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• Act as a steward of creation's resources for the sake of all people and future generations.
  
  

Under this model, which many Christian executives already practice, corporate managers direct their businesses according to objectives that help customers, employees, and the local and broader communities to be fruitful. Profit is necessary to meet these objectives, but maximizing profit and shareholder return ceases to be the overriding concern.

Such a model calls into question the absolute preeminence of the shareholder and the primacy of capital. When the shareholder is king, the legitimate needs of customers and the fair treatment of employees are valued only as they contribute to the bottom line. Under the biblical model, the legitimate needs of customers, employees, and creation become the company's paramount goals.

Profit must be sufficient to permit a business to attract the capital it needs to achieve its objectives—but profit is not the goal of business. Profit is to for-profit corporations what charitable contributions are to most nonprofit organizations: a necessary means to accomplish their objectives.

This model also questions the ultimate authority of the market. Because its goals are to meet needs, business owners who pursue these objectives will no longer merely ask what product will provide the greatest return on investment. Rather, they will focus on what legitimate needs they can best meet with the company's resources.

Legal standards alone are not an adequate protection against the ravages of the Fall. Many legal business activities fail to reflect God's justice and integrity. As a starting point, in addition to keeping the law, the reality of the Fall mandates that businesses guard against the tendency to seek material gain at the expense of others. Specifically, businesses must not:

• Treat people in a manner inconsistent with human dignity.
  
  
• Fail to pay just compensation.
  
  
• Require employees to work in unreasonably dangerous conditions.
  
  
• Engage in practices that threaten the long-term sustainability of the created order.
  
  
• Mislead people.
  
  
• Disrupt God's intended rhythm of rest and work.
  
  

The redemption of life in Christ and the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit are the unique gifts Christians bring to business. The Cross reminds those in business that as they participate in the coming of God's kingdom through their work, invariably they will come into conflict with the dominant culture.

On occasion, managing a business to further God's agenda may require making choices that hurt the company's bottom line. Taking actions to protect the environment, ensuring that employees are paid at least a livable wage, or declining to capitalize on a competitor's mistake may all cost a business some of its profits. Success for the Christian in business, however, must be measured on a different scale. Christians need to be prepared to "fail" for the sake of the gospel. Redemption does not point only to the Cross, however. It also points beyond it to the resurrection life of the Spirit. It is the redeeming, recreating, and restoring Spirit who:

• Renews our capacity to pursue God's intentions for business with integrity, justice, truth, and regard for community.
  
  
• Infuses our business decisions with the values and life of God's kingdom.
  
  
• Assures us that, in the end, God will transform a fallen economic structure—often fueled by greed and selfish ambition—into an agent of healing and reconciliation.
  
  

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February 2003, Vol. 47, No. 2