Russell Media - Mark

Laurie and I lived in Munich, Germany for several years. When we got there we discovered that Germans, by and large, do not have built-in closets. In place of closets they use schranks, large pieces of furniture that function like a closet, something like an armoir, only a lot bigger.

They are huge pieces of furniture and for novices, as we were, they are quite complex to assemble. After spending hours putting ours together we realized we had made several mistakes. Thankfully, however, the schrank was functional. Breaking it down and putting it back together again was just out of the question. It would be just too much work. But over time the imperfections of our assembly job became annoying. It didn’t look right and the doors were awkward.

A year later, for a wide variety of reasons, we had to move. Moving is always a lot of work and presents many challenges. But we were excited for one reason, we had a strategic opportunity to re-build the schrank the way it should have been in the first place.

Right now, our world is facing a global economic crisis. This is a strategic opportunity to re-build the economy the way it should have been in the first place.

To re-build the economy in the right way, we need to think through four important questions:

I. What is the significance of work?

What did God do in the beginning? He created the world and that was work. This is stated explicitly in Genesis 2:3. The word used for work here for God is the same word used for humans elsewhere in the Old Testament.

After doing the work of creation, God creates humans in his image in Genesis 1:26-27. Theologians have debated the meaning of being created in God’s image. But it essentially comes down to the fact that an image is a reflection or a mirror. Put another way, we can imitate God.

After creating humans in his image, God then commissions humans to work (Gen 1:28). So the Bible starts with God working, creating humans to imitate him then directly commissioning them to work.

When Christians talk about work they tend to do so in what I call as reflecting “instrumental” value. That is work serves as an instrument to good things such as providing for one’s family, giving to the church, etc…But work has “fundamental” value because it is a part of our original created design and a part of our “fundamental” purpose on earth.

Work is something we do in partnership with God. Genesis 2:19 shows Adam working with God. God brings him animals. Adam names them. God did not stop working. He simply stopped working by himself. Now, He chooses to work with us.

Consider that God created humans by himself but then commissioned humans to create other humans (Gen. 1:28). Any spiritually minded parent knows that God created their children. But parents also know that their children would not exist if were not for them. Work is the same. Just like we partner with God to create humans, we partner with God to sustain and promote His creation.

II. What is the purpose of business?

Milton Friedman said the purpose of business is to maximize financial profits for shareholders. Ever since, business schools and the business media have pretty much followed this logic.

Money is important. I’m suspicious of people who “do not care” about money. We need money to survive and it also enables us to enjoy some of the good things. But making money is not the sole purpose of business.

Money is like air. We need it to survive. But if you are living to breathe, you do not understand the purpose of life? If you are working for money then you do not understand the purpose of working.

Rather than saying that the purpose of business is to maximize profits for shareholders, perhaps we should say its purpose is to maximize value for society.

III. How is American culture a unique contributor to this crisis?

People who work in the field of intercultural studies typically use14 cultural lenses to analyze a culture. One of those lenses is to determine a culture’s time orientation as either short-term or long-term. What do you think America is? Consider the following:

Savings: From 2002-2007 American homeowners took out $1.7 trillion more in home loans than they spent on their homes or home improvements. This was above and beyond our earned income. According to Economist magazine per capita average savings during this time period was 0%.

Treatment of the Environment: Humans created on sixth day in Gen. 1:26-27. However, in Gen. 1:22 we read the first blessing in the Bible from God is to non-human creation, plants, fish and birds…It is a blessing for God and for their multiplication and increase.

We are facing an environmental sub-prime crisis, because we have not considered the welfare of non-human creation in many of our decisions. Recently, I was at a business conference and heard an executive for a well-known chocolate company. There was nothing about his presentation that suggested he was particularly socially or environmentaly conscious. However, he noted that they were having tremendous challenges getting cocoa for their chocolate. He said they’d had the problem before but could always get it from other countries in Africa. Now, he said now they are having problems locating a new country to get the chocolate we need.

IV. Who are the poor?

The final question we need to ask ourselves as we build up a new economic system is who is poor? If you have a family of four and have an annual household income of $36,000 you probably think of yourself as poor but you are in the wealthiest 1% of people in the world.

Wealth produces the desire for more wealth. This is why Americans burned through our earned income and $1.7 trillion in home equity without saving a dime. There is no end to the desire for wealth. Recently, I asked an entrepreneur whose net worth is in the nine figures, if he thought greed or pride was a greater problem. He said greed has no end and that he knows people who are unhappy with their private gulfstream jet because they have friends whose jets are slightly better.

The fact is we don’t remember the truly poor in good times or bad. In the 90’s as our economy expanded exponentially, the poorest 25% of Africa got 20% poorer.

I once visited a microfinance loan group in Manila. These people were poor. We were in a one-room house. It was raining and water was pouring down the wall and flowing across the floor. At the end of the meeting, they took up an offering for “the poor in their community.” The total was $2.80. They made a vat of porridge, took it to the center of the slum and within minutes children were emerging to eat. Several were obviously malnourished.

We are in a global economic crisis because of this: The rich see the very rich and want to live like them. The poor see the very poor and want to help them.

Moving forward, we need to all ask ourselves, 1) what is the significance of work? 2) what is the purpose of business?, 3) how can we be more long-term oriented?, and 4) how can we remember the poor?