Products is one of the four purposes God has for business (the other three are People, Profits and Philanthropy.) Simply stated, Business exists to provide a means to produce products that enables the community to flourish.
So, if this is one of God’s purposes for business, then as Christian Business Owners, we need to see what the Bible says about producing products and delivering services.
Products Which Lead Others From God
The Bible is not silent on the creation of products. Goldsmiths, silversmiths and blacksmiths are all mentioned in the Bible. As a general class, craftsmen are also mentioned in conjunction with the building of the temple. Their skills are recorded as being used for both evil and good. For example, goldsmiths were known to create idols which lead their people away from God:
Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them. For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.” No one is like you, Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple— all made by skilled workers. But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens
Apparently, their skills and abilities were easily seen as quality craftsmanship: “all made by skilled workers”. While their work output was high quality, it was the intended use of their products which God called “worthless wooden idols”.
Just because the work output of a skilled worker has high quality doesn’t mean it is valuable in the eyes of God. If the output leads people away from God; if it isn’t in alignment with God’s character and moral will; if it displays a distain for God, then no matter the quality or the skill that was used to create the product, it is a “worthless wooden idol”.
So – two lessons. First, because it is God who gives us our talents and abilities (Deuteronomy 8.10-18), those whose work product is clearly bent on sin still give God glory when their skills are on display. Remember that it is God who give us our abilities and when we develop those abilities – even when used for evil – I still believe God is glorified.
Secondly, if their output is intended for an evil purpose, then their sin is compounded because their work leads others to sin. The intention of the product’s use is in focus – not the quality of the products. Examples of this abound:
- Comedians who are clearly gifted communicators and are just downright funny tell jokes that leads people away from God – they could have used their gift of humor to draw people to God, but instead they lead people away from Him
- Beautiful women who display their beauty in unholy ways which lead men to engage in lust, adultery and so forth. These women lead men away from God. In addition, they allow their beauty, intended for the sanctity of marriage, to be exploited and their personhood degraded as men use them for their own selfish ends
- Social leaders and/or politicians who use clever sound bites to help garner grass-roots support of a clearly unbiblical law all in the name of civil rights and the unspoken, but clear benefit of getting re-elected
- Pastors who plagiarize the work of others and present it as their own – their work product is the result of another’s study, resulting in their flocks being misled as to how “good” their pastor’s preaching is
- Singers who display incredible talent but glorify sin in their lyrics (see below)
- Writers who are gifted communicators but write novels which glorify sex or killing
- Story-tellers who make movies or TV shows which sanction sin and portray it as normal
An illustration of singer with incredible talent is Katy Perry – a very popular singer/songwriter who grew up in a church where both her parents were pastors. She found “success” with songs like I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It or Last Friday Night, whose chorus lyrics are as follows:
Last Friday night / Yeah we danced on tabletops
And we took too many shots / Think we kissed but I forgot
Last Friday night / Yeah we maxed our credit cards
And got kicked out of the bar / So we hit the boulevard
Last Friday night / We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping in the dark / Then had a ménage à trois
Last Friday night / Yeah I think we broke the law
Always say we’re gonna stop-op / Oh whoa
This Friday night / Do it all again
This Friday night / Do it all again
The music is catchy, and it is well played, well mixed – clearly the musicians are talented individuals. If one were to put holy lyrics to the song, I think most Christians could really enjoy it. But her music clearly sanctions promiscuity and rebellion. She is leading people away from God and she knows better. She is one of many influencers and teachers in our society who are leading people away from God.
But she’s not alone. Hundreds of singer/songwriters do this in every generation. Songs like Afternoon Delight, Lay Lady Lay, I want your Sex, Tonight’s the Nightor Only the Good Die Younghave been sung by millions across the world. And millions have been led away from God.
Products Which Point Others to God
On the flip side, we also find examples of high-quality products being used to glorify God. For example, real skill was needed to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem:
Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers. So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.
Several things to note here. First, it is noted twice that the Lord gave these men their skills and abilities. Their abilities included making artistic designs in gold, silver, and bronze. They also had unusual ability to set stones, to work with wood and create various kinds of artistic crafts from (it appears) most any raw material that was available to them at that time.
Secondly, their work product encouraged both individual and corporate obedience to God. As they constructed the sanctuary, they were personally being obedient to God and the community’s support demonstrated corporate obedience to him as well. In essence, the success in their work contributed to the community’s success.
This is an example of highly skilled work output which draws people to God. It is an example of how products can be restorative in nature – restoring people to a right relationship with each other and with God. Our work, as Business Owners, can also be like this.
Thirdly, they were filled with the Holy Spirit – anointed by God to do their work. They were given wisdom, knowledge and understanding about their skills and the materials with which they were working. The Spirit of God was “on” them, working through their skills to cause unusual creativity and excellence in their work product to bring glory to God.
This teaches us that any work can be performed under the anointing of God and as such, is ministry when conducted this way. The dichotomy we have setup between clergy and laity must be diffused in favor of seeing all anointed work as ministry. Said another way, the Bible does not differentiate between some work as holy and other work as secular. All work can be either – it depends on the individual performing the work and his relationship with God.
Working Under the Anointing of God
When I think of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, I’m immediately drawn to 1 Samuel 16.3:
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him [David] in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.
When Samuel anoints David, he covers him in oil and God covers – smears – David with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit moves hurriedly to come upon him and David is forever changed.
Anointing was a social custom in the Bible. It was used for personal grooming (Ecclesiastes 9.8, Ruth 3.3) and as burial preparation (Matthew 26.6-12).
Objects which were anointed were then consecrated (set apart) to be used only in the performance of religious ceremonies (Genesis 28.18, Exodus 30.22-33). People could be anointed for office (Exodus 40.12-15, 1 Samuel 16.12-13, 1 Kings 19.15-16); for purification (Leviticus 14.15-18) or for healing (Mark 6.13).
When we think of someone being anointed by God, we’re really thinking of a figurative use of this term. Israel’s kings were frequently referred to as “God’s anointed” (1 Samuel 26.9) and a physical anointing symbolized a divine anointing – as we’ve seen in the anointing of David to be King.
Christian believers are anointed by God (2 Corinthians 1.21-22) thought there is no commensurate outward ceremony. In Acts 4.26-27, we find Christ being anointed by God for preaching and service since the Holy Spirit came on Him at His baptism. In the Scriptures, there is a strong link between an anointing and the Holy Spirit (Daniel 9.25-26, Luke 4.18, Isaiah 61.1, Hebrews 1.9).
In your role as a business owner, have you ever thought of your daily work being conducted under the anointing of God? Of course, we all want our Pastors to preach under God’s anointing because we all want more of the Holy Spirit. But budget meetings? Staff meetings? Reconciling the bank statement? Creating a proposal to win another contract? Can these things be conducted under the anointing of God?
Yes, I believe they can. And we must if we’re to become the Christian business owners God intends us to be.
Reflection
It is hard for me to believe we can be the stewards God intends us to be without operating under His anointing. In fact, given the sheer amount of selflessness and giving I’m proposing we do across these four purposes, I don’t see how much of this is accomplished apart from the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
So, if you’re a Christian Business Owner, take stock of the products you produce and the services you deliver. Are they high quality? Do they lead people away from or toward God? Do they allow the community to flourish?
Bill English, Publisher
Bible and Business
