My Christian Worldview And Its Effect On World Poverty

My Christian Worldview & Its Effect on World Poverty

There is nothing wrong with being a business owner. In fact, it is really an opportunity to rejoice in God’s goodness, and a great way to glorify the Creator. (Grudem, W., 2003, p.79)

Entrepreneurs can enjoy and thank God from ownership, productivity, and employment, commercial transactions, profit, money, inequality of possessions, competition, and borrowing and lending. (Grudem, W., 2003, p.79-80) Scripture speaks about the poor, "For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.” (Matthew 26:11) This simply means that there will always be people in need of something, whether it is monetary, food, shelter, jobs, encouragement, or prayer. As believers, we

should

There are so many times that I have given to someone, only to wonder, “If they are hungry today, how will they eat tomorrow?” The Bible clearly states, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)

Someone wise once said, “Give a man a fish, he will eat for that day, but train a man how to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime.” We must be careful not to hinder our brothers and sisters from growing, when we constantly give, with educating. God has called us all to work, and not be slothful. Work is good in the sight of God. (Genesis 1:31) The author of our text believes the only solution to long-term poverty is business.

(Grudem, W., p.80) I agree, but we still have people who operate unethical, and even though they may provide jobs to people, they lack in pay and benefits with a lot of employees. This I turn, leaves a lot of working people poor. Some may argue, that it’s not how much you are paid, but how you manage what you get. Many people live above their means. This causes unnecessary stress that we bring on ourselves. There are many obstacles that get in the way of businesses opening in poor countries.

(Grudem, W. p.81) When you see governments working against the poor of their land, you realize that escaping poverty in some countries is rare. More people would probably start businesses, if they did not see them as evil. There are many negative thoughts in the world towards business, and rightly so. We hear about high priced executives with wild spending habits, exploitation of young labor, and their unethical business practices. It is no surprise that many people fear going into business, or view business as evil in itself. (Grudem, W. p.82) There is nothing evil with business. It is sinful men and women who work in the business that causes the unethical behaviors. God says, “What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, then lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36, KJV)

Material things of the world are temporary, but the things of God are eternal. We should be after those things that God has called us to. Such as, being the light and salt of the world. If we are true Believers, we should operate Christ-like in business. We could impact and inspire unethical people to do right, and then the culture can change. God expects hip children to be