This category supports the concept that business, and the subsequent profits, are like sex: inherently good things that are often twisted and used for evil by sinful human beings.

Several verses caught my eye today. Proverbs 21:5, 16-17, and 20-21.

5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. [Read more...]

This category supports the concept that business, and the subsequent profits, are like sex: inherently good things that are often twisted and used for evil by sinful human beings.

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
(Proverbs 13:11)

Matthew Henry’s take on this verse:

Pro 13:11 -
This shows that riches wear as they are won and woven. 1. That which is won ill will never wear well, for a curse attends it which will waste it, and the same corrupt dispositions which incline men to the sinful ways of getting well incline them to the like sinful ways of spending: Wealth gotten by vanity will be bestowed upon vanity, and then it will be diminished. That which is got by such employments as are not lawful, or not becoming Christians, such as only serve to feed pride and luxury, that which is got by gaming or by the stage, may as truly be said to be gotten by vanity as that which is got by fraud and lying, and will be diminished. De male quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres – Ill-gotten wealth will scarcely be enjoyed by the third generation. 2. That which is got by industry and honesty will grow more, instead of growing less; it will be a maintenance; it will be an inheritance; it will be an abundance. He that labours, working with his hands, shall so increase as that he shall have to give to him that needs (Eph_4:28); and, when it comes to that, it will increase yet more and more.

This is borne out in the lives of most lottery winners.  Very few are better off, five years later, than they were before the money was dropped into their laps.  And many are much worse off than they were before they “won.”

This category supports the concept that business, and the subsequent profits, are like sex: inherently good things that are often twisted and used for evil by sinful human beings.

A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight.
(Proverbs 11:1)

Cheating someone in business is obviously a sin, the same as cheating someone in any circumstance is a sin.  As such, it’s an abomination.  While we may profit in the short term, we’ve lost big in the long term.  We are called to do business in a way that honors God.  And when we do, that is his delight.

From FrontPage Magazine:

“Do good to those who hate you,” Schirch advised. “It’s the smart thing to do,” she said. “Not just the right thing.” But the Founder of Christianity, whom she was presumably quoting, did not deliver the Sermon on the Mount as a civil policy statement. Nor did He demand of civil states the same behavior he asked of individuals. The Apostle Paul even specified that God ordained civil governments to avenge and punish wicked deeds. The modern Religious Left, while chronically denouncing conservative religionists as “fundamentalists,” itself proof texts a limited number of favored Scriptures to make political points divorced from wider Christian teachings about statecraft.

Schirch’s assumption that global strife and terrorism are the inevitable consequence of American greed and profiteering is a favorite theme for the secular and Religious Left, neither of which accepts traditional Christian understandings of human sinfulness. Instead, the secular and Religious Left believe people to be innately good but corrupted or provoked to wrath by unjust “systems” that are predictably identified with capitalism, patriarchy, Western Civilization, and especially the United States. That the American economy is itself the economic engine that helps to uplift tens of millions around the world out of chronic poverty is a point that always escapes them. That terrorism is primarily a product of often irrational human hatred and base resentment is a possibility that the Religious Left would prefer not to consider. Combating hatred in human hearts requires spiritual warfare by churches and often material warfare by civil states.

… “Christians have a definition of security that is unstated by politicians,” Kinamon pronounced, according to the NCC news service. “Security is never won through unilateral defense. The security of one is inseparable from the welfare of others. U.S. security is dependent not on force but on addressing the injustices” that he believes breed resentment and terror. “Those who guarantee their own security at the expense of others will find they have even less security.” Like Schirch, Kinnamon assumed that the U.S. only employs military force so it can continue to gobble up the world’s goods disproportionately.The NCC chief even enthused: “We’re not leftists. We’re much more radical than that.” No doubt he is right.

The bible is not, however, anti-capitalist:

Invest your money in foreign trade, and one of these days you will make a profit. Put your investments in several places—many places even—because you never know what kind of bad luck you are going to have in this world. No matter which direction a tree falls, it will lie where it fell. When the clouds are full, it rains. If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything. God made everything, and you can no more understand what he does than you understand how new life begins in the womb of a pregnant woman. Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other.
(Ecclesiastes 11:1-6)

There are hundreds of verses advising to us do business honorably and in a God-glorifying way, and additionally to be generous with the profits. But within those guidelines, according to the bible, business is GOOD. And there is ample evidence that it is the best way to help the poor; this is also very consistent with biblical teaching.  If people really want to help the poor, promoting capitalism, which is within biblical guidelines and is proven to work would be not just the right thing to do, but the smart thing.

There’s a whole lot of populism and anti-business sentiment this election cycle, and I unfortunately infuriated someone I love this weekend by insisting that business and profit are not just good things, but fully approved by God according to the bible. To support that concept, I’ve created a new category, “Business is Good” that will contain bible verses to support the idea that God is absolutely not against wealth, business, or profit. Does this mean I subscribe to the loathsome prosperity gospel? Not in the least. Does it mean that I think all businesses, even Christian owned businesses, run according to biblical principles?  No, of course not.  But it is the love of money, not the money itself, that is the root of all evil.

Business, and the subsequent profits, are like sex: inherently good things that are twisted and used for evil by sinful human beings.

Today’s verse especially resonates with me as a wife, mother, and small business owner:

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
(Proverbs 31:10-31)