The Philosophy of Business
by Gerald R. Chester, Ph.D.
In last month’s Gleanings, I began a discussion of the relationship between business and the kingdom of God by discussing the authority to conduct business. This month, I want to address the philosophy of business.
Several years ago, a lady contacted me wanting to explore becoming an affiliate consultant for my company. In the communication, she laid out her credentials and touted her philosophy of business based on the commonly hyped term “best practices.” I sensed that her definition of best practices was the conventional understanding, namely, using empirical studies to determine the practices that maximize financial profit. I responded by noting that my consulting philosophy is not based on the pedestrian idea of best practices. Furthermore, I explained that my definition of best practices is based on principles that promote the best alignment with the will and ways of God. Sadly, I never heard from her again.
This interchange illustrates a challenge in managing organizations today, that is, how to determine the right management principles.
The pedestrian approach to business seems focused on maximizing profit, which is based on the assumption that financial profit is the measure of success. But what if financial profit is not the measure of success? You might find this question surprising. After all, don’t organizations exist to maximize profit and don’t people work to make money?
While it is true that organizations and individuals must make a profit to be viable, this doesn’t mean that money or profit is the measure of success. But if money is not the measure of success, then what is?
In today’s business environment, people work as if they will never die. But it is self-evident that all of us will die. Therefore, it is incumbent on us not to limit our definition of success based on this existence; we must define success based on what transcends this life.
This can be problematic for atheists. For atheists there is no existence after death. The only life is here and now. Therefore, for an atheist, the old adage, eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you die, is most apropos. Consequently, success for an atheist is defined in terms of maximizing fun, pleasure, comfort, and convenience in this existence—which all seem to require money. Therefore, atheists tend to embrace a philosophy of business based on maximizing financial profit.
For a theist who believes that life transcends this existence, the atheistic view of success should be dissatisfying. A Christian worldview embraces a concept of the next existence. John 17:3 reveals that one can begin to experience the next existence in this present existence by growing in the cognitive and relational knowledge of God. John 17:4 then provides a definition of success, namely, to perform the work that God has sovereignly ordained for you to do in this existence. For a Christian, success must provide value both in this existence and in the next. The apostle Paul explained that what has value both in this life and the next is godliness, that is, alignment with the will and ways of God (1 Timothy 4:8). Therefore, success for a Christian is obedience to the will and ways of God.
One might be tempted to assent to this truth individually but deny its application to organizations. But on what basis? If the God revealed in the Bible is the Creator of everything, then everything must find its meaning and purpose in relationship with the Creator. Therefore, both individuals and organizations must be subject to the same definitions of success. Consequently, if success is defined by obedience to the will and ways of God, organizational success must be defined likewise.
Let’s be clear on the meaning of obedience. In John 17:4, Jesus used his life as the model for the definition of obedience. We know that Jesus lived solely to do the will of the heavenly Father according to the ways of the heavenly Father (Luke 22:42, Matthew 4:4, John 5:19, John 12:50). For Jesus, obedience was alignment with the will and ways of God. As disciples of Jesus, we must embrace the same definition.
But what is the will of God? I understand the term “will of God” to mean the divinely ordained specific work assignments of each individual and organization. Given a sovereign Creator in control of his Creation who is executing a metanarrative, then every person and organization must have a divinely defined assignment.
What is meant by the term “ways of God”? This refers to the specific means and methods for how God wishes his will to be expressed. The ways of God flow from a Christian business philosophy that leads to principles revealed primarily in “special revelation” (Scripture) and secondarily in “general revelation” (creation). These principles are inculcated in best practices that produce results aligned with the will and ways of God. Therefore a biblical philosophy of business can be defined as “alignment with the will and ways of God both individually and organizationally.”
Not surprisingly, Scripture intimates this definition:
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what [will happen] tomorrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you [ought] to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." (James 4:13–15 NKJV)
The context of this passage is a discussion about humility. James explained what humility looks like in business. Humility is expressed by seeking the will (and by implication) the ways of God about developing and executing business plans. In other words, business planning is a process of discerning the will of God.
Every organization (past, present, and future) operates according to either an oral or a written business plan. A business plan is the overarching road map for what organizations do and how they function. Clearly, James, in the above text, expressed that the only humble way to function, individually and organizationally, is to align with the will and ways of God. Therefore, there can be no higher or greater philosophy of business than alignment with the will and ways of God.
This makes business planning a spiritual exercise of discerning the will of God. And it makes business training the process of learning the ways of God. It makes leadership the process of leading people into the will and ways of God and makes management the function of maintaining alignment with the will and ways of God. And since the Bible is the greatest revelation of the ways of God, the Bible must be the handbook for individual and organizational behavior.
Therefore, from a Christian worldview, a sound business philosophy can only be defined in terms of maximizing alignment with the will and ways of God, that is, the kingdom of God. Consequently, the true bottom line is not financial profit, though God values profit and expects individuals and organizations to be profitable. Rather, the true bottom line is measured by the degree of alignment with the will and ways of God individually and organizationally, knowing that this is profitable in both this existence and the next. Accordingly, money or profit will simply be a by-product of obedience to the King and alignment with his kingdom. And whatever financial profit comes from this alignment is to be used individually and organizationally to maximize alignment with the kingdom of God. |
