Restoring Enterprise to its Place in the Body of Christ

Business as Mission, Kingdom Business, Great Commission Companies, Purpose-Driven Business, Enterprising Ministry, Kingdom Entrepreneurship - It goes by many names, but there is a new, and yet very old calling in the Global Body of Christ. Many believers are called to walk out their calling in the marketplace. A subset of those believers are called to plant and grow businesses that serve God and the rest of the church. It is their ministry, enterprising ministry, that we describe, support, and explore here.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Government or Business which is the Monster

Both government and business  are trustworthy if they hold each other accountable.
Both government and business  are tyrants without each other. They are both the Monsters and the Pillars of democracy. They must both be healthy for democracy to thrive.

The truth is that all things human are corruptible. We are all selfish and manipulative by nature. This is self-evident and biblical. I see a lot of distrust to the point of hatred of both government and business in America by believers and non believers alike.

The arguments presented to us are about the constitution, the intent of founding fathers, the privilege of the rich, the fundamental fairness or unfairness of things. The basis of these positions seem to be that you either trust government and don't trust business, or you trust business and not government.

So depending on your fundamental belief government is either the solution or the problem.

Government: driven by self-righteousness, divine-right power, tax revenue expansionism, condescension, demagogy.  And necessity.
Business: driven by pride, greed, usury, competitiveness, frugality. And necessity.

Worst of all, both are led by people, corruptible all, as individuals or in groups. 

Since our Founders in America had lived with the consequences of  Tyranny by both groups, seeing the worst of both worlds, they constructed a constitution, and in it a set of checks and ballances to stop the abuses of the other.

"..democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time" (Winston Churchill 1947).

Both business and governments create an internal system of checks and balances. In government it's based on a system of  transparency and shared power. In business it is based on GAAP and required annual audits for larger companies.

Our way of life depends of government and business balancing each other.

Over the last couple of centuries we have come to put our faith in either government or busienss, which ever has served our own self interest the best, and have built two separate constituencies that don't like each other much.

Or maybe we trust no one. "Rage against the Machine"  is not just a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominated band. Then Chaos rules.

So what do we do now?
  1. Pray for Guidance on what you should do.
  2. Realize that for the stability of America both must be health and effective, and quit warring against the other.
  3. Avoid the powerful sucking of  destructive media hurricanes of either side. Vote carefully with our dollars, and in our elections.
  4. Pray for the country. for restoration, for revival. 
  5. Pray for both healthy government and business, until its time for Jesus to come.
The hopeful conclusion is that we avoid the distraction, the dissipation of energy, by creating permanent solutions to temporary problems. Let the monsters fight and trust in the Lord.