Education
WHY BUSINESS MATTERS TO GOD
Jeff Van Duzer’s new book by this title (with its intriguing subtitle “And What Still
Needs to Be Fixed”), will be released next month. Van Duzer, the Dean of Seattle
Pacific University’s School of Business and Economics, plunges bravely into the territory
of economics, business and theology and provides us with an easy-to-read, biblically-
grounded framework for sorting through a vision for business today. Fighting against
the “dualism” with which many Christians approach their work, Van Duzer makes a
case for the intrinsic value of business in God’s world. He also seeks to offer a middle
ground between a hardcore capitalist Christian perspective and a hardcore socialist
Christian perspective on business, suggesting that a biblical view is that business exists
to serve. When business functions biblically, the community it serves will flourish
and the individuals engaged in the business will thrive in their God-given identities.
The first half of the book lays out the Biblical framework of “Creation-Fall-Redemption-
Consummation” to help us understand where we fit in God’s story and plan for this
earth. Van Duzer’s choice of this narrative hermeneutic guides the rest of the book and
he does a good job of relating the Biblical narrative to how we think about business and
our career choices. The more theologically-grounded writers who tackle the integration
of faith and business stop here. But he bravely moves forward, in the second half of
the book, to lay out how we might think about business today in light of the Biblical
narrative. Like Redeemer, he looks at the variety of approaches Christians have to
engage in culture (from separation to assimilation) and advocates a humble but hopeful
posture of engaging in culture with the desire for its healing and redemption. This
includes the redemption of institutions and businesses – whole spheres of culture – not
just the individuals who work in them. The author puts some important ideas on the table
and gives us an opportunity for civil discourse.
We need constructive ways to talk about the current business and financial industry
emphases on shareholder value over all other metrics – the shareholder vs. stakeholder
debate. With a vision toward shalom, or cultural flourishing, how can re-imagine
the way business and individual organizations might work? How can we view
our work not just in terms of what we get from it, but also what we contribute?
A business has many stakeholders (parties with a vested interest in how a business
is managed). Van Duzer is particularly attuned to the interests of the employee. He
makes the case for the role or place of the employee to be significantly elevated – from
the “cog in the wheel” mindset of the industrial revolution to that of persons who were
created by God for meaningful and creative work. Again, I look forward to rich and
intelligent dialog on ways we, as Christ followers, might think about and improve upon
the employee’s experience of work.
The good news is: we get a chance to engage in this dialog directly with Jeff Van
Duzer on October 24th. As the first speaker in Redeemer’s GOSPEL & CULTURE LECTURES this year, CFW is hosting Jeff at Hunter College at 1pm in the main auditorium. This program is free and open to all. No tickets are necessary. His new book will be available for purchase. Please join us.
