5. God ga…
Open the session with a short time of prayer.
The first task God gave mankind is known as the Creation Mandate. It is the first objective of a complete ministry.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’
Genesis1:27-28
Discussion.
The passage establishes being fruitful as the primary mandate. Discuss what this means and how it is distinct from ‘increasing in number’.
Prayer
How does the passage suggest mankind is to provide for the needs of increasing numbers of people?
Having established that we are called to be fruitful, we will now consider how this is to be achieved.
Teaching.
Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground
Genesis2:5
In Genesis chapter 2 we find the second account of creation. The earth is unproductive and yet to bear fruit. The reasons are twofold. The passage tells us that the Lord God had not yet sent the essential physical ingredient; rain. There was also a second equally important ingredient missing. There was no one to ‘work the ground’.
Achieving the primary goal of a fruitful creation requires two essential components; God’s part and our part. God provides the water, but He needs us to work and steward creation and maximize its fruitfulness through innovation, production, and cultivation. We are half of the solution. God is looking for people to work His creation and make it fruitful.
Few of us are farmers today. Do you think business is now the primary means by which we subdue the earth and ‘work the ground’, helping to make the earth productive and mankind fruitful?
We are called to be productive (fruitful). The business provides the framework for mankind to be fruitful. Business is therefore an essential part of God’s plan for creation.
Discussion.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis2:15
In this passage, God adds a responsibility to care for His creation. It is the essential complement to work, if we are to be sustainably fruitful.
Discussion.
What does it mean to work creation?
What does it mean to care for creation?
Teaching.
One of the central concerns of modern business is sustainability. The accepted definition of sustainability provided by 1987
United Nations Bruntland Commission states ‘sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’
Compare this to the following passage from the Bible.
If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.
Deut22:6
This verse provides a godly pattern for consumption and establishes a succinct approach to sustainable development.
Discussion.
Do you feel Christians have been proactive in promoting sustainability?
Consider the wisdom of this passage. What are the implications of this verse for Christians in business?
But in the seventh year, the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.
Leviticus25:4.
What are the wider implications of this verse for business? Consider the implications of this on both short-term and long-term productivity.
The Bible introduces the importance of care alongside work and establishes a sustainable approach to fruitfulness.
The right balance between work and rest is essential for sustaining the primary objective of fruitfulness in our lives.
By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day, he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Genesis2:2-3 .Exodus20:8-11 .
‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.’
Work Work Work God establishes a rhythm for our work. What are the hallmarks
of this rhythm?
If we are to prosper in business we must establish the right balance between working and resting. Do you have the balance right?
Never All the time Reflection.
Discuss the consequences of a workplace culture where it is ‘all work and no care’.
Do you have both the faith and discipline to rest?
Teaching.
As Kingdom Entrepreneurs, we are above all called to bear spiritual fruit. In John 15:5-8 Jesus tells us that we can only ‘bear much fruit’ by ‘remaining in Him’. He uses the analogy of remaining ‘in the vine’.
He is the vine and we are the branches on which the fruit grows. As Kingdom Entrepreneurs, the fruit that grows on our particular branch will be the result of how committed we are to nurture our connection with the vine. A balanced approach to rest is essential to getting this right.
Consider what the following verses show about the balance we must strike between work and care if we are to sustain fruitfulness.
I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.
I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Proverbs24:30-34 .2 Thess.3:10-13.
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’ We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people, we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.
Is your work ethic more inclined towards ‘workaholic’ or ‘sluggard’?
Reflection.
Sluggard Workaholic What could you do this month to improve the work-life balance either for you or your colleagues?
God is asking us to trust Him by recognizing that we need to balance work with care. This rhythm establishes a sustainable approach to fruitfulness.
It is God’s intended outcome for both His disciples and creation to ‘bear much fruit. When mankind is sustainably fruitful, something of the kingdom of God is experienced on earth and all of society prospers.
It is our perspective on prosperity that drives our approach to work and care. Those called to business need to establish a godly perspective on prosperity. Only then can we maintain the right balance between work and care. A Godly vision for prosperity
Circle the zone of the graph which best describes the boundaries of your vision of a prosperous life (honestly!)
Describe your own vision of a prosperous life.
Activity.
Consider the different visions of prosperity in the following passages from Deuteronomy and Revelation.
Activity .
Deut.28:2-12a.
All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock – the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.
Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.
The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity – in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock, and the crops of your ground – in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.
Rev.18:10b17a.
“Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!”
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore – cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
Compare the descriptions of prosperity in these passages. What are the key differences? Reflect on whether the passages show a vision of prosperity focussed on needs or wants. cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.
They will say, “The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be
recovered.” The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn and cry out:
“Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!”
Activity.
Happiness is not having what you want but wanting what you have.
Reflection.
Reflect on the diagram above. Is the prosperity that you aspire to and are currently working towards between the moral limits and within the zone of Biblical prosperity?
Does your business promote and trade-off ‘poverty’, ‘needs’ or ‘wants’?
It is important to maintain a Biblical view of prosperity. Consider the following passages.
Ecclesiastes5:10-12.
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on
them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.
Activity.
In this scripture, what is revealed as the signs that we have lost the right perspective on prosperity?
This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink, and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labour under the sun during the few days of life God has given them – for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil – this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them
occupied with gladness of heart.
Ecclesiastes5:18-20
The secret of a truly prosperous life is contentment. What does this passage from Ecclesiastes reveal about the ingredients of a truly prosperous life?
Having achieved a larger than expected profit, this successful entrepreneur decided to put his feet up and take life easy. He used his profit to secure his vision of a prosperous life. He failed to use God’s abundant provision to prosper others. He chose instead to walk away from a God-given opportunity to prosper in business for the commonwealth and forfeited his part in God’s plan for creation.
It did not end well; ‘This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich And he told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.
And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards God.’
Luke12:16-21
towards God.’ This ‘rich man’ forfeited his God-given role and purpose as a fruitful farmer. With no remaining purpose or meaning in his life, he died.
What would have been a better response to a bumper profit?
Prosperity is like an overflowing cup. As more of God’s provision flows into our lives, we have a choice… let it overflow to others or reach for a bigger cup and store more for ourselves. We must cultivate a culture of extravagant generosity if we are to truly prosper in business.
Discussion.
Teaching.
1. Business has a crucial role to play in the creation of prosperity. A Kingdom Business strives to contribute towards God’s vision of a prosperous society rather than work against it. Prosperity is a good thing but it is essential that we pursue a godly vision of prosperity if we are to make our business a fruitful ministry.
The measure of true prosperity is not how much flows to us, so much as how much flows through and around us.
1. Close the session with a short time of prayer. Ask God to cultivate in you a godly vision of prosperity and the contentment to live it out.
