Business can be done for the glory of God! Wayne Grudem does not wade into business advice but presents insights into the morality of business. He addresses some of the main issues revolving around business, ownership, and profit. He gives concise observations and biblically anchored content that points the reader to the core of each business topic and the way each topic brings glory to the Creator of all things.
His book covers ten areas of business (e.g. money, ownership, competition). For each area he applies biblical principles and theology. He states in the introduction, "I am going to argue that many aspects of business activity are morally good in themselves, and that in themselves they bring glory to God—though they also have great potential for misuse and wrongdoing" (12). For each of the ten chapters he directly addresses the biblical understanding of how a Christian can bring glory to God in a particular business area.
Grudem has the ability to condense issues into loaded, flavor-packed nuggets. At the core of each topic is the understanding that just because a thing is distorted or abused does not mean that this thing itself is evil (24ff). He connects the making of profits to the moral use of those profits.
Grudem gives guidance from the Scripture that is not complicated. Each chapter is easy to engage and quick to read, thus it makes for a great reference resource for a business person who wishes to be useful to God.
In the preface of the book, Grudem states that the book is the result of work on a larger volume dedicated to the same topic. After reading this text, I looked for the more detailed book, however, it is not yet published. This fact disappoints me as a more definitive work is needed on this topic. He has written a book on sustainable solutions for poverty that seems to be a expansion of his final chapter of the current text.
This book was challenging while being an easy read. I found myself wanting more detail and deeper discussions on each chapter. However, each chapter gave enough information and insight to begin a personal deepening of one's understanding of business for God's glory.
For so long things like work, profit, ownership, and reward have been apologized for in Christian circles. Capitalism is said like a dirty word. While capitalism as a system is not perfect, pieces of it bring glory to God. Grudem takes ten aspects of business and shows how they glorify God as they are used to provide income and material blessing for living and growing. In ninety-six pages Grudem gives a primer that can foster further study and application. Application in this case also leads to profit, both spiritual and monetary. This book is worth reading by anyone who is involved with business at any level.
