BY

 Rev. Jam� Bolds

Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty  

Abstract

Many business people feel there is a disconnect between preaching and the market place. Preaching a theology of creation provides the Biblical connection between theology and economics. Seeing humanity as co-creators with God, humanity continues God�s creative work.  As �creatures� our work is one form of worship.

Introduction  

One of the modern dilemmas the preacher faces is how to bridge the spirit and truth of the Biblical ancients to the modern economic world.  Today there is great need for theological ethics to intersect competently and surgically with all areas of the business world. A well articulated theology of creation preached from our evangelical pulpits is uniquely positioned to make that intersect between the seemingly disconnected world of pulpit and profit.  The larger question that quickly surfaces is what world are we attempting to address?

The reality is that daily millions of people work in the global world of economics.  It is a world of commerce and trade; liabilities and assets; and ultimately it is a world of production, consumption and creation. It is on this notion of creation that we focus our efforts by raising two distinct yet related questions: What is the nature of this disconnection? And, how can a theology of creation address this condition.  

     Previous to addressing these questions we must first establish and apply a homiletical method that encourages believers to view their work as working with God�s nature and view it as worship.  Using Haddon Robinson�s homiletical paradigm we will attempt to identify various generic subjects and complements.   Keeping in mind that these various creation texts contain a voluminous amount of theology and these examples are just that � examples. Ultimately the preacher must focus and craft the sermon to his or her audience. 

Once this identification of subjects and complements has been established we will have a conversation on this disconnect between the preacher and the business person. Following this, major themes of the biblical creation accounts will be discussed centering on and related to a functional anthropology that promotes humanity as both co-creator and worshiper of God.

Co-Creating the Subject and Complement

            When viewing the richness of the various creation texts, Haddon Robinson�s question must be asked, �What am I talking about? And what am I saying about what I am talking about.�[1]  To the first inquiry we respond that the notion of being made imago Dei.  And what we are saying is that there are serious theological implications of this for how we view others, how we work, and how we correlate this to worship.  This is the crux of preaching a theology of creation. 

            It is a safe assumption that most congregates have heard the creation story but not many have been asked Haddon�s developmental and functional questions, So what? Why does a theology of creation matter? Is it true? And what difference does it make?[2]  It matters in that we are asking congregates to develop and apply the anthropological implications of their world view to their lives as business people � which dictates that every individual is made in His image and likeness.  It is true because we are all created differently.  The difference lies in that because we were made in the likeness and image of God, worthy of dignity that by the nature of being created we will want to do what God does � which is create.

            This notion of human creativity helps to bridge a gap to the marketplace.  The many theological and anthropological themes that may be derived from the Creation texts are how we view the nature of work, the notion of calling as Adam was called, the first family�s role in being co-creators with God and, at a more basic level, the concept of simply being created.   

The Nature of the Disconnection

Before we begin a conversation of creation it is important to understand our audience and the nature of their disconnect.  Not only is it important for communication purposes but more for addressing those business people who feel isolated.  Haddon Robinson phrases it this way, �Directing our preaching at people�s needs is not a mere persuasive technique; it is the task of ministry.�[3]  Though our conversation is limited in this session, for ministry purposes I will spend some time to tease out this disconnection.
            In our institutional memory at the Acton Institute we have discovered three major reasons for this disconnect.  The first is over a theological confusion of calling, vocation, and work; the second is a functional reality of caricatures; and the third is a deficient understanding of economic principles.

Vocation, Calling, & Work

 On almost a daily basis, we encounter many business people that do not consider their work as a divine vocation or as fulfilling a spiritual call.  For the believer, calling is often seen in narrow terms of pulpit preaching or of international missionary efforts.  There are three separate but different issues at play here.  What is meant by vocation, calling, and work?

The classical definition of vocation is very telling; it is the function of career toward which one believes oneself is to be called.[4]   By this notion of vocation one�s work is the product of pursing a calling.  In other words, vocation is the vehicle in which one works out, clarifies and deepens one�s calling.  In a gestalt sense, calling is what one is, vocation is what one does, and work is the day to day function of both. In theory both the M.Div. and the MBA agree.

Calling on the other hand is a much more nebulous and deeply personal matter.  The disconnection between preacher and the business person often begin here.  Confusion sets in as the question surfaces, whether or not a vocation other than clergy or missionary may be considered a calling.  Such a concept of calling may be very different to those of us in the clergy because work in the business world has typically not been considered to be of divine status.  This notion of calling is of great importance because it no longer separates spiritual work from secular work.  Miroslav Volf put it this way, "�All Christians have several gifts of the Spirit.  Since [many] of these gifts can be exercised only through work, work must become a central aspect of Christian living."[5] 

Michael Novak, in his book Business as a Calling, lays out three ways one may discern their calling.  He states, �Calling is unique to each individual; it requires preconditions and requires more than desires, it requires talents; and a true calling requires and reveals its presence by the enjoyment and sense of renewed energies its practice yields us.� [6] 

Using Novak�s three requirements of calling, one may argue that the vocation of a preacher is as spiritual as that of stock broker. That is not to say that some callings are more costly than others. Speaking as a cleric, accepting a call to a full time pastoral role has different stresses and costs than say accepting a call to the world of law or finance. For, as preachers, we have a vast amount of literature, history, and collective experience to help us work out, clarify, and deepen our clerical call.  But what of the believer who is skilled at managing resources, thinks in terms of leverage, and is able to calculate the costs and benefits of various projects. 

According to Novak and Volf a person is talented because they have been given divine abilities and were created to fulfill their calling of which they are energized and enjoy.  The preacher�s challenge is to facilitate a theological framework for those in business.  The difficulty comes when we try to bridge gaps to a world we do not understand. For instance, could the notion of profit making be of divine status?  Broadly speaking, this difficultly is caused by a misrepresentation of profit and greed being synonymous.  The two callings view money quite differently. Those in business think in terms of creating it while clergy think in terms of collecting it.  Both preachers and profiteers need to be aware of this kind of confusion because it leads to caricatures and not communication.

The Clergy and Caricatures

            To distill this confusion further, in November of 2003, we conducted an extensive survey of large evangelical churches with at least 1,000 congregates or more.  We were attempting to survey the attitudes and ideas concerning economics, business, and government, and various social issues.  On the survey seventy percent indicated that they �strongly agreed with,� �agreed with,� or had a �mixed opinion� about the following statement: Without close government supervision, corporations will abuse their power.  Thirty-nine percent of those same pastors, �strongly agreed with,� �agreed with,� or had a �mixed opinion� about this statement: Because businesses do not usually operate in a moral fashion. Such responses are very telling. On the surface one could conclude that most pastors feel that business people or those with economic influence cannot be trusted.  This cultural milieu is a caricature and not at the heart of business.

            Conversely, in our discussions with various high level executives (CEO, COO, CFO) from mid-size to multi-national corporations, we discovered something much different. The majority of our conversations centered on their responsibilities to others.  Rather than conversations laden with fanciful living our discussions centered on proper moral decision making and value creation.  This doctrine of creation seemingly always becomes the dominate topic of conversation, which is no surprise since creation is directly tied to the entrepreneurial vocation of business.

Understanding the Market

            In addition to personal caricatures, there are also environmental ones, such as the market. When one thinks of a market one may assume it is at the corner or downtown. In reality, a market is often seen as an abstract concept that encompasses trading arrangements of buyers and sellers that underlie the forces of supply and demand.[7]  A market is an abstract notion because the sorting out process may occur any where because of the good or service being offered.  Markets have really little to do with money; they have more to do with what people value and how they act on that value.  Money, if you will, lubricates the market.

            At this point I wish to offer a few words of clarification and caution. It is imperative that the preacher understand the world of business, but understanding should not necessarily be seen an endorsement to baptize the free market blindly.  Large institutions can and do take on a life of their own.  Yet, a strong moral case may be made for the syntheses of free market economics and evangelical ethics.  Many in our flock deal with an enormous amount of stress and struggle with moral clarity in the market.  It is important for us as preachers to understand their world so our preaching may not only reflect a validation of their calling to the market, but also provide them with moral foundation of how to address the temptations of power and greed.

Preaching a Theology of Creation

            Furthermore, a theological framework of creation for work and worship creates this sort of validation and increases one�s moral consciousness.  One will have deeper concern to do what is right and just if their work and worship are seen as one. Work then will not be seen as mundane but rather the focus should be on being creative. God is creative thus ones creativity in work is a form of worship.  In preaching such a theology of creation the center should focus on two characteristics: the first is the creative aspects of humanity and the second is the reason for our creation.

The Creation Accounts

The ultimate place in making this connection is with the creation of humankind. The first creation account in Gen. 1:26-30 tells us that God created humankind and gave them the garden with all its resources to cultivate. In verse 29, God states �I have given you every plant�every tree�every beast...every bird�every thing that moves and every green plant for food.�   Here Adam and Eve were to mix their labor with the raw material of creation to produce usable goods for their family.  This notion of work and being creative implies a form of economic praxis.  At bottom economics is a behavioral social science that studies humanity�s relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.[8]  Business people, especially the entrepreneur, knowingly or unknowingly understand the concept of using a limited allocation to produce a good or service. 

            In the second creation account in Gen. 2:7 we see that...�The LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.�  In this account the creation of humanity as an activity of the Spirit forming and filling creation.  God breathed life into the shell of which God formed from dust.  It was an ex nihilo activity.  We see the work of the Holy Spirit as the life-giving power to humanity.  In a real sense members of humanity then become Spirit bearers by the virtue of Spirit being breathed into them.

            Such an idea is then framed in the notion of who we are as individuals created in the imago Dei. We not only bear the image of God but God�s spirit bears within us. We are created to be creative like God and to be in relationship with God and with each other. Our work then is the place where we express our creative outlets and are in relationship with other image and Spirit bearers.

Working as Co-creators           

The creation accounts uphold the idea that we are to be seen as co-creators with God and our work is of divine status.  This status is established because it was designed before the fall.  Work is not a condition of the fall; the work became more difficult after the fall.  Notice with me in Gen. 1:26 God makes humanity in the �image and likeness of God� and then as the creation we are asked to �rule over the earth�.  Furthermore, in Gen. 2:15, we see that "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."  God gave creation namely, Adam the same vocation that God has -- which is to create.  God bestowed this to him because he was made in the imago Dei.

The Church fathers such as Origen and Diadochus understood this idea of the imago Dei to mean that humankind is created according to the image and destiny of God in freedom to achieve likeness to God.[9]  Many of the early Fathers held that the image language refers to the natural qualities in humanity such as reason, personality, and the like.  Likeness on the other hand refers to the supernatural graces such as ethics and charity these things make the redeemed godlike.[10]

Calvin states it in terms that those endowments which God has conferred on human nature are to expound likeness to represent His gratuitous gifts.[11]  Using Calvin�s federalist hermeneutic it allowed him to see that Adam was the perfection of our whole nature.

John Wesley put it this way, the imago Dei was to be seen not only in categories of natural and political (acts of ruling over) images but that it reflected the moral image of God.  The natural image of the imago Dei is to be seen as a picture of God�s own morality: a spiritual being, endowed with understanding, freedom of will, and various affections.[12]  Wesley�s political image sees humanity as the �governor� of this lower world. 

Calvin and Wesley both agree that the creation of humanity was the pinnacle of God�s creative work, thus God gave the freedom to create. In Gen. 2:19 God brought the animals to Adam to name and �that was their name�, just like God named Adam, here Adam became a co-creator.  In Gen. 3:20 Adam named Eve, because she was the mother of �all that was living� here Eve is given the privilege as being the first human to follow in God�s true creative path because she may bring life. 

Working as Worshipers

The connection of work and worship begins with word Avodah.[13]  In Gen 2:5 the text states,� �and there was no man to work the ground� and, in Gen. 2:15, Adam is commanded to �work it and take care of� the garden.  The word �work� in the Hebrew text is Avodah. [14] Avodah is a complex word that means both �work� and �serve�, combined it means of worship.[15]  In Exodus 8:1 the word Avodah is directly translated worship.  It states, �Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. The root word Avodah is used in 964 verses for actions such a work, cultivate, serve/servant and worship.

This word approaches the doctrine of the imago dei from the Hebrew perspective that there is no separation of a person�s spiritual and corporeal components; the person is seen as a whole.[16]  The centrality for preaching that seeks to bridge the gap between pulpit and profit begins with a holistic view of the human person.  Due the vast amount of writing on this subject, is it impossible to preach this idea in a single sermon.  Using Robinson�s framework the question could be asked � What is your work? (subject) and Is it an act of worship by which I partially fulfill the purpose of my creation? (complement).

Conclusion

            The various strands and strains of preaching a theology of work and worship are unlimited. Carefully tailored and prayerfully crafted a theology of creation will begin to heal the discord that lies in the caricatures of the preacher and in the isolation of the business person.  The ultimate goal of such preaching is to equip congregates with the theological framework of how to creatively worship in their work. Second, it will start a conversation of understanding between the preacher and profiteer. Though our conversation is not expansive I hope and trust it starts this process of bridging the spirit and truth of the Biblical ancients to those who so desperately need to hear it. Avodah!

Works Citied