Book review of Business for the glory of God
The author, Wayne Grudem, clearly communicates the answer to the question of how does business and God’s glory connect. The book is unique in that it gives insight to how business can be a blessing to the world. God gave His people abilities to conduct business in order to glorify Him, and this is not the typical business thought in an age of increasing corruption and distrust. Grudem believes that business has been long neglected as an important avenue to glorify God. By putting God in business first he says “we should also consider how God belongs in the following:
• Ownership
• Productivity
• Employment
• Commercial transactions
• Profit
• Money
• Inequality of possessions
• Competition
• Borrowing
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That is the definition of a good business, period. Chick-fil-A is a great example of this. It is a favorite fast-food restaurant to many, and it is managed according to Christian principles. You will not find Chick-fil-A trumpeting this on its website. Most non-Christians believe they do this because of being closed on Sundays. People neglect the rest of it: the focus on friendly service, on diligent cleanliness, on delicious food, on an environment accommodating to families. Chick-fil-A is a thriving business because it does business well” (Woodlief, 2011). Chick-fil-A is the example used by most Christians when told you cannot have a successful business in today’s business environment solely run by Christian principles and closed on Sundays. The fact is, yes you can, and Chick-fil-A proves running your business on sound Christian principles will glorify …show more content…
According to Grudem, it is the negative attitude toward business for any failure to solve world poverty through business. This thought emanates from client, customer, abuse by companies, often large corporations paying Hugh salaries and bonuses to the CEO, CFO, or other high ranking executives while being dishonest to its clients, or even to its employees. This is a major concern in the banking and finance industries as recently witnessed with the housing bubble collapse less than a decade ago. As a result, major business such as Leman Brothers failed, while AIG was bailed out by the taxpayers. This is about greed, and greed is a breakdown of ethics. Everyone in the business world is not evil, but the few that are drag the perception of how business operates is due to the abuse and misuse of a few
Mission statements will ensure that shareholders, employees and customers clearly understand what the company stands for. Mission statements also describe the organization’s overall goals. Mission statements should be written in a way that when someone reads the statement, they have an understanding of the activities that are performed in the organization. In this paper I will compare the mission statement of Chick-Fil-A Foundation with my personal mission statement. Chick-fil-A Foundation Chick-fil-A Foundation is a non-profit organization that’s sole purpose is to provide leadership and guidance to children and also support education in the local communities.
Conservatism at its Finest S.Truett Cathy 1921-2014 “We should be about more than just selling chicken. We should be a part of our customers’ lives and the communities in which we serve” (S. Truett Cathy) One of many quotes by S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-a, and one I consider being an “entrepreneurial legend” that has shown exemplary economic business and managerial decision throughout his tenure as owner and expansion of his famous brand chicken across the country that dates back to World War II (Chick-fil-A). The Truett brothers opened the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia in the year of 1946 which was built near a Ford Motor company automotive plant on purpose to leer the hungry workers in from the plant which I consider to
(Loc.8 and 14). Cavanaugh anwers and addresses these issues within the “four brief chapters” of his book. Thesis In the very beginning of Being Consumed, Cavanaugh states, “This book will be, I hope, a contribution to a kind of theological microeconomics. Rather than blessing or damning the ‘free market’ as such, I want to focus our attention on concrete Christian attempts to discern and create economic practices, spaces, and transactions that are truly free.”
With new buildings being built and more factories to run, businesses were starting to expand. Business will always have different steps of levels and the people or person at the top level will always be the one making the most money. According to Document E, Allen wrote, “...Business had become almost the national religion of America.” In another chapter, Allen says, “It is doubtful if any college undergraduate. . . of any other previous period in the United States could have said “No intelligent person believes in God any more” as blandly as undergraduates said it. . .
In his famous Cross of Gold speech, Bryan uses a religious element to discuss the labour theory of economics and to illustrate the moral decline of the government. The true Americans are the “hardy pioneers who have braved all the dangers of the wilderness, who have made the desert to blossom as the rose- the pioneers away out there who rear their children near to Nature’s heart”. Not the … “few financial magnates who, in a back room, corner the money of the world”(811). This is what Bryan considers a problem in the United States. The true businessmen, the farmers and miners, who use their God-given talents, muscle and brain, to create wealth are being overlooked by the capitalists who call themselves businessmen.
11). He discusses the “many aspects of business activity are morally good in themselves and that these good activities bring glory to God even though they also have great potential for misuse and wrongdoing” (p.12). He purports, that business people initiate the Character of God by representing God on earth through various business activities and that each activity falls into categories that represent unique opportunities to bring glory to God: private ownership, productivity, employment, commercial transactions (buying and selling), profit, using money as a medium of exchange, producing inequalities in possessions, competition, borrowing and lending and reducing world
To sell a product for true value or to sell it for a profit has always been a debate. In Document 4 by Thomas Aquino, a leading Scholastic Theologian depicts how
The business guys were very self-centered and didn’t care about the well-being of their employees. They demanded an abundant amount of back breaking work from their employee with no incentives for them. Many workers were getting annoyed with their bosses and wanted a change from them. the occurrence of The Working Man’s Prayer is a sarcastic critique of Andrew Carnegie’s philanthropy. In this critique, it is said how Carnegie lowers the pay of workers, how the workers are compared to slaves, and it says Carnegie spends workers’ wages in pleasuring himself with travels and goods.
Hobby Lobby is well known for it’s large selection of art and crafts products, along with their framing center and decorative pieces they offer to customers. What once started as a home frame making production, has evolved into a huge corporation that continues to be sound in its core beliefs as it first did during the home production. David and Barbara Green, decided to open up the first Hobby Lobby in 1972 (Our). From the Greens’ home made miniature picture frames to a selection of over 70,000 crafts and home decor products, the family always wanted to ensure they remained grounded in their religious beliefs (Hobby, Our). Hobby Lobby’s core values are stated in their mission statement, “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company
William T Cavanaugh (2008), wrote Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire which is a philosophical book, which focus on four (4) economic life matters that addresses the consumer culture within society. These four economic life matters are free market, consumerism, globalization and economic scarcity. In order for this topic to be discussed on a theological point of view, the author draws the reader’s attention to human life, the ends of life in God. The key question in every process is whether or not the transaction contributes to the flourishing of each person involved. In order to address these questions the author points to concrete examples of alternative economic practices in which Christians participate-: business, co-operatives, credit union, practices of consumption which marks the vision for Christian economic life.
Introduction Company Summary The franchisor is Chick-fil-A, Inc. Franchisees (referred to as Operators) will operate a franchised Chick-fil-A Restaurant business which is a quick-service restaurant specializing in a boneless breast of chicken sandwich. Chick-fil-A Restaurants are established in free-standing locations as well as in non-free-standing locations, including mall and in-line units, non-traditional locations, and locations which are drive through only. Mission Statement Chick-fil-A doesn’t have an official mission but express it through its purpose: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us.
This theory, Social Darwinism, was applied to the monopolistic efforts of businessmen as John D. Rockefeller, Jr. so eloquently stated: “The growth of a large business is merely the survival of the fittest” (Nash p. 417). The Gospel of Wealth based on Social Darwinism is the notion that the massive wealth held by prosperous businessmen was for the social benefit of everyone. The advocates of the Gospel of Wealth such as Andrew Carnegie, Russell Conwell, and Horatio Alger linked wealth with a sense of heightened responsibility as those with more wealth had an equally great obligation to society. Each of the advocates of the Gospel of Wealth came from diverse backgrounds, but preached the same ideals.
Without trust, building a stable work environment between differing parties is difficult if not impossible. However, it could be said that it does not address other glaring issues with Carr’s position that personal morality does not apply to business. First, that cultural acceptance for such behaviour, the implication that business operates in a morality-free zone, is a glaring fallacy. Secondly, Carr’s position relies on the fact that when one enters a business they put on their ‘poker face’ and leaves behind their human identity. Not only is such a thing impossible, it attributes to business autonomy that it is lacking.
During the interview with Timothy Hughes, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, many difficult and probing questions were asked to discover the heart of his decision making process. The pastor, making himself available for this interview answered with much openness and transparency revealing how he makes decisions regarding a variety of issues. In regards to fear and its impact on his decision making, one could ascertain that this pastor uses acknowledgement of his fear to provide balance in this process. Decision made in regards to sermon preparation time is deemed to vary as he tries to “utilize a variety of sermon methodology or sermon preparation.”
The earlier opinion stated that a business cannot be ethical, but this opinion is not used anymore in the modern business. Today business has belief that they must be responsible for social since they live and operate within a social structure. The key factors that make business ethics is important at the quarter of the 20th century are corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and globalized economy. The culture of an organization, or else we can call it as the philosophy of an organization which is related with ethics have a great relationship with the performance of a business in long and short term. As a business is manage by human being, the people who manage a business