The Church and Business: working together in God's plan of redemption

by John E Mulford, Ph D
(Origninally published in VOICE for All Nations, a publication of Church For All Nations)

Most people don’t have a full appreciation of the church and of business, much less an appreciation of how they should work together to accomplish God’s plan to redeem mankind and the earth. Instead, they see them as oil and water—they don’t mix.

Christians wearing their “church” hats often see business as worldly, even sinful. Seeing business perhaps beyond redemption, they want to save people out of business rather than get their hands dirty in business. Christians in business often see the church as, at best, irrelevant to the issues they face, and, at worst, attacking them for participating in a sinful occupation. By sowing this confusion and distrust, Satan has disabled one of the most powerful redemptive tools God has given man—business.

Business has been central to God’s plan for man and the earth from the beginning. God’s creation mandate was for man to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen 1:28) When God created man in His image, he gave man all of the attributes needed to discover how the world works, to develop technology to make products and services, and to create organizations to deliver those life-improving products and services to a growing population.

Man’s fall into sin greatly distorted his image and introduced significant obstacles into the creation mandate. In Gen 3:17, God said, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” Although God renewed his covenant with Noah after the flood, saying, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” (Gen 9:1), the work is made much messier by the tentacles of sin and the wiles of Satan.

But God had a plan to redeem the mess. He reconciled man to himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the end, when Christ returns, he will usher in a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21). In the meantime, he is spreading the gospel to the whole world. Those who receive it are reborn and begin a process of transformation into the image of Christ. As they are transformed personally they extend God’s kingdom on earth, transforming others as they live the whole gospel among them.

Kingdom business people are ideally positioned to be engines of transformation that can change a nation from one of self-centered individuals to one of other-centered people who love God and each other. Someone might say, “I thought the church was the engine that transforms society.” But who is the church? It is the body of believers, many of whom spend most of their time in the marketplace, where they are to be salt and light. So when the church is operating as it should, much of the transformation it brings will happen through business.

I don’t mean to shortchange other influential sectors of society—education, arts and entertainment, media, and government, to name a few. Believers are called to be salt and light there as well. However business has a unique, catalytic role to play in societal transformation. Not only does it generate the wealth that enables society to support arts, entertainment, and a full range of social activities that enrich life, but it also provides an ideal platform for modeling and transmitting the whole gospel.

Business is first and foremost about people—personal development and interpersonal interactions and relationships. Man was created to work and feels most fulfilled when he has done a good job. In today’s economy, few people work alone. Business thrusts people together--employees working with each other and with suppliers to create products and services, and with customers during sales, delivery and service. Deadlines, budget crunches, and technical problems create pressures that test character and relationships. The kingdom business person has ample opportunity to “live the gospel” in these situations.

But kingdom business is rare, even when many businesspeople are Christians. Why? Because they haven’t been taught kingdom business. They either live by the worldly values they have experienced, or they adopt biblical principles as rules, but they don’t internalize the principles under the lordship of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Nation-transforming power comes from true kingdom businesses. As owners and managers are transformed, God uses them to transform employees, customers, suppliers, and the community. From a small start, transformation spreads like a virus throughout the nation.

What does such transformation look like?

-Blessing flows from the business to all those it touches.

-Lives are transformed—employees, customers, suppliers, and the general public.

-Everyone recognizes the hand of God on the business, even unbelievers.

-And, as a result, revival comes.

When you put it in these terms, what local congregation wouldn’t want to be part of such transformation? So how can that happen? It requires both church leadership and business people in the church to see how their callings fit into this move of God in the marketplace.

Followers of Christ have a high calling—to be salt and light, to be in the world but not of it, and to go to all nations making disciples and teaching them how to live godly lives. Their calling is to the lost world, outside the walls of the church. Pastors play a key role. They operate primarily inside the walls of church, preparing God’s people for these works of service (Eph 4:11-13). Without proper preparation, the people will become like the world rather than salt and light that transforms the world.

Pastors should equip and send business people to fulfill God’s call on their lives, which includes supporting the church financially but also includes extending God’s kingdom in the marketplace where they operate every day. The pastor is then preparing an army that can go where he cannot go and bring the whole gospel (word and deed) to many people he would never reach.

The business person should recognize that God owns 100% of his time, energy and resources; therefore, he is in full-time Christian service just as much as any professional minister. His tithe and service in the church are just part of his service to God. He should prepare himself, through spiritual disciplines, to serve God in his church, family, community, and business.

Once everyone agrees that church leaders and business people should cooperate to redeem the marketplace, the next question is how to do it. How should business people be equipped to serve in the marketplace? What tools do they need to be effective there?

This was the question we addressed in a conference of 1,000 pastors and business people in Guatemala City, March 11-12, 2009, Regent Center for Entrepreneurship organized as part of the Luis Palau Festival. We not only wanted to open the eyes of attendees to their roles in redeeming people through business, but we wanted them to take action after we left.

To encourage action, we brought a team of 25 to present the concepts, to give testimony, to share examples, to offer opportunities for service and to introduce training programs. The Lord assembled a diverse group of outstanding presenters. Of the nine breakout leaders, three were already working in Guatemala, and three others were working in Latin America (Peru, Mexico, El Salvador), so the message had a context and flavor that Guatemalans could identify with.

Our prayers were answered. The attendees said that God had used us to open their eyes, give them vision, and motivate them to action. Many signed up for training and volunteered to serve in projects. Two presenters who had never been to Guatemala scheduled return trips in June to train people in life coaching and biblical entrepreneurship. The speakers from Mexico offered to help the host church develop a business incubator similar to theirs. Finally, several key leaders volunteered to work on the community development project through the Calvary International Global Training and Mission Base in the Peten area of northern Guatemala.

The conference also blessed the speakers and their organizations. Several reported “divine connections” that will enable them to expand the impact of their ministries. Many said that they developed strong relationships with their hosts which they expect will lead to future activities in Guatemala. Speakers also connected with each other for future activities.

God is at work, transforming individuals, communities and whole nations. Together, the church and business form a vehicle God is using to meet the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of the lost.