Business for All Seasons: On a Tikkun Olam Mission

by Mats Tunehag

Mats Tunehag has just published a new free ebook “Business for All Seasons“, this is an excerpt.

 

What does it mean to be a Christian in the marketplace? There is a spectrum from just being a Christian in business and investing, to having a Christian impact through business and investments. The spectrum does not imply a judgmental attitude, but rather provokes a question on how we can learn and grow, and become more God-driven in the marketplace. It is a journey. I can be a Christian in business, just trying to survive and make money. My Christian faith has little to no influence on how I do business or make decisions about investments. Others may try to apply some Biblical values in business practices and avoid investing in unethical companies. Further down the spectrum one may explore how business and investments can have a Christian impact on multiple bottom-lines for multiple stakeholders. And how do we reflect God’s global thrust, to be a blessing and a witness to all peoples and nations, including through our work in business?

At this end of the spectrum, we are doing business and investing with a tikkun olam mission. What is that? Tikkun olam is a Jewish concept of repairing the world, bringing healing to the world, by co-creating with God, also through business and investing.

Tikkun Olam is observing how things are, realizing it is not as it should be. Things are broken, and need repair, people are hurting and need healing. A transformation is desired. Tikkun olam means co-creating with God, and bridging the gap between the world which is, and to a world as it ought to be. A few mundane examples: the kid’s room is messy, and it should be tidied up. A road is full of potholes and needs to be fixed. A smart phone has only 1% battery left, and needs to be recharged. What is versus what it ought to be, and action should be taken by someone.We know from history that businesses can be strong agents of change and transformation. And financial capital is an essential part of that. Peter Drucker says: “Every single social and global issue of our day is a business opportunity in disguise.” But tikkun olam is beyond being a secular or individualistic ‘do-gooder’. It is about co-creating with God, which implies submitting to his will. The Lord’s prayer is a tikkun olam prayer: May your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. On earth—as it is. God’s kingdom—as it ought to be.

Tikkun olam is a Jewish concept of repairing the world, bringing healing to the world, by co-creating with God, also through business and investing.

The American Jesuit theologian Roger Haight writes in ‘Spirituality Seeking Theology’ (2014): “God has entrusted creation to human beings not merely as caretakers of a past condition but as co-creators with God of the future.” Thus, we are not just Christian business people or investors in the marketplace. No, we are on a tikkun olam mission, with our time, talents and treasures, that His Kingdom may be preached, demonstrated and extended as we do business and investing. As God calls and equips us to do business and to invest, we should ask tikkun olam questions. What are some needs and challenges that can be addressed through my business? How can my investments make a difference to social and global issues?

The list can obviously be made long and diverse, and no-one can address all challenges we face locally or globally. But together we can invest and build businesses and eco-systems which can tackle many needs.

God wants people and nations to flourish socially, economically, culturally, spiritually, environmentally, intellectually, et cetera. It is about restoring human dignity, also through business. The antitheses to human dignity and flourishing is poverty, unemployment, wars, lack of clean water, human trafficking, labor exploitation, food insecurity, and no gospel access. That is what often is, but it is not how it ought to be. That is why we do business and investing with a tikkun olam mission. To repair the world, with God and for the common good—for God’s glory.

More about Business for All Seasons

Business for All Seasons is a small book with a large ambition: to help Christians think more clearly and act more courageously in the marketplace. It gathers twenty short chapters* all circling the same conviction: business and investing are not side activities to “real” ministry, but central avenues through which God restores people, and transform communities and nations.

The title nods to A Man for All Seasons, the story of Sir Thomas More, who chose faithfulness to conscience over comfort, reputation, and even his life. In a different arena, men and women in business face their own pressures: to separate faith from work, to chase profit without purpose, or to accept broken systems as inevitable. This book is written for those who want to follow God in boardrooms, shop floors, farms, and investment committees, even when that is costly.

It also echoes Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Business, like nature, moves through springtimes of vision and start-up energy, summers of growth, autumns of transition and harvest, and winters of pruning, disappointment, or waiting. Yet the seasons are not neatly separated; they overlap and interact. Through them all, God’s faithfulness does not change. “Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest… join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness.” These pages invite you to see your work and investments in that larger, steady light.

You will not find a technical manual on portfolio construction or a step-by-step guide to starting a company. Instead, each chapter offers a theological lens, a story, or a set of questions that can reshape how you view capital, risk, success, and calling. We will look at themes like tikkun olam—repairing a broken world with God; wealth creation as a holy calling; investing for generations rather than quarters; how business can confront human trafficking instead of profiting from exploitation; and why there is no biblical “pyramid” that makes pastors more spiritual than entrepreneurs or investors.

Throughout the book runs the language of four bottom lines. Business as Mission seeks holistic impact—financial, social, environmental, and spiritual—because the Kingdom of God touches every dimension of life. Like the four seasons, these bottom lines are distinct yet inseparable. Sound investments can create dignifying jobs, protect creation, strengthen families, and open space for the good news of Jesus to be both seen and heard.

Whether you are an investor, entrepreneur, pastor, student, or simply someone wondering how your work fits into God’s purposes, my hope is that this book will do three things: affirm that your place in the marketplace truly matters to God; stretch your imagination for what faithful business can do in the world; and encourage you to keep going—through all the seasons—with integrity, courage, and joy.

These are not final answers but invitations into ongoing conversations and practice. My prayer is that as you read and reflect, you will hear God’s call afresh to steward your time, talents, and treasures for the good of people and the glory of God—becoming, in your own sphere, a “business person for all seasons.”

Download pdf here >> Free e-book: Business for All Seasons