God has mercy for many methods

God’s mercy encompasses a multitude of business perspectives and models.

I am acquainted with Wayne Grudem from his Systematic Theology, and am thankful for his Bible-saturated insight into business topics. This week’s chapter on inequality of possessions was particularly fascinating, as inequality is a dynamic I was aware of in the Bible but have rarely heard practical application come from it. Without further explanation the chapter heading “Inequality of Possessions” would be pretty controversial in liberal Chicago (Grudem)!

“There is a wideness in God’s mercy” sung Rich Mullins, and God’s mercy is wide enough to encompass the breadth of insight from two thousand years of Biblical study. His Word has been alive and active, and his Holy Spirit giving wisdom and grace, in the lives of common people since Adam and Eve. There are wealthy herders, poor widows, unemployed prophets, ruling kings, and more in the pages of Scripture, and many more since the last word of Revelation was written.

The revelation of God’s mercy through the ages is important to business because there are so many business perspectives. While a few principles have guided the first entrepreneur to today’s, the approach to business has changed over and over. An entrepreneur in today’s world must recognize he views business through a different lens than saints of old. Even a start-up from one country to the next may have vastly different views.

As I learn the skills of an entrepreneur, I must draw from the combined wisdom of socialist and capitalist perspectives as I seek to add value to others. I must judge all things by the Bible alone, but be willing to learn from those whose worldview is incomprehensible in my context. While much of what Wayne Grudem says in his book “Business for the Glory of God” resonates with me, I also must hear the counter arguments. Professor Hutch’s link from last week is a helpful balance in this respect. Calvin Redekop’s historical investigation into the free market exposes differing perspectives on profit and capitalism that I would not have read from Wayne Grudem (Redekop).

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