A stunted view of god limits imitation

A stunted view of God’s character limits our imitation of him.

“If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did” - John 8:39

From history class to daily news we are bombarded by messages of corporate abuse. Robber barons warn against the corruption of business ownership. The faceless brokers and investors who fueled the housing craze that deceived hundreds of thousands of lower income families into impossible mortgages give pause that our entire economy is rotten. Whose children are these villains?

Among Christian circles, if you announce you work for an oil transport company, hearers imagine you’re responsible for oil spills, and if it’s international you aid terrorists. Have a passion for God and friends and family recommend you attend seminary, not business school; announce you want to be a prosecuting attorney and people whisper you’ve turned from your calling for ‘filthy lucre’.

Like Pharisees who balk that a ‘so-called’ prophet would associate with tax collectors, we assume guilt by proximity (or likeness). As people called to launch businesses, we must have a better view of our parentage and calling than did the Pharisees.

As children of our heavenly Father, we are small versions of him. While we confine the view of our Father’s attributes to love, mercy, and gentleness, we only see his likeness in professions where these activities are readily seen. Finding our desires and motivations tend towards the realm of business, where wise dealing, efficiency, and value creation are admired, we may conclude we are lesser children. What would it mean if we equally rejoiced to imitate our Father in the following passage as we do John 3:16!

“O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.” - Psa 104:24

Songs abound which express the love and mercy of God, but few display his power, his sovereignty, or his uprightness. One that’s stood out to me is a rendition of God’s speech to Job. Entitled, “Where Were You?" it crescendos over wave after wave of God’s awesome might, his manifold wisdom, and his effortless control. Beyond many a love song, these words cause me to tremble with reverent pleasure at the respect-worthy King of Heaven and Earth.

Theologians often split God’s attributes into those which we may share and those which are God’s alone. Wisdom, power, riches and sovereignty are all placed in the former category. With this, and Paul’s admonition to be ‘imitators of God,’ a practical step to integrate one’s business and identity as God’s child is to doggedly pursue the very characteristics which make God himself a wise and beneficient owner of all.