Can we
combine business culture and Christian culture or are they incompatible. Is one
about worship and the other about greed?
Culture has
been defined as our habits and lifestyle. Things we do without thinking about
it.
When
thinking about Business culture we must go back to the Garden of Eden where we
were encouraged to manage the earth, produce, grow and expand (Genesis 1: 28). In fact our work
is seen as our worship. Adam was told to ‘till’ the ground. Which can be
translated work, manage or serve as the priests did in their worship in the
temple (Genesis 2: 15).
This
immediately compels us to take away the sacred secular divide. Which means we can
no longer do Christian culture in the church and perhaps family but something
different in business. If we have a Kingdom understanding then we realise that
King Jesus permeates every aspect of our lives and we are to bring His rule and
presence into the earth.
Our creation
and new creation mandate is to bring Jesus presence into every area of society
and rescue it from the decay of the fall. After all the literal meaning in
Hebrew of the name Jesus means Yahweh
Saves and delivers. Business is a great vehicle for this redeeming of the
structures of our society.
Therefore business
is only truly successful in the fullest understanding of the word ‘success’,
when it not only creates profits but creates profits through things that are
constructive for society (Joshua 1: 8).
So the call
to business or entrepreneurship is just as much a ministry as the call to work
in the church or family or a charity. In fact I believe the church should be
the place where we equip entrepreneurs and business people for their calling
(Ephesians 2: 10). After all Jesus was originally part of the family business and
many of the early disciples were business people. They used their work to
spread the gospel. Paul and Aquila and Priscilla had a tent making business,
Peter and James were fisherman, Matthew ran a tax collection agency. In fact
Paul saw a greater advancement of the gospel when he went back into business.
Some of the
greater changes have happened in society when the church has risen up in their
callings as business people, educators, artists and politicians. This was seen
in remarkable ways in the Victorian era by Christians who created humane working
conditions for their staff and saw the abolition of slavery. They were a product of the Wesleyan revival. As
a result of this these Christian entrepreneurs established housing, parks,
museums, schools, and hospitals to serve their workers. This had a knock on
affect and other businesses had to follow their example or lose out. It
produced our modern understanding of an HR department caring for its staff.
Christian
culture should affect every aspect of business including the way we sell and
make profits. The business is there to diagnose the needs of their clients and
then serve them by bringing them from their painful problem into their promised
land.
Having
worked with my brother when he first started his business in the late eighties
(yes, I am that old), I took this approach to selling when recommending
computer systems to clients. My brother told me that the clients I brought on
board tended to be long lasting customers. Some were still customers 25 years
later. His business became a multimillion pound concern. So offering genuine
help rather than a quick buck will not only help customers but will also be
profitable for a business. In my
business life I also did not shy away from praying for the sick, including a Muslim
accountant who was instantly healed and called to the office to let me know.
So we cannot
separate Christian culture from business culture. Christian culture, which is
Kingdom culture, is what makes not just the church or business work, but the
whole world work. Creation is waiting in eager expectation for the sons of God
to be revealed (Romans 8: 19).
