Business Is Provision For People
Business Is Provision For People
Business Is Provision For People
Business Is Provision For People
Business that gives glory to God is business that works the way God guides and empowers us to work — to do everything for the glory of God. While many people know this, most of us have a hard time applying this to business. Thankfully, God’s word clearly explains how we glorify God in our daily work.
“If we get to $2 billion dollars, it will change everything for everybody! This will make us the second leading company in our industry, Wall Street will recognize and reward us, and we will be able to invest in more technology and training. In turn, this will enable us to serve more customers, grow faster, and hire more people — all of which will make us very wealthy.”
Does this sound familiar? It does to me because I said this 25 years ago. This was me at age 29 rallying the troops around a goal we set as an executive committee. We created banners, flyers, newsletters, and plaques around the goal of getting to $2,000,000,000 in loan production for the upcoming year.
We hit that $2 billion goal, but shortly thereafter a series of global financial events tested the financial structure of the company. Unfortunately, the company faltered and was sold. Thousands of us lost our investments and our retirement.
The business was built by honest and talented people who served hundreds of thousands of people, but the underlying financial structure of the business was too reliant on sophisticated financing and Wall Street. The financial structure failed as market conditions changed rapidly. Demand remained constant, but the business couldn’t continue.
At its core, the fatal flaw in the financial structure of the business was a strategy that continually deployed resources for the sake of acquiring more resources. In other words, we set goals, such as the $2 billion loan production goal and external financing goals, in order to keep setting bigger financial goals.
This fatal flaw eventually led to the demise of the business. And, while painful in the moment, that business failure and my contribution to it was used by God to help me understand the true purpose of business.
You see, I used to think business was all about money, but now I know business is about serving the needs of others.
Mission Matters
The mission of business matters because the purpose of life matters. All of life and business is given to us from God, through God we are empowered to work, and all of life and business is for God (Romans 11:36).
Everything is for one thing — the glory of God. While many people know this, most of us have a hard time applying this to business. Thankfully, God’s word clearly explains how we glorify God in our daily work:
“For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” – Galatians 5:14-15
In these verses, the Apostle Paul quoted Jesus as the Holy Spirit inspired him to write to the Galatians, and these verses offer perfect guidance for businesses today. Too often we are more interested in gaining money, or beating, biting, and devouring each other than we are in using the means of business to love our neighbors.
Dallas Willard helps us close this gap with his writings on business. In his book, Called To Business, Willard says, “Business is a fundamental structure of love in the kingdom of God.” People all over the word have an incredible amount of needs. Our communities are full of needs, and it’s amazing how God commissions and equips His people in unique ways to care for the needs of all people through their daily work.
Business For The Glory Of God
Business that gives glory to God is business that works the way God guides and empowers us to work — to do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). The graphic above illustrates the three core components of business and how they work together to glorify God.
Mission Serves The Needs of World
The purpose of business is to meet the needs of people. Willard says it this way, “The aim of business is to make provision for the needs of the people in an area. The best businesses in the world serve a need that society as a whole, a specific region, or a local community has.” This is as true for Apple as is for your favorite neighborhood restaurant.
In his bestselling book, Built To Last, Jim Collins builds a case for how the most successful businesses serve the most important needs of the world. Here are a few mission statements that exemplify this approach:
- To refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit. - Coca-Cola
- To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. - Nike
- To give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. - Facebook
Now, you might argue about how much these companies put their mission first, and that criticism is not without warrant. However, by publicly declaring their mission to customers, stakeholders, and their employees, the business declares their intent and opens themselves up to a greater level of public accountability.
In fact, one of these companies had an employee use the company mission as a justification to become a “whistleblower” and report data to congress about how the company was not living up to their obligations. This is an example of how a good mission statement can hold a business accountable — even when it’s just words on a page.
Strengths and Gifts Deployed
In strategic planning, strengths are used to overcome weakness and threats in order to pursue opportunities that meet the needs of the world. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, explains that a business should consider where it can be the best in the world based on its strengths and abilities.
Strengths are also gifts. Dallas Willard explains how God gives us gifts of understanding the needs of others so we can serve them by deploying our gifts in a way that has maximum impact.
“God gives us a point of reference for determining what is good for people independently of what they want. If you look at it historically, if you look at the literature regarding business, you will see that the aim of business is to make provision for the needs of the people in an area.” – Dallas Willard, How God is in Business
Strengths and gifts are the learned skills and expertise of people that work in the business, but so are inventions, timing, and collaboration. For more on gifts, see Use Gifts For Others — Be Satisfied
God’s word tells us over and over that all gifts are for serving others.
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.” – 1 Peter 4:10
Means and Resources Utilized
Means and resources are things like money, technology, land, plants, animals, and other natural resources that are given to us by God to rule and subdue the earth for the glory of God by doing business for the benefit of others (Genesis 1:28-29). Money is the predominant means for business. Money has more versatility than any other means because it is fungible, countable, and storable. For more on money, see Don’t Work For Money
Note that nowhere in the mission statements above do the companies talk about money or means as part of their mission. One reason for this is that a money focused mission would be uninspiring to all stakeholders. When was the last time a company told you how much money they planned to make from you? Another reason not to make the mission about the means is that means are neutral in regard to values and change fast with market conditions. In short, means strategies require flexibility, whereas mission statements require a long-term commitment.
So while we don’t see many businesses promote their means based strategies, we do see businesses focused on money over mission. Jim Collins says, “Profit is like oxygen, food, water, and blood for the body; they are not the point of life, but without them there is no life.” You only have a goal to have more oxygen, food, water, or blood when you don’t have enough. Having too much of these things makes you sick. The same is true for money and business — goals to achieve too much money ruin the business. Jesus said it this way:
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” – Matthew 6:24
Money and resources should be used to facilitate more good — not the self-indulgence of the owners.
God’s Will for Business is Love
When Jesus taught us to pray to our Holy Father, He said to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus taught us to pray this way so we would know how to pray and live — surrendering our will to God’s. Prayer is preparation for action.
Jesus also taught us how to love. The life and teaching of Jesus demonstrate that God’s will and love are synonymous. Love is what God is; so every action of God’s will is an action of love. As the Son of God, Jesus always followed His Father’s will. Which means everything Jesus did was motivated by love.
Jesus proved God’s will and love are the same thing even on the night He was betrayed:
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” – Luke 22:42
Jesus was as fully human as He was fully God. As a human, Jesus asked if there was another way that involved less suffering. At the same time, He knew it was God’s will to complete His mission by laying down His life for His friends.
Jesus knew God’s will for His life. He knew that surrendering His life was the greatest possible act of love for humanity. There is no greater love than this, to lay down one's life for their friends (John 15:13). His life, suffering, death, and resurrection paid for all our sins so we could be in union with God forever. What love!
Jesus calls us to love others the way He loved us. This is why He commands us to go and do likewise, and do business His way (Luke 10:37).
Business is a means of love to meet the needs of others. Surrendering our businesses and daily work to God is an enormous privilege that frees us from striving to build our own kingdom, and enables us to build His instead. This is a difficult mission. We don’t easily surrender our will, but when we look to the example of our Savior, we see there is far greater joy in following God’s will for the benefit of others.
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2
This is how we should do business. Follow God’s will and use everything for the sake of one thing — to glorify God and love others. For the joy set before us!
Resources
Dallas Willard, Called To Business
Dallas Willard, How God is in Business
Jim Collins, Built To Last
Jim Collins, Good To Great
Article: Use Gifts For Others — Be Satisfied
Article: Don’t Work For Money
“If we get to $2 billion dollars, it will change everything for everybody! This will make us the second leading company in our industry, Wall Street will recognize and reward us, and we will be able to invest in more technology and training. In turn, this will enable us to serve more customers, grow faster, and hire more people — all of which will make us very wealthy.”
Does this sound familiar? It does to me because I said this 25 years ago. This was me at age 29 rallying the troops around a goal we set as an executive committee. We created banners, flyers, newsletters, and plaques around the goal of getting to $2,000,000,000 in loan production for the upcoming year.
We hit that $2 billion goal, but shortly thereafter a series of global financial events tested the financial structure of the company. Unfortunately, the company faltered and was sold. Thousands of us lost our investments and our retirement.
The business was built by honest and talented people who served hundreds of thousands of people, but the underlying financial structure of the business was too reliant on sophisticated financing and Wall Street. The financial structure failed as market conditions changed rapidly. Demand remained constant, but the business couldn’t continue.
At its core, the fatal flaw in the financial structure of the business was a strategy that continually deployed resources for the sake of acquiring more resources. In other words, we set goals, such as the $2 billion loan production goal and external financing goals, in order to keep setting bigger financial goals.
This fatal flaw eventually led to the demise of the business. And, while painful in the moment, that business failure and my contribution to it was used by God to help me understand the true purpose of business.
You see, I used to think business was all about money, but now I know business is about serving the needs of others.
Mission Matters
The mission of business matters because the purpose of life matters. All of life and business is given to us from God, through God we are empowered to work, and all of life and business is for God (Romans 11:36).
Everything is for one thing — the glory of God. While many people know this, most of us have a hard time applying this to business. Thankfully, God’s word clearly explains how we glorify God in our daily work:
“For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” – Galatians 5:14-15
In these verses, the Apostle Paul quoted Jesus as the Holy Spirit inspired him to write to the Galatians, and these verses offer perfect guidance for businesses today. Too often we are more interested in gaining money, or beating, biting, and devouring each other than we are in using the means of business to love our neighbors.
Dallas Willard helps us close this gap with his writings on business. In his book, Called To Business, Willard says, “Business is a fundamental structure of love in the kingdom of God.” People all over the word have an incredible amount of needs. Our communities are full of needs, and it’s amazing how God commissions and equips His people in unique ways to care for the needs of all people through their daily work.
Business For The Glory Of God
Business that gives glory to God is business that works the way God guides and empowers us to work — to do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). The graphic above illustrates the three core components of business and how they work together to glorify God.
Mission Serves The Needs of World
The purpose of business is to meet the needs of people. Willard says it this way, “The aim of business is to make provision for the needs of the people in an area. The best businesses in the world serve a need that society as a whole, a specific region, or a local community has.” This is as true for Apple as is for your favorite neighborhood restaurant.
In his bestselling book, Built To Last, Jim Collins builds a case for how the most successful businesses serve the most important needs of the world. Here are a few mission statements that exemplify this approach:
- To refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit. - Coca-Cola
- To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. - Nike
- To give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. - Facebook
Now, you might argue about how much these companies put their mission first, and that criticism is not without warrant. However, by publicly declaring their mission to customers, stakeholders, and their employees, the business declares their intent and opens themselves up to a greater level of public accountability.
In fact, one of these companies had an employee use the company mission as a justification to become a “whistleblower” and report data to congress about how the company was not living up to their obligations. This is an example of how a good mission statement can hold a business accountable — even when it’s just words on a page.
Strengths and Gifts Deployed
In strategic planning, strengths are used to overcome weakness and threats in order to pursue opportunities that meet the needs of the world. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, explains that a business should consider where it can be the best in the world based on its strengths and abilities.
Strengths are also gifts. Dallas Willard explains how God gives us gifts of understanding the needs of others so we can serve them by deploying our gifts in a way that has maximum impact.
“God gives us a point of reference for determining what is good for people independently of what they want. If you look at it historically, if you look at the literature regarding business, you will see that the aim of business is to make provision for the needs of the people in an area.” – Dallas Willard, How God is in Business
Strengths and gifts are the learned skills and expertise of people that work in the business, but so are inventions, timing, and collaboration. For more on gifts, see Use Gifts For Others — Be Satisfied
God’s word tells us over and over that all gifts are for serving others.
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.” – 1 Peter 4:10
Means and Resources Utilized
Means and resources are things like money, technology, land, plants, animals, and other natural resources that are given to us by God to rule and subdue the earth for the glory of God by doing business for the benefit of others (Genesis 1:28-29). Money is the predominant means for business. Money has more versatility than any other means because it is fungible, countable, and storable. For more on money, see Don’t Work For Money
Note that nowhere in the mission statements above do the companies talk about money or means as part of their mission. One reason for this is that a money focused mission would be uninspiring to all stakeholders. When was the last time a company told you how much money they planned to make from you? Another reason not to make the mission about the means is that means are neutral in regard to values and change fast with market conditions. In short, means strategies require flexibility, whereas mission statements require a long-term commitment.
So while we don’t see many businesses promote their means based strategies, we do see businesses focused on money over mission. Jim Collins says, “Profit is like oxygen, food, water, and blood for the body; they are not the point of life, but without them there is no life.” You only have a goal to have more oxygen, food, water, or blood when you don’t have enough. Having too much of these things makes you sick. The same is true for money and business — goals to achieve too much money ruin the business. Jesus said it this way:
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” – Matthew 6:24
Money and resources should be used to facilitate more good — not the self-indulgence of the owners.
God’s Will for Business is Love
When Jesus taught us to pray to our Holy Father, He said to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus taught us to pray this way so we would know how to pray and live — surrendering our will to God’s. Prayer is preparation for action.
Jesus also taught us how to love. The life and teaching of Jesus demonstrate that God’s will and love are synonymous. Love is what God is; so every action of God’s will is an action of love. As the Son of God, Jesus always followed His Father’s will. Which means everything Jesus did was motivated by love.
Jesus proved God’s will and love are the same thing even on the night He was betrayed:
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” – Luke 22:42
Jesus was as fully human as He was fully God. As a human, Jesus asked if there was another way that involved less suffering. At the same time, He knew it was God’s will to complete His mission by laying down His life for His friends.
Jesus knew God’s will for His life. He knew that surrendering His life was the greatest possible act of love for humanity. There is no greater love than this, to lay down one's life for their friends (John 15:13). His life, suffering, death, and resurrection paid for all our sins so we could be in union with God forever. What love!
Jesus calls us to love others the way He loved us. This is why He commands us to go and do likewise, and do business His way (Luke 10:37).
Business is a means of love to meet the needs of others. Surrendering our businesses and daily work to God is an enormous privilege that frees us from striving to build our own kingdom, and enables us to build His instead. This is a difficult mission. We don’t easily surrender our will, but when we look to the example of our Savior, we see there is far greater joy in following God’s will for the benefit of others.
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2
This is how we should do business. Follow God’s will and use everything for the sake of one thing — to glorify God and love others. For the joy set before us!
Resources
Dallas Willard, Called To Business
Dallas Willard, How God is in Business
Jim Collins, Built To Last
Jim Collins, Good To Great
Article: Use Gifts For Others — Be Satisfied
Article: Don’t Work For Money