Too often Christian businesspeople think that their work’s sole purpose is to generate money that they can donate to more “spiritual” causes. But what about business itself? Does God care about that? The Bible teaches that before the fall-in God’s perfect creation-humans were called to work. Since God created people to work, God desires businesses to provide opportunities for individuals to express their God-given identity in meaningful and creative work. In this paradigm, profit ceases to be an end in itself. Instead, profit becomes the means by which a business produces goods and services which enables a community’s flourishing.

This lecture was given as part of the Gospel & Culture Lecture series featuring Jeff Van Duzer. Jeff Van Duzer is in his tenth year as the Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Seattle Pacific University. He is the author of Why Business Matters to God, and his areas of research include the ethics of wealth creation and distribution and the applied integration of business and theology.