Business Can Transform the World
Question about global poverty: has it decreased, stayed the same, or increased in our generation? Answer: Global poverty has decreased, dramatically, from 1 of 3 being poor in 1990, to now only 1 in 10. The biggest lift out of poverty, in the history of mankind, has happened in our generation, not through aid but through trade.
Today most people on the planet are better off in terms of longevity, health, housing and food than a generation ago. And the essential contributing factor to this transformation is business. Businesses have an enormous capacity to create different kinds of wealth.
As the Wealth Creation Manifesto* says: “Wealth creation through business has proven power to lift people and nations out of poverty.”
What is wealth? It is more than money. You can be financially rich but socially poor – no friends. You can be financially poor but spiritually rich – you know Jesus.
The bible talks about wealth in three ways, one is bad and two are good. Hoarding wealth is the bad one. I want more for me and myself. More, more.
Sharing of wealth is good and encouraged. To give, to be generous. But there is no wealth to be shared unless it has been created. And wealth creation is both a godly gift and a godly command.
When the people of Israel were to enter the promised land, God gave them specific instruction. They were to develop businesses, agriculture and mining are mentioned, and wealth would be created. But God warns them to not become proud or selfish, because the ability to create wealth is a gift from God. And God is the ultimate owner, and we are to create and share wealth to bless all nations.
This is not a health and wealth gospel, or prosperity teaching. This is about stewardship of talents and resources, and to “seek the welfare of the city”, as God told Israel when they were in exile in a foreign land. This has deep Judeo-Christian roots and is part of an ongoing tradition.
Worship is not sanctified entertainment. Work is worship. Avodah. The Hebrew word and Jewish concept mean work is worship as we serve God and people. Life is an integrated whole: to work, worship and serve. Avodah!
In Judaism the highest form of charity is not handouts but providing jobs. Or as Pope Francis puts it: “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world”.
There is a Jewish concept called tikkun olam, to co-create with God, to bridge the gap from what is to what it ought to be. Tikkun olam means to repair a broken world, bring healing. The Lord’s prayer is a tikkun olam prayer: may your Kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven. A God invasion of the marketplace, towards human flourishing. Tikkun olam.
This is theology, anthropology and vocation, it is about who God is – the Creator, who we are – created in his image to be creative, and our calling – to preach, demonstrate and extend the Kingdom of God in all spheres of society among all peoples.
Wealth Creation Manifesto again: “We are created in God’s image, to co-create with Him and for Him, to create products and services for the common good. Wealth creation is a holy calling, and a God-given gift, which is commended in the Bible.”
Our views on wealth, wealth creation and wealth creators are important and make a real life difference. Compare the health and wealth of nations with the same culture and language like South and North Korea, and West and East Germany. We have witnessed how president Mugabe turned Zimbabwe from being a bread basket to a basket case. Oil rich Venezuela is another tragic example of how disregard for basic wealth creation principles has destroyed a country.
Wealth creation is about flipping the script: We are not asking how we can fight poverty, but rather how we can create different kinds of wealth: financial, social, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual, as we do business. Business is a way wealth is created, and that’s by God’s design.
God calls and equips us to find business solutions to human trafficking, growing youth unemployment, environmental challenges, and to serve unreached peoples.
That’s why we are engaged in investments and holistic wealth creation. We believe that businesses can and should address a variety of human needs, with a special concern for the least, the lost and the lowliest.
Creating wealth, doing business with a godly mission by honoring God and seeking the common good, is about love. Yes, it is about being a conduit of God’s love to the world. As St Augustine says: “What does love look like? It has the hands to love others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has the eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”
And remember, Christianity is not a self-help program, Christ is for the world. God loves the world, and he sends us to love the world by preaching, demonstrating and extending the Kingdom of God, also through business, investments and wealth creation. Growing businesses is not for our glory, but for the glory of God, and that can change the world.
Human flourishing requires wealth creation of all types, and wealth creation requires business, and businesses require financial capital to start and grow. All to the greater glory of God. May God bless you!
