Richard C. Chewning - Business Through the Eyes of Faith

Suppose one looks at business through the eyes of Christian faith. What does one see? What questions come to mind? Which directions seem promising? Which practices call for disapproval? Can there be such a thing as a theology of business? It is to such questions as these that this book is addressed.

Almost from the beginnings of Christianity there have been Christians who have cast an eye of suspicion on business. The authors quote the comment of St. Jerome, A merchant can seldom if ever please God. The question, then, what do faith and business have to do with each other, has long been on the agenda. To ask the question today, however, is to ask it concerning a very different kind of business from that which St. Jerome knew. Business in the modern world has become a relatively autonomous sector of society. It has a life of its own. The question is thus more complex, its answers less obvious, than it was in former ages.

The writers of this bookthemselves successful practitioners and knowledgeable teachers of businessdo not enter the discussion suspicious of business. On the contrary: they develop their understanding of business as an appropriate and even necessary part of our human calling on earth before the face of God. But neither are they apologists for business as is, or purveyors of simplistic slogans like God is not against competition or God favors individual initiative. What characterizes the discussion can perhaps best be called critical appreciation.

This critical appreciation is grounded in both an authentic spirituality and a thorough acquaintance with modern business. From this combination comes an unusually imaginative, humanly sensitive, and biblically responsive discussion of Christianity and business. Categories like justice, love, and shalom are put to work. Those who find themselves on the underside of business enter the picture as well as those who sit at the top. The impact of American business on the Third World is considered as well as its impact on America. The quality of the workplace is discussed along with the role of profits. Advertising is considered as well as production.

I have mentioned the combination of imagination and commitment in the discussion. What is also striking is what I can only call the liberated character of the discussion. To a remarkable degree, the authors have liberated themselves from ideologies of both the right and the left and looked with clear eyes of faith at this dimension of our existence, which so profoundly shapes the lives of all of usmodern business.

Naturally there are some questions, which the writers leave unanswered. There are others to which their answers may prove controversial. But whether you are a Christian or not, and whether you are engaged in business or only participate by way of consuming its products and employing its servicesif, whatever your reason, you have wanted to know how modern business looks to some perceptive and informed Christians, you will, I think, find no better book than this giving you what you want.

God calls us as Christians to look at all of life, including business, through the eyes of faith. This means that we are called to see the world as God does. We look to biblical principles to guide our decisions and to form our values. When faced with tough questions, we ask, What would Jesus do? In difficult circumstances we examine Scripture and ask the Holy Spirit and other Christians for guidance. We want our lives to reflect wholeness and integrity.