Business for the Glory of God by Wayne Grudem
I had never really thought about it, but I guess--even though it is
contrary to my longing and belief that God can be and is glorified
through all of the Christian's life--that I had always just assumed
that business wasn't good in and of itself. In fact like Grudem asserts
of those who are like I was, we believe, "that from a moral perspective
[profit, competition, money, and business are] 'neutral' at best." I
guess that when I was pursuing a degree in engineering, I thought that
I could glorify God through it by sharing the gospel at the work place,
earning enough money to free my wife up to be a stay-at-home mom, and
being able to give more money to the church. But Grudem's view is so
much balanced and biblical than these views, exposing my blindness that
would have kept me from obeying 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you
eat or drink, or whatever you do (including business), do all for the
glory of God." (On a side not to 1 Cor 10:31, read "How to Drink Orange
Juice to the Glory of God," chapter 5 of John Piper's book, Pierced by
the Word.)
The topics in which Grudem covers in this book, with a chapter devoted to each one are:
How God is glorified by...
1. Ownership
2. Productivity
3. Employment
4. Commercial Transactions
5. Profit
6. Money
7. Inequality of Possessions
8. Competition
9. Borrowing and Lending
and he then includes two chapters on
10. Attitudes of Heart
11. Effects on World Poverty.
Grudem is not blind to the abuses of business, the ways in which we
idolize money and success and become gracious losing sight of the fact
that we are operating with God's stuff not ours. He regularly comments
throughout the book on concerns to balance the view, but the real
wealth of attitude-changing information comes from
not-often-talked-about fact that business can in-and-of-itself be
glorifying to God. We don't have to feel "vaguely guilty" about
business but can use it to both glorify God while we're doing it and
advance the Kingdom through it.
My only complaint is the size of the book, and for that I wish I
could give it four-and-a-half stars. The book is really small (83 pages
of text) and oftentimes when it seems like he is just beginning to
develop a thought or when a proposition could use a little more
defense, he needs to move on to the next topic of discussion. However,
he can be excused because he has let the reader know that he is working
on a larger edition saying in the preface, "The Bible says much about
these topics, and a thorough treatment deserves a much larger book than
this, one that I am still in the process of writing."
In summary, if you are in business or are a student studying or
considering studying business, read this book. It should have a
profound and God-glorifying effect (if read as it is written and not
taken as a license to idolize business or success and withhold God's
grace from people) on your life, studies, and career.
kvinners nike air huarache gr?nn gr? http://www.onlysidekick.com/kvinners-nik..