Business is a Gift from God to Transform the World [Video]

by Mats Tunehag

Mats Tunehag teaches on what the Bible says about Wealth Creation and Business at the Fourth Lausanne Congress Workplace Track in September 2024.

 

 

Transcript:

I grew up in Sweden, the land of the Vikings. We used to do tough business and we drank out of the skulls of our enemies. Now we sell furniture in flat boxes, through IKEA, and you’re welcome! But that is a proof that people, businesses, and nations can be transformed. And that’s what we’re going to talk about now.

Business—that is a gift from God to transform the world. So I have a question for you. In our lifetime, in our generation, has global poverty increased, stayed the same, or decreased? What do you think?

It has decreased dramatically, from three out of 10 to one out of 10 in the world in a few decades. The biggest lift in the history of mankind out of poverty has happened in our generation, not through aid but through trade. Today this is good news, 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. The Lausanne and BAM Global Wealth Creation Manifesto says, “Wealth creation through business has proven power to lift people and nations out of poverty.”

But what is wealth what do we mean by wealth?

There are different kinds of wealth. You can be financially rich and wealthy, but socially poor, you have no friends. You can be financially poor but spiritually rich because you know Jesus.

The Bible talks about wealth in three ways, one bad two good. The bad one is hoarding—more for me, myself, and more. The second one, which is good, is the sharing of wealth. To be generous, to give, that is commended in the Bible. But, there is never, ever any wealth of any kind to be shared unless it has been created. Wealth creation (the third one) is both a godly gift and a godly command.

When the people of Israel were about to enter into the promised land, God gave them instructions and it told them get engaged in business (see Deut 8). Two industries are mentioned, agricultural and mining, and [the scripture] says when you get involved in those kinds of businesses, different kinds of wealth will be created—but do not become proud or selfish because, He said, “I am the God who gives you the ability to create wealth.” (Deut 8:18)

And God is the ultimate owner of everything and we are to create and share different kinds of wealth through business to bless all peoples and nations. This is not a “health and wealth gospel”, this is not prosperity teaching, this is about stewardship of talents and resources. And, as the Bible says, to seek the welfare—the shalom, the wholeness, the flourishing—of the city (Jer 29:7). This is about provision and witness.

And this is not a capitalist idea, this is not a Lausanne thing, this has deep Judeo-Christian roots and is part of an ongoing tradition.

Worship is not sanctified entertainment. Work is worship! Avoda—the Hebrew word and the Jewish concept means “work is worship” as we serve God and people; life is an integrated whole to work, worship, and serve. Avoda!

In Judaism, our roots, the highest form of charity is not handouts but creating jobs. There’s another Jewish concept called tikkun olam, which means to co-create with God, to bridge the gap from what is to what it should be—from unemployment to employment, from misery to flourishing.

Tikkun olam means to repair a broken world, bring healing, and 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—it is 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, it is about who we are, created in his image to be creative, create good products and services. And our calling to preach, demonstrate, and extend the kingdom of God as we do business and we influence all spheres of society, among all peoples.

The Wealth Creation Manifesto again, quote, “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 commanded in the Bible.”

Our views on wealth, wealth creation, and wealth creators are important and they make a difference. This is not a theoretical discussion, this is not just a theological exercise, it has real life implications and consequences.

Compare the health and the wealth of nations like South and North Korea, same culture same language same geography; or West Germany and East Germany. We have witnessed how Zimbabwe went from being the “bread basket of southern Africa to become a basket case” [see here, for example]. Or the 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 can we fight poverty, no! We are rather asking how can we create different kinds of wealth—financial, social, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual—as we do business. Because business is the way that wealth is being created and that’s by God’s design.

So why should we do wealth creation? Why?

God wants it. The world needs it. And we are called to it!

And we are not the first ones to pick up this calling. God called and equipped John Cadbury to just that thing 200 years ago when he started the chocolate factory in Birmingham, England which had a holistic impact on many stakeholders for several generations. Chocolate for Jesus!

Also 200 years ago God called and equipped Hans Nielsen Hauge in Norway. He was instrumental in creating both a church revival movement and an entrepreneurship movement and that transformed the nation of Norway and his legacy is still alive to this day.

So through business, God calls us and equips us to find business solutions to human trafficking, business solutions to growing youth unemployment, business solutions to environmental challenges, business solutions to be able to serve unreached peoples. But, we are never to impose Jesus but rather propose him. Faith is not an imposition, it is a proposition and so is wealth creation through business.

Jesus should be an integral part of our value proposition, alongside our products and services—and the market actually is asking for spiritual health. A global survey done by McKinsey shows clearly that the vast majority of all people around the globe—regardless of faith, culture, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status—they consider spiritual health as important as physical mental and social health, the market wants it. That’s why we are, and we should be, engaged in 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.

And this is not about techniques, at the end of the day it is about love. Creating wealth, doing business as mission, honoring God, and seeking the common good is about love. Business as mission (BAM) is about being a channel, a conduit, of God’s love to the world.

As St Augustine says, “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”

So remember Christianity is not a self-help program, Christ is for the world! So growing businesses that’s not for our glory, it’s for the glory of God and that can change the world.

St Irenaeus, the great second century theologian, expressed the essence of Christianity as, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”

Human flourishing requires wealth creation of all types and wealth creation requires business.

May God bless you!

 

 

 

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash