Extrapolation of Two Guiding Elements Several years ago, “the more serious I became as a Christian and as a student of economics, however, the more I came to believe that capitalism was practically if not morally superior. But after several years of graduate school and still more struggle, I eventually discovered that capitalism could be soundly defended on both practical and moral grounds.”7 I personally believe God created us to be His co-creators. Still, every Christian worker should use God’s Word as a guiding light with those two guiding elements. “The challenge is deciding which right thing to do.”1 While a Christian worker or a leader is making the decision to build life on the Word of God and viewing the Word of God as the foundation
Countries disintegrate, place of worship and corporation fail, people become dysfunctional, descendants lose their direction, and mankind drift from God on behalf of one distracting reason; insufficiency of leadership. These disappointments are often for the reason that of the deficiency of instruction, appropriate leadership, and misperception on what Christian leadership subsists and exactly how that leadership is pertinent to every component of professional and personal life. From a Christian worldview perspective, Psalm 112:5 explains, “A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion” (NKJ). A Christian manager should always keep in mind that bounteousness and admiration for God, demonstrates that one has placed trust in Him, and not our material possessions.
The world around us is constantly progressing; meaning ethics and social responsibility will become increasingly fundamental towards long term business success. There are many different principles on which to reflect when it comes to moral reasoning from a Christian worldview as it relates to business. The three basic pairs of principles are integrity and sustainability, competence and compassion, along with unity and participation. Christians are should exhibit personal ethics that represent the image of Jesus. Personal ethics is defined as moral principles that govern a person's behavior. Living and maintaining a Christian identity in the workplace can be very challenging in today's society. Far too many Christians leave their faith and religious beliefs behind as they handle business matters. However, this is unacceptable in the eyes of God. Christianity is a lifestyle; not a piece of clothing that can be put on and taken off at any given time. Matthew 10:32 clearly states that, "Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven”. Morally Christians are held
The Christian worldview of leadership is distinctly different from most secular views on the subject. In the secular, leadership tends to be viewed primarily in terms of a company’s bottom line and how well the leader can urge employees to produce more and better work. That view is profit-centered rather than person-centered, and it does not give much attention to employees’ human needs and qualities nor on how developing excellent work relationships can promote productivity. In the Christian worldview, however, people are key, and their human needs are important. The leader in the Christian worldview understands how meeting employees’ needs promotes the kind of productivity desired and
Weber argues that religious beliefs contributed to major social change- specifically the emergence of modern capitalism in Northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Modern capitalism differs from capitalism as it is based on systematic, efficient and a rational pursuit of profit and profit for its own sake rather than consumption. Weber calls this the spirit of capitalism.
In the article "Moral Criticisms of the Market," Ken Ewert composed an educational article on the economic system of capitalism to address the moral issues that the “Christian Left” critics had raised. Christian socialists reprimand the system of the free market for its morals or lack thereof, as well as the system inherently created an environment where selfishness and impersonal and individual relations is encouraged, and economic oppression and exploitation of the weak thrives (Ewert, 1989).
28). He describes wealth as a “…blessing to mankind,” (Gladden, 8). Gladden’s perspective of causality dissents from Weber and Sellers; he believes that, “…one effect invariably produced by Christianity upon an uncivilized people receiving it is to multiply the wealth of that people,” (Gladden, 5). He argues, Protestantism, and ultimately Christianity, cause people to desire material goods (Class notes, Feb. 28). Thus, Christianity cannot be against capitalism without contradicting itself (Gladden, 8). Gladden’s evidence for his argument stems from the Bible. Gladden contends that there are statements in the Old Testament in which “…the possession and the increase of wealth are adduced as proofs of the favor of God,” (Gladded, 6). Wherefore, the New Testament supplements this argument by clarifying that is expected for men to accumulate wealth and possessions, but also God admonishes people valuing material goods over spiritual good, but not material wealth itself (Gladden,6). That is, people are meant to value spiritual well-being over material goods, but also remember they are commanded to be “fruitful” on earth and thus produce and amass wealth (Gladden, 7). Finally, Gladden realizes capitalism is not the problem; the problem is the unequal distribution of wealth (Class Notes, Feb. 28). He says, “No possible system will remove all
A successful Christian business man may sound like an oxymoron, but that was R.G LeTourneau. He built big, powerful machinery that could do things that no other machine could do before, but he also believes that a Christian business man owes as much to God as a preacher does (LeTourneau, 1967). Mr. LeTourneau states, “God needs businessmen as partners as well as preachers” (1967). Imagine a man becoming a very successful Christian business man, the founder of LeTourneau University, and a leader of many missionary works. The proceeding essay will discuss the man, his faith, and my personal reflection of R.G. LeTourneau.
This dramatic increase resulted in great periods of growth and invention (Hatzifotis, 2017). Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism looked at the relationship between Protestantism and the emergence of modern capitalism. He discussed how Protestant’s involvement in business and profiting was
Stapleford presents a strong analysis of economic issues with a Christian perception that aligns with Biblical truths. He urges his audience to avoid the temptation of idolatry and materialism but to live a selfless life of sacrifice. Stapleford claims that “there is sanctity in all of labor, and without God’s involvement human labor is futile. In whatever we do, Christians are to do it heartily as unto the Lord, for we do not labor for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to everlasting life” (Stapleford, 2009).
In an era consisting of big industrialist, such as Andrew Carnegie, there were many differences of opinions on the execution of capitalism between these industrialists and their workers. Andrew Carnegie expressed his ideas and views in article, “The Gospel of Wealth,” in which he outlines the duties of industrialist to better the life of their workers and community. On the other hand, a working man wrote “A Work Mans Prayer,” a sarcastic response to Andrew Carnegies “The Gospel of Wealth,” clearly against what Andrew Carnegie believes and claims. These differences can be
The purpose of this paper is to summarize Module 5 of the AOL program, specifically group 226, through the evaluation of a contemporary Christian leader. In this paper I will discuss the contemporary Christian leader I have selected, analyze their effectiveness in business performance, and discuss how they have inspired me. I will also talk about what I have learned from this module that most benefited me. My hope is that through this paper, my readers will have a broadened scope of Christianity in our contemporary world.
The first chapter titled “Business: Is There a Christian Perspective”, tells a lot about the Christianity viewed in the workplace. I would agree that Christians have found ways to be a Christian in the business field, and that this hasn’t come without many difficulties. Chewning talked about how the smaller Pennsylvania company got taken over by the larger, profit oriented company. The merge did not go well and resulted in the smaller company losing its values.
Everyone has an idea or vision. So why are so many people--particularly Christian visionaries, unable to fund their visions? From the examination of traditional Christian constraints and shocking explanations of the colossal failures in the marketplace, this publication will unveil the "unseen" competitors assigned to abort your
Capitalism started up as a system of investing and sharing money in order to increase the value of resources in the future. Capitalism was just an economic system, but then soon turned into a complex system of ethical practices. Harari defines capitalism as, “a set of teachings about how people should behave, educate their children and even think” (Harari 314). This economic system evolved along with the people that were endorsing it. Capitalism enables the rich to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. There are many benefits to capitalism, but there are downfalls as well, and these downfalls tend to be masked because of the rapid speed capitalists grow at. Harari first presents a definition for capitalism, and soon goes into great detail on why capitalism, while fast paced and unforgiving, is able to stand unwavered while other productions fail.
Main analyses involved running each of three models through AMOS SEM software separately, using path analysis techniques to assess direct and indirect effects, among the present observed variables (Arbuckle, 2013). Path analysis, which is based on multiple regressions, examines the relationship between exogenous (i.e., variable not causes by another variable, but effects one or more variables in model) and endogenous variables (i.e., a variable that is caused or effected by one or more variables in a model; Iacobucci, 2010). Path models examine the total effects, as well as the direct and indirect of effects of variables in a single model, simultaneously (Peterson et al., 2014). Structural equation modeling path analysis techniques are superior to standard regression analyses in that they: 1) provide more accurate estimates of the effects of hypothesized variables; 2) estimate all effects simultaneously; 3) allow for greater accuracy of parameter estimates when examining competing models; and 4) allow the researcher to compare effects of multiple mediators (Zhao, Lynch, & Chen, 2010).