5 minute read
Review
Business as a Holy Calling? A Workbook for Christians in Busi-
ness and Their Pastors. By Tim A Dearborn (Dynamis, 2015, 165 pp. $9.49 U.S.)
Twenty years ago Tim Dearborn interviewed 100 Christian business leaders and heard disturbing viewpoints. Very few: saw their work as ministry; had ever heard business affirmed as Christian service; had received church guidance for their work; or had a sense of how their business contributed to God’s kingdom.
Meanwhile, polls show that 70 percent of employed Americans feel disengaged from their work or, worse, hate their jobs.
“Surely that is not God’s will for humankind,” writes Dearborn. People should be able to end their working day saying, as God did on page one of the Bible, “What I did today was good.”
Subtitled a workbook (and formatted accordingly), his book probes the notion that business, despite contrary images, can in fact be a holy calling. He casts a wide net to explore what the Bible says to businessfolk and other working Christians.
By Dearborn’s tally, the working life is more present in Scripture than many realize. For example, 38 of 45 of Jesus’ parables occurred in and related to marketplace themes, and 112 out of his 122 public appearances were in the marketplace.
Still, many spiritual implications of work go unnoticed. Churches, for example, “are called to equip and support members for their ministry in daily life, not primarily focus on recruiting and drawing members to come to and serve in church programs.”
Thus, they miss vital connections with daily life. “We pray for those in our congregations who are unemployed to get work — but do we pray for our businesses and economy to flourish and generate meaningful jobs?”
Dearborn, a former pastor who directs the Lloyd John Ogilvie Institute of Preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary, has produced a powerpacked manual for intensive study by businesspeople and pastors. It can be read alone, but it’s better to use it as a lever for theological exploration (if you are blessed enough to have a pastor so disposed).
“What has to happen in order for business to be a holy calling?” Dearborn asks. The short answer is that business “can contribute to God’s purposes to enable human flourishing and the thriving of creation.”
He supports legitimate profit as one performance indicator, but sees beyond a narrow bottom line of earnings and shareholder value. “If working conditions and wages don’t contribute to people’s well being,” he asks, “then isn’t a business contrary to God’s purposes?”
God’s economic system “affirms individual initiative and responsibility, and the freedom to acquire wealth,” he says. “Fruitful work is part of God’s good creation.”
But there are caveats. The Bible cares for those at the bottom of the economy, and warns against piling up wealth without regard for the well-being of others. And in the biblical economy “the rights of foreign workers and immigrants are protected” (as in Deut 24:14-15, 17).
For business to be a holy calling it must “ensure that the balances in the marketplace are fair, the wages and payments are just, and the integrity and honesty of the transactions are secure.”
Dearborn sees huge spiritual potential for business. “Every business activity touches that which is sacred, regardless of the religious beliefs of the businessperson,” he says.
One example is the spiritual impact of community. “With 100,000 lifetime hours spent there, the workplace is one of the most obvious venues for experiencing community,” he writes.
“How might our interactions be impacted if we treated people knowing that those with whom we work, from whom we buy goods and services, to whom we market, and with whom we compete are sacred — creatures in the image of God?” — Wally Kroeker
Letters
Magazine founder weighs in
To editors Wally (past) and Mike (present):
At the annual convention in Richmond, Va., in 2015, I was disturbed by a rumor that The Marketplace might be terminated or go only online.
Several days ago I opened the May/June issue, which had just arrived, with some anxiety. But the good news soon overwhelmed me. It was not that the usual contents provoked the expected inspiration, but that my subconscious fears were instantly obliterated. The Marketplace will survive, along hopefully with the highcaliber new editor. Sanity has again prevailed!
I hope some personal observations about the history and role of TM, all of which are probably biased, might still carry some insights: (1) In the late 1960s Goshen College generously gave me some teaching time credit for leading the nascent CIBA (Church, Industry and Business Association) and a printed newsletter which I felt was an important channel for communication (I thank Paul Mininger, John Lapp, Howard Kauffman, etc — institutions can be creative and helpful!); (2) In the courtship and marriage of Mennonite Industry and Business Associates (MIBA), itself a merger of CIBA and Mennonite Business Associates (MBA), and MEDA, Milo Shantz, who played a fine positive role in the merger, was consistently supportive of the importance of The Marketplace in the new MEDA; (3) From the beginning to the end of my editorship of The Marketplace (1970-1985) I knew the journal would survive only with someone much more competent than I. Again it was Milo and other members of the new MEDA board who agreed that Wally (who I had learned to know in Hillsboro, Kan.) was the best and only choice (rarely have I been so right!). Wally has succeeded in making this journal a unique medium in Christianeconomics discussion and leadership. Further, I propose he (along with the fine design support of Ray Dirks) helped The Marketplace become a unique (and eminently readable) parachurch venture that fills a deep gap especially in Anabaptist separation of faith from practice, i.e. Jesus is spiritually adored but economically ignored; (4) Finally, with the appointment of Mike Strathdee it is clear that the board is committed to continue and increase the global impact The Marketplace gained under Wally’s leadership.
Founding editor Calvin Redekop, shown with early periodicals that grew into today’s magazine.
With much appreciation, and congratulations to two of the three editors and to MEDA for its global work and support of its flagship, The Marketplace. — Calvin Redekop, Harrisonburg, VA
