Going Deeper: Resources on Faith, Work & Business
When it comes to the question of God and business, the articles and interviews in this edition of Common Ground are designed to be a good place to start. Alongside this, we’ve curated a list of resources and reading that offer ways to strengthen and develop your understanding further. Study, of course, complements reflection on experience: our hope is that both this edition and further reading can encourage you and give you insight as you undertake that irreplaceable education: learning on the job—Ed.
On God’s purposes for business:
Why Business Matters to God
Jeff Van Duzer
Jeff Van Duzer’s book is becoming something of a classic on God and business. It offers a compelling, biblically rooted framework for understanding how business can contribute to God’s own purposes. Van Duzer argues that the primary purpose of a business is not to maximise profit, but rather to do two key things: to provide goods and services that help communities flourish, and to create opportunities for employees to express their God-given identities through meaningful, creative work.
Business for the Glory of God
Wayne Grudem
This book explores the ways in which business itself can be morally good and bring glory to God. This extends to all aspects of business: ownership, profit, money, competition, borrowing and lending.
Rethinking the Purpose of Business: Interdisciplinary Essays from the Catholic Social Tradition
Edited by S. A. Cortright and Michael J. Naughton
Rethinking the Purpose of Business challenges reigning shareholder and stakeholder management theories using philosophical and theological dimensions of the Catholic social tradition. In this useful book, the contributors, including management theorists, moral theologians, economists, ethicists, and attorneys, debate complicated issues such as the ethics of profit seeking, equity and efficiency in the firm, the shareholder value principle, social ethics of corporate management, the principle of subsidiarity, and modern contract theory.
On humanity’s vocation, and Christian life at work
The ReFrame Course: Discover how your life connects to God’s mission
Marketplace Institute, Regent College & Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture
ReFrame is a beautiful, engaging 10-episode video series that explores how the gospel of Jesus Christ touches and reshapes every aspect of human life, including work and business endeavour. It’s available for free online, and has been designed for use by small groups, with study guides for leaders and participants. If you know other Christians in business, consider gathering a group to journey together through this resource. By the way, Venn CEO Nathan McLellan, who worked at the Marketplace Institude at Regent College, Vancouver, helped to develop the original teaching course that gave rise to this video resource.
Every Good Endeavour: Connecting Your Work to God’s Plan for the World
Timothy Keller
This book is a compelling exploration of the place of work in God’s purposes. Keller takes Scripture seriously, opening up a vision for human work that is both frank about its challenges and joyfully hopeful about its goodness and goals.
The Good of Work & How to Sabbath Well
Venn
We saw a need for a beautiful and thoughtful resource on work that can accompany us as we follow Christ in the power of the Spirit into enterprise, service, and God’s generous ways of working. So we created The Good of Work: a slow, spacious, and inspiring exploration of God’s purposes for human work. Drawn from three editions of Common Ground this magazine-style book features essays, interviews, photography, reflections, and encouragement. And where there is work, there should also be rest—so we followed up The Good of Work with How to Sabbath Well.
