role o trade and commerce-business-is to enable humankind to gloriy God
and participate in God`s creatie and redemptie actiity can be deduced in that we were designed to
be in relationship with one another, that we were designed to be interdependent and that we hae
diering gits and abilities. Bringing indiiduals together into productie organizations ,businesses,
as a collection o dierse gits to accomplish work beyond what an indiidual can achiee adds a new
complexity to the issue that merits exploration o a theology o business, distinct rom a theology o
work by itsel. 1his is a basis or understanding our work together through institutions, companies`
o persons.
Business is an institution because it is the means by which a group ,society,culture, chooses
to sole one o its core social problems-in this case the production and distribution o goods and
serices. lrom a theological perspectie, the main purpose` o business ,or any institution or that
matter, is to contribute to the establishment o God`s kingdom ,i.e., the creation and redemption
mandates,-and its unique role to play in that endeaor is to sere ,notice the subserient
orientation, the community by producing the goods and serices needed to urther the primary goal
,i.e., kingdom community, and to oster the deelopment o the gitedness o the persons in the
business.
Because God created people in God`s image we are designed to lie eternal, abundant lies
in relationship with God and in community with other people. 1he purpose o eery institution is to
enable and encourage the realization o such a lie. Speciically, the institution o business
accomplishes this by:

! Creating, producing and justly distributing the good` products and serices people need to
lie ull lies.
! Proiding opportunities or ocationally rich work through which people deelop and
exercise their creatiity and their gits, thus contributing to their communities.
! lacilitating and deeloping community at all leels ,corporate, local, global, by building trust
and exercising responsible corporate citizenship in its support o and participation in the
ongoing work o other social institutions ,e.g., goernment, amily, religion, education, etc.,.

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! Guarding, tending and nurturing the earth as a shared resource and interdependent system.


Fall - Corruptions of Cod's Purposes for Business

\hile creation helps us understand God`s purposes or business, all einces that the world
no longer clearly relects these purposes. \ith the introduction o sin in the Garden ,the lall, our
experience o lie and work are not what God intended at creation. By its nature sin entails a distrust
o God, ollowed by a denial o God`s authority and an unwillingness to accept our assigned role in
creation as stewards, rebellion against Gods purposes and the limits God placed on humans. 1his
denial o God`s authority leaes a acuum into which we too oten gladly step. As allen people we
tend to usurp God`s role, interposing our own goals, purposes and interest in place o God`s. \e
assume or ourseles the rights due only to God and curtail and neglect our responsibilities to
anyone but ourseles.
1he lall has consequences or our relationships with God and with others, or the created
order and or work itsel. \hen sin was introduced the relationship that Adam and Le had with
God was broken. Rather than submitting to God`s authority, they chose to try to assume his role
,.you will be like God.`
18
,. As a result, rather than acting as caretakers and stewards o God`s
creation, the primary organizing principle o human behaior became that o sel-interest-
protecting one`s own rights. And so, our relationships with others were also aected by sin.
Creation, too, suers the eects o the lall. \hen it comes to stewardship, we don`t hae the
proper perspectie to take care o` creation unless we acknowledge and accept God`s soereign
ownership oer it. Usurping ownership o resources or our own beneit is an expression o sin.
linally, work itsel is corrupted by sin. Adam and Le are told that because o their disobedience to
God, the ground they work will be cursed, through painul toil you will eat o it all the days o your
lie.By the sweat o your brow you will eat your ood.`
19
. \ork has become toilsome and laden
with ice including aersie attitudes toward it, idolatry, and immoral practices.

nstitutions
Parallel to people`s usurping o God`s authority in the Garden o Lden, institutions are
subject to their own orm o corruption. 1here is a legitimate role or social institutions-a
subserient role. Institutions only ind their meaning and signiicance when sering a broader, bigger

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purpose. 1hey are always solutions to a problem, means to an end. 1hey are NO1 the end. \hen
institutions usurp their subserient role o meeting a need ,in complement with other institutions,,
and become the need itsel, they cross the line into corrupt and dysunctional powers.`
Business actiity takes place in this larger context o systemic,structural eil ,sin,. 1he
rebellion o business enthrones Mammon and a willingness to grant absolute priority and prior
moral right to the orces o the market. Business practiced within the context o market capitalism,
while indeed creating wealth, may do so most eiciently by relying upon and supporting immoral
systems and societal structures
20
. lorced child labor and sweatshops are but two examples. \hen
the proit motie becomes the idolatrous ocus and measure o success, other o God`s purposes or
business are undermined, sericing people`s needs to lie well, respect or human dignity,
ocationally rich work and community are diminished. \ork itsel is marred urther by making it an
idol to pursue. \hile proit may be necessary to maintain a business and proide or legitimate
needs, its role in many organizations has been eleated ar beyond this proisional one.
Market capitalism is imperect, but cannot realistically be replaced by non-market based
organizations to meet the material needs o the world. ,Len i NPO`s, NGO`s or goernment
agencies could become large enough producers, lall would still be an issue making them imperect
institutions too., In light o the reality o indiidual and systemic eil, boundaries in addition to
those originally established in creation are necessary to restrain business rom inlicting harm. In our
iew business actiity should not transgress these boundaries i it is to ulill its purposes:

! 1reat or aect people in a manner inconsistent with human dignity,
! lail to pay employees just compensation,
! Require that employees work under unreasonably dangerous conditions,
! Be inconsistent with the long-term sustainability o the created order,
! lail to comply with all duly adopted and applicable laws,
! Mislead people,
! Preclude people rom keeping the Sabbath or disrupt god`s intended rhythm o rest and
work,
! lail to relect God`s intended balance o beauty and unction.

\hile the lall changed the nature o work and o business, it did not eliminate either the
meaning or signiicance endowed by God at creation
21
nor did it change the role that business can

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play in God`s purposes or creation. But how can business be restored to the purposes or which it
was intended Moreoer, how can it participate in God`s coming kingdom


Redemption - 1ransformed & 1ransforming, !o & Yet 1o Come

Any consideration o a theology o business is incomplete without a thorough understanding
o the impact o the cross, the resurrection, the outpouring o the Spirit and the eschaton ,what we
are calling collectiely, redemption`,. Indeed, it would be diicult to characterize a theology o
business as Christian` without a detailed understanding o the impact o Jesus Christ on the
purpose and practice o business. Unortunately, howeer, this is also the section o the theology
most diicult to wrestle to the ground.` \hat ollows is a mere sketch o the general direction o
our current thinking, realizing that more work needs to be done in this aspect o our theologizing
about business.
Redemption is about correction and restoration. Jesus declares that the Kingdom o God is
at hand, repent and beliee the good news`
22
, calling people out o sin into repentance ,i.e. changed
heart and liestyle, and into restored relationship with God. lurther, redemption is about the on-
going transormatie work o the loly Spirit that brings increasing Christ-likeness ,...be
transormed by the renewing o your mind.`
23
,. 1he kingdom ,i.e. reign or rule, o God is that state
in which people do the will o God and God`s intended purposes or humankind are ulilled.

Redemption of nstitutions
Did Jesus come to redeem the institutions Not as his primary aim, but in order to redeem a
people or himsel, he also has to redeem the institutions within which those people lie and do the
work o their calling. \hile we acknowledge an appropriate role or social institutions, we are also
ully aware o their allen-ness` and corruptie propensity. In his redemptie work, Christ reealed
the rebellion o institutions, demonstrated that he was stronger than they were and disarmed` their
ability to deceie mankind as authorities o ultimate signiicance
24
. 1he way to unmask and thereby
delegitimate a particular social conention is to make it concrete and bring it out o the unconscious
realm into the arena o deliberate choice. \hen we become mindul o the inluence o institutions
and aware o their proper role, we are able to reshape them in more appropriate,deliberate orms.
As Berkho
25
states, or him who sees and beliees this, it means an immense liberation.`

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\hile perhaps not exhaustie, diiculties in clearly articulating the contributions o
redemption to a theology o business stem rom at least three debatable issues. lirst, what happened
at the lall 1o what extent was the image o God` as originally embedded in human beings at
creation eaced, marred or distorted 1o what extent did the good` o creation lose its goodness`
and become, truly, bad.` Is the institution o business a product o a allen world and at odds with
the Kingdom o God to such an extent that it ought to be shunned altogether or can it be
redeemed`
Second, what happened at the cross low do we address the already-not yet` paradox o
Scripture On the one hand, Scripture clearly airms that with Christ`s death and resurrection we
hae already become new creatures.` In act, by some accounts all that remains to be done is to
recognize the implication o God`s radical actiity and put o` the old clothes and put on` the
new
26
. 1he Kingdom o God is at hand. Under this understanding the inal consummation is
nothing more than the inal uneiling o that which has already happened. In the words o Christ on
the cross it is inished`
2
.
Alternatiely, howeer, Scripture suggests that while Christ`s ictory at the cross has made
the inal end o history ineitable, there nonetheless remains the task o working out o the
consequences o Christ`s liberating sacriice. 1he inish is certain but not yet realized. luman beings
work in cooperation with God to continue to build toward the inal kingdom. 1he inal
consummation is not merely the uneiling but the completion o God`s transorming work.
linally, what will happen at the end o human history Are we returning to the Garden or
are we moing into the City o God low will the new heaen` and new earth` come into being
\ill these be created out o nothing, #H $+"+4', ater all that is here is burnt up and cast aside 1he
heaens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by ire. eerything will be
destroyed in this way`
28
. Or will the great ire on the Day o Judgment be a ire not o total
destruction but only o puriication, a ire that will leae only that which is good and in concert with
God`s kingdom alues as the building blocks` that God will use to ashion his new earth`

But each one should be careul how he builds. . I any man builds on this oundation using gold,
siler, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown or what it is, because the Day will
bring it to light. It will be reealed with ire, and the ire will test the quality o each man's work. I
what he has built suries, he will receie his reward. I it is burned up, he will suer loss.
29


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In large part because o the dierent answers to these questions, the church throughout
history has struggled with alternate ways to conceie o its allegiance to Christ and its call to
participate with the culture o its day.

A 1ypology of Redemption
\hile arguably incomplete and perhaps somewhat dated, Niebuhr`s classic I"2+). *$(
I/4./2#
JK
can still sere as a helpul tool in categorizing the church`s arious responses. Niebuhr`s
categories hae more recently been used by Louke an \enseen Siker
31
in an insightul article
translating the I"2+). *$( I/4./2# types into the business realm by linking the dierent types to
dierent approaches to business ethics. Niebuhr and Siker each identiy ie types`: Christ against
Culture,Business, Christ o Culture,Business, Christ aboe Culture,Business, Christ and
Culture,Business in Paradox, and Christ 1ransorming Culture,Business.
Christ against Business sets the call o Christ oer against and in opposition to the call o
culture. It represents a orm o prophetic shouting rom the outside.` Because o the allen nature
o the world and its institutions Christians are to remoe themseles and to decline to participate.
Many o the early Christian writers took this approach emphasizing that to lie aithully as
Christians meant to lie outside o the dominant culture. 1his approach has continued to ind
expression down through history in arious religious traditions including ,at times, the monastic
moement and the Anabaptist moement. Christ against culture typically relects an extreme iew o
the lall, i.e. that which was good` has become irretrieably bad.` Likewise it oten relects an #H
$+"+4' understanding o the end times that emphasizes the radical discontinuity between the new
earth` and the world in which we lie today. As Siker indicates, this is a position that is
undamentally an anti-business` position. Oten in less thoughtul hands, this position inds
expression in the naie chastisement by the church o those actie in business. lrom this antage
point, business actiities are characterized as nothing more than the expression o sinul greed with
resulting unjust and destructie consequences.
On the other hand, the Christ o Business model inds no real tension at all between the call
o Christ and the demands o the dominant culture o the day. In today`s business terms, it aligns
completely the orces o the capitalistic market economy with God`s kingly alues and beliees that
Adam Smith`s inisible hand is actually no less than the hand o God. Because o the complete
alignment between the call o Christ and the call o culture those holding this iew see no need to
transorm or critique culture or business. In business, this iewpoint is most oten expressed by

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those who repeat the mantra good ethics is good business.` 1hose who all into this type`
typically eince some combination o the ollowing iewpoints. 1hey tend to minimize the extent to
which the lall has distorted God`s original intent or humankind and the rest o creation. 1heir
understanding o the end times` tends to be a triumphal consummation o human actiity. No
radical discontinuity between now and then is to be expected. Lnabled by the redemptie power o
Christ, we are working out the kingdom here on earth. linally, those who hold this iewpoint are
likely to ascribe heaily to the already` side o the already-not yet` paradox. 1ruly the world was
realigned by Christ`s death and resurrection on the cross. 1hus, those who lie in accordance with
kingdom alues will ind that, in act, they will be working in concert with the world and will receie
material rewards in the here and now.
Obiously, the Christ against Business and the Christ o Business mark two ends o the
typological spectrum. Niebuhr ,and Siker, posits three intermediate positions as well. 1he Christ
Aboe Business` suggests, in eect, that the call o Christ is not undamentally inconsistent with the
call o the culture but simply additie. Cultural understandings ormed apart rom Christ can be
airmed, but through a step-by-step progression can also be brought to a higher leel o
understanding. 1he culturally determined good person` is moed ,typically through a rational
explanation o the higher call o Christ, to a more enlightened condition. 1hus Christians and non-
Christians can ind much common ground. Many o the secular calls or ethical business behaior
are entirely consistent with those that would be raised by Christians. It is just that Christians bring
something more to the table. lor example, Christians can airm a call to integrity and to just
behaior in concert with non-Christians but can add to these a call to sel-sacriicial loe that
eleates the conduct o business to a higher plane. Like the Christ o Business belieers, those
holding to this iewpoint tend to minimize the aderse consequences o the lall and reject the need
or a radical transormation at the end o time. In contrast to the Christ o Business belieers,
howeer, those holding to this iew are likely to hae a more balanced sense o the already-not yet`
paradox. Christ`s battle has already been won but there remains a need to bring into eect the
consequences o his ictory.
1he Christ and Business in Paradox is essentially a dualist position whose adherents see
limited hope or true transormation o the world beore the end o time. 1hose holding to this
iewpoint acknowledge that they lie in two kingdoms, one o which is the kingdom o this world, a
corrupted kingdom that must be endured. 1he other is God`s kingdom. By irtue o being born into
this world Christians hae no option but to participate in both. Indeed, this requires that at times

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they must participate in eil. Such participation is neer excused, it remains sin in need o
orgieness but is nonetheless ineitable. In a business context this sometimes inds expression in
settings where market orces appear to require behaior that is ungodly because strict adherence to
godly principles would result in the demise o the business. Paying a true liable wage in a highly
competitie industry where one`s competitors pay substantially less in light o the preailing market
conditions would be one such example. Liing constantly in paradox, torn between two worlds, the
Christian in paradox humbly makes decisions on a case-by-case basis. Adherents to this type` ully
appreciate the extent o eil present in the world as a result o the lall. 1hey lie at the ery heart o
the already-not yet paradox. 1hey see, howeer, little hope that our work in this world will sere as
building blocks` in the hands o God when he rolls out his inal kingdom. Consequently, those
who hold to this iewpoint tend to emphasize and look orward to the day when this earth will pass
away and something completely new and dierent will be substituted in its stead.
linally, Niebuhr`s obious preerred alternatie: Christ the 1ransormer o
Culture,Business. As Niebuhr points out this approach is, in some ways, the glass hal-ull` lip
side o the Paradox iew. Like those that hold to the Paradox type, the transormers ully appreciate
the corrupt nature o business. \hereas the Paradox types, howeer, see little hope or change, the
transormers beliee that, by the power o the Spirit, Christians can redeem the culture and the
practice o business. 1hese can be brought more into alignment with godly alues. \hile perhaps
neer being able to successully complete the transormation, those holding to this iewpoint beliee
signiicant steps in the right direction can be taken. 1he transormers acknowledge the consequences
o the lall but reuse to beliee that the image o God has been completely erased or so
permanently marred that it is beyond redemption. 1hey are comortable with the already-not yet`
paradox belieing on the one hand that the outcome o their work is assured and, on the other hand,
that there is work yet to be done. linally, the transormers would reject any theology that suggests
that all their work will be wiped out in a inal ire o judgment. lor them, transormation work, as
enabled by the Spirit o God, is actually participating in the building o the new kingdom.`







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Vhat happened at
the Fall?

Already/not-yet
tension
Vhat happens at
the end of time?
Christ against
Business
mage of Cod
erased

!ot-yet emphasis
Radical
discontinuity - all
orks burn up

Christ of Business

mage of Cod
slightly distorted

Already emphasis
!o radical
discontinuity -
orks building
future kingdom

Christ aboe
Business

mage of Cod
distorted

n balance
!o radical
discontinuity -
orks building
future kingdom
Christ and
Business in
Parado
mage of Cod
seriously marred

!ot-yet emphasis
Radical
discontinuity - all
orks burn up
Christ the
transformer of
Business

mage of Cod
seriously marred

n balance
!o radical
discontinuity -
orks building
future kingdom

In the midst o this plethora o iewpoints, what conclusions can we reach lirst we reject
both o the polar positions. Neither Christ against Business nor Christ o Business is adequately
nuanced to carry the weight o accurately describing Christ`s redemptie work. In Christ`s command
that we emulate his lie by taking up our cross and ollowing him, we recognize that the cross points
to the ineitable conlict between the kingdom o God and the kingdom o this world. \e
acknowledge that Christ lied a lie in perect obedience to the lather. 1he result o his perect
obedience, howeer, was not material success but rather a sentence o death by the cruelest
instrument o torture then known to the Roman Lmpire. Repeatedly Scripture assures us that we
should expect nothing better. Remember the words I spoke to you: No serant is greater than his
master. I they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.``
32
It might be argued that not all aspects o Christ`s lie were intended or imitation. Obiously,
none o us are called to sere as the messiah or our people ,on the grandest scale,, nor are we all
required to be carpenters or itinerant preachers ,on the smallest scale,. But o all the arious eatures
o Christ`s lie, the one most clearly held up as a model o behaior is his sacriicial loe. Be
imitators o God, thereore, as duly loed children and lie a lie o loe, just as Christ loed us and
gae himsel up or us as a ragrant oering and sacriice to God`
33
. Anyone who does not take his

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cross and ollow me is not worthy o me...`
34
1he cross embodies the undamental and ierce
tension between the ways o God and the ways o this world. 1hus we must reject the Christ o
Business conclusion that all godly behaior in business will yield an enhanced bottom line.
Businesses operating in accordance with God`s kingdom alues should expect that they will, at least
rom time to time, be required to go to the cross.` 1he redemption portion o any theology o
business will require a redeinition o Christian business success.
1he cross and subsequent resurrection are clearly more than mere ethical models. 1hey
stand at the decisie center o human history and mark Christ`s ictory oer death and sin. 1hey also
are eents that triggered the outpouring o the loly Spirit. As such, they represent not only a call to
sel-sacriice, but also an assurance o power that enables Christians to lie out God`s kingdom
alues in the midst o a allen world. Lnabled by the power o the loly Spirit, we are both called
and enabled to bring eidence o God`s triumph into the world. |\|ou will receie power when the
loly Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends o the earth.`
35
\e testiy to God`s ictory not only in words ,or the kingdom o
God is not a matter o talk but o power,`
36
, but by deeds that eidence the out-breaking o God`s
justice and righteousness ,I tell you the truth, anyone who has aith in me will do what I hae been
doing. le will do een greater things than these.`
3
,. 1hus we must also reject the extreme
position o Christ against Business. 1he original beneicial purpose intended by God or the
institution o business has been reinstated. Once again, in him all things hold together.`
38
As
indiiduals, we are set ree not only or salation but also, empowered by the Spirit, to lie into this
world signs o God`s realigned kingdom.
\hat can we say about the other three positions, positions that Niebuhr reers to as 1he
Church o the Center` lrom experience, we must acknowledge that there is at least some truth in
all o these other positions. One oten inds a relatiely close alignment between acts o
righteousness and business decisions that proe inancially successul. \hile we would emphatically
deny that good ethics always translates into proitable business, empirical eidence suggests that it
oten does so. In most cases, being honest with customers, caring or employees, honoring promises
and the like tend to both urther the kingdom o God and to enhance proits. 1his alignment
suggests ,as the adherents to the Christ aboe Business would argue, that much o the image o God
remains embedded in us and in our world notwithstanding the lall. Christians can build upon and
need not necessarily tear down the natural order o things.

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Other experiences, howeer, are more consistent with the Christ and Business in Paradox
position. At times, as citizens o two worlds, it does appear that the only choice we are let with is
the lesser o two eils. 1he power o the market set in the context o a allen world sometimes
requires that Christian managers engage in sinul behaior in order to stay in the game.` As such,
there is no pure system aailable or Christians to implement. Business decisions require a step-by-
step walk through a muddy ield trusting that at the end o the day God`s grace will wipe away the
dirt.
linally, our experience also testiies to the possibilities o transormation. \e are not oreer
stuck with the pessimism o the Paradox type. \e hae witnessed at times how indiiduals
committed to Christ hae had a salutary inluence in redirecting and een transorming the ethics
and culture o arious corporate entities. Numerous existing businesses attest to the transorming
power unleashed by the Spirit and at work in Christians.
Vol
39
gies theological credence to the possibility o, and call to, transormatie work.
larkening back to the Garden o Lden, he notes that rom the beginning human beings were
intended by God to unction as co-workers to complete creation. 1he Garden was not God`s
intended inal resting place or his creation. It was a bountiul bundling o resources, awaiting the
industry o God`s human co-workers to release its possibilities
40
.
le argues, howeer, that any theology o work ,and we would argue any theology o
business, must be grounded not only in the creation mandate o the Garden but also in the certainty
o the New Jerusalem. |M|undane human work or worldly betterment becomes a contribution-a
limited and imperect one in need o diine puriication-to the eschatological kingdom...`
41
Vol
preseres the notion o a radical discontinuity between this world and the next alongside the
coniction that our work has eternal signiicance.

1hrough the Spirit, God is already working in history, using human actions to create proisional states
o aairs that anticipate the new creation in a real way. 1hese historical anticipations are, howeer, as
ar rom the consummation o the new creation as earth is rom heaen. 1he consummation is a
work o God alone. But since this solitary diine work does not obliterate but transorms the
historical anticipations o the new creation human beings hae participated in, one can say, without
being inoled in a contradiction, that human work is an aspect o actie anticipation o the
exclusiely diine .2*$)9'20*.+' 0/$(+.
42

1hus while our eorts at transormation will neer be suicient, they are undertaken in light
o the twin assurances that the transormation we strie or will be complete and that our eorts

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matter. And not only is the indiidual Christian in business liberated rom the idolatry o the market
and set ree to pursue, with assurance o power, a business lie lied in obedience to Christ, but it is
also possible that the institution o business can be transormed through Christ`s redeeming power.
So then, how does Redemption inorm our understanding o business

! lirst, God`s intended purposes or business continue unabated. 1he lall has not erased
those purposes nor has redemption added to them. Business operated in accordance with
God`s design continues to aim at the same targets as outlined aboe.
! Second, the nature o our work has been changed. lad there neer been the lall, all work in
the Garden would hae been additie, that is, moing without intererence rom the bounty
o the Garden to God`s inal intended new heaen and new earth. Because o the lall,
howeer, redemption work now needs to be correctie and restoratie-going back to heal,
undo, and ill in-as well as additie.
! 1hird, whether characterized as uneiling that which is already present ,already`, or
working to lesh out the consequences o that which was irreocably set in motion at the
cross ,not yet`,, the existential experience o Christians seeking to conduct business or the
purposes designed by God will be, at least on occasion, an experience o struggle, pain and
loss. In these in-between times, we are still called to pick up our cross` and ollow Christ.
! lourth, Christians seeking to be aithul in business between now and the eschaton should
expect to ind times when implementing kingdom alues will be congruent with worldly
success and times when only the lesser o two eils remains as a iable option. Christians
must reject any notion that the natural outcomes o an economic system ,i.e. ree market
capitalism, will be in all cases consistent with God`s design.
! lith, Christians in business are participants by the Spirit in the redemptie work o God. A
calling into business is intrinsically a holy calling. It touches God, people made in God`s
image and resources belonging to God. 1hey can reely rely on God`s Spirit to gie wisdom,
creatiity, compassion and competence or their engagement in business as they ulill God`s
redemptie purposes.
! Sixth, Christians can conduct business with the assurance that their work has eternal
signiicance. Post-redemption, pre-consummation Christians seek to maniest signs in the
present o that which has already been assured in the uture. More importantly, howeer, it
is work that cooperates with God in ushering in God`s Kingdom. At the end, aithul

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Christians should expect that some o their work has lasted and as transormed by God
remains as part o his eternal reality.
! Seenth, Christians can conduct business with complete conidence that in the end God`s
purposes or creation will be completely ulilled.


mplications

\e hae come to rough consensus on the component pieces o the theology o business,
aboe. \e are now turning our attention to the implications o such a theology or the structure and
practice o business. 1o that end we inite discussion about the ollowing issues ,in addition to
comments and reaction to the theology itsel,:
1. Although proit is not a ocal point in the proposed purpose o business` statement, we are
not anti-proit. \hat, then, is the proper role o proit low much proit is enough low
should proits be distributed low do we sell` such a purpose o business to a market
seemingly ixated on proit maximization as an underlying assumption Our iew, at this
point, is that the current maximization-o-shareholder-wealth paradigm or business is
lawed. As Jesus turned many notions o his day upside down, we too stand this paradigm
on its head. Rather than seeing customers, employees, community and creation as
instruments to achiee proit, we argue that proit is instrumental in proiding or drawing
resources to a irm so it can sere customers, employees and community ,i.e. kingdom
purposes`, more and better.
2. low does a stewardship orientation inorm our understanding o property and ownership
\here ownership emphasizes one`s rights, stewardship highlights one`s responsibilities.
\hat are the responsibilities o ownership` in an enterprise \ho should be included as
owners,inestors \hat about those who inest their intellectual capital low does
stewardship inorm the distinction between shareholders and stakeholders Integrating the
dominion` iew o Genesis 1 and the stewardship` iew o Genesis 2 is necessary or
deeloping Christian strategies or sustainability.
3. Can a redemptie approach to business model actually be implemented in a marketplace
where most competitors play by the traditional approach ,i.e. proit maximization and
property acquisition, I so, what are Christian strategies or the accomplishment o the

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common good and caring or the least` among us
43
I not, what are the implications or
Christians inoled in business \hile some are promoting the notion that business can do
well ,inancially, by doing good ,social responsibility,,` we are trying to enision ways to
encourage doing the good` without characterizing such actions as instrumental or the
bottom line. laithulness in participating in kingdom-bringing should rather be motiated by
loe or God.
4. \hat is the nature o institutions Are they God-ordained powers` with delegated authority
o their own and subject to corruption due to the lall, or are institutions human-made
solutions to the problems` o liing together implicit in creation and subject to the abuse or
distortion due to the allenness o the people who create and use them low should
institutions relate to each other \hat or who is accountable or the content and
consequences o institutions Can we manage institutions \e continue to deelop our
understanding o transormation as is applies to indiiduals and to institutions or systems.
Systemic leel change is needed along with indiidual leel change, which will in itsel be
systemically inluential in business institutions.

Conclusion

Our theology o business is grounded in the biblical worldiew ramed by Creation, lall and
Redemption. \hile we are critics o business, we are assuredly not anti-business. Creation
establishes the ocation o business as good. \e are not just incrementalists who just want to ine
tune` how businesses unction. lall coninces us that the problem goes deeper than regulatory
oersight or een personal morality ,although both o these are important,. 1he undamental
mission o business and the organization o sel-supporting, ree enterprise companies are all
acceptable-but the underlying structure o those companies and their assumed models o people
and the distribution o rights and responsibilities are prooundly broken. Redemption calls us to
participate with God in transorming business. 1his theology o business leads us to the position
that our Christian alues do much more than merely circumscribe acceptable business conduct, they
propel us to enter into business ,trade & commerce, as a orm o serice to our neighbor and,
ultimately, as our participation in establishing the Kingdom o God.




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1
Nash, L., & McLennan, S. I"/27" '$ 6/$(*L, M'21 '$ N'$(*LO !"# I"*44#$3# '9 P/)+$3 I"2+).+*$ Q*4/#) 8+." B/)+$#)) -+9#. ,San lrancisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass, 2001,
2
Niehbuhr, l.R. I"2+). *$( I/4./2#? ,New \ork: larper & Row, 1951,
3
\alsh, B. & Middleton, R. !"# !2*$)9'20+$3 Q+)+'$O 6"*=+$3 * I"2+).+*$ M'24( Q+#8. ,Interarsity Press, 1984,
4
Steens, P.R. ,2001,. 1he Marketplace: Mission lield or Mission I2/H, Vol. XXXVII, No. 3, -16.
5
Vol, M. M'21 +$ ."# 6=+2+.O !'8*2( * !"#'4'3L '9 M'21. ,Oxord Uniersity Press, 1991,.
6
Gen 1:26-2

Gen 1:26, 2:15

8
Gen 1:28, 2:19-20
9
Gen 2:15
10
Gen 2:16, 19-20
11
see Sayers, D. \hy \ork in I2##( '2 I"*')? ,New \ork: larcourt, Brace and Co., 1949,, 46-62, Ryken, L. R#(##0+$3 ."# !+0#O S
I"2+).+*$ S==2'*7" .' M'21 T -#+)/2#. ,Baker Books, 1995,, Graes, S. & Addington, 1. !"# P'/2." P2'$.+#2O >H=4'2+$3 ."# U#8 M'24( '9
M'21. ,Nashille, 1N: \ord Publishing, 2000,, among others who hae theologized on work,
12
Noak, M. B/)+$#)) *) * I*44+$3O M'21 *$( ."# #H*0+$#( 4+9#.. ,New \ork: lree Press, 1996,
13
Genesis 2:18
14
Romans 13:1
15
I 1imothy 5:8
16
Acts 2
1
c. Romans 8:38, Lphesians 6:12, Colossians 1:16, 2:15, I Peter 3:22
18
Genesis 3:5
19
Genesis 3:1-19
20
Gay, C. On Learning to Lie with the Market Lconomy. I"2+).+*$ 67"'4*2) R#;+#8, Q'4? VWOV, 1996, 180-195.
21
c. Vol, M. M'21 +$ ."# 6=+2+.O !'8*2( * !"#'4'3L '9 M'21. ,Oxord Uniersity Press, 1991,.
22
Mk 1:15
23
Rom 12:2
24
c. Colossians 2:15
25
Berkho, l. I"2+). *$( ."# X'8#2). , Scottdale, PA: lerald Press, 196,, 39
26
Lphesians 4:22
2
John 19:30
28
2 Peter 3:10
29
1 Corinthians 3:12
30
Niehbuhr, l.R. I"2+). *$( I/4./2#, ,New \ork: larper & Row, 1951,
31
Siker, L. Christ and Business: A 1ypology or Christian Business Lthics. Y'/2$*4 '9 B/)+$#)) >."+7) 8, 1989.
32
John 15:20
33
Lphesians 5:1
34
Matthew 10:38
35
Acts 1:8
36
1 Cor. 4:19
3
John 14:12
38
Colossians 1:1
39
Vol, M. M'21 +$ ."# 6=+2+.O !'8*2( * !"#'4'3L '9 M'21. ,Oxord Uniersity Press, 1991,.
40
See Genesis 2:5
41
Vol, M. M'21 +$ ."# 6=+2+.O !'8*2( * !"#'4'3L '9 M'21. ,Oxord Uniersity Press, 1991,., p. 101
42
Ibid.
43
see Matt 25:34-46

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