Posted on: 11th November 2019

Last Saturday (9th November) I attended the 4th "Business and the Kingdom: The Big Picture" conference organised by Bradford Cathedral and Thinking Faith Network (TFN).

David Hanson of TFN reminded us that the kingdom of God is the central theme of the New Testament. This kingdom is focused on the redemption of all things and this includes business and economic life.

Cal Bailey of TFN has worked as the Sustainability Director at NG Bailey, the UK’s leading independent building services engineering business. Cal talked movingly about the shame and guilt he experienced as someone who felt called by God to work in business. Some church leaders were appalled by this decision and they urged Cal to shun the ‘grubby’ world of commerce and enter a more ‘spiritual’ arena of service. Cal explained that this tension between business and serving Jesus betrays an impoverished understanding of the Bible.

Cal outlined a theology of business that can be summarized in terms of Creation/Fall/Christ and the Kingdom of God. Cal pointed out that this world belongs to God and this creation is very good. Humans image God by faithfully unfolding and serving the good creation. This includes making, selling and buying manufactured goods and services.

Tragically humans have rebelled against God and the poison of sin has corrupted all areas of life. We know that business can be greedy and destructive but it doesn’t have to be like this!

The antidote to the impact of sin is not to ignore business as a distraction (pietism) but to locate economic life within God’s kingdom. God, through Jesus, is in the business of redeeming and rescuing business from human rebellion.

To illustrate how business can be redeemed, Cal told a delightful story about a director at Unilever who was challenged to design a single use shampoo sachet that would hold its contents for 6 months and then biodegrade within six months when discarded. This commission brought the director so much joy that he decided to postpone his retirement!

In the afternoon Matthew Frost, the former CEO of Tearfund, developed many of Cal’s insights in very concrete ways. Matthew focused on how a company can embrace God’s kingdom. Matthew shared with us ‘Ten imperatives to redeem our organisations. He suggested that metaphors are key to the redemption of business. Too often businesses are spoken of as efficient machines and this is reductionist. He urged us to reimagine economic life in terms of ‘living systems’.

This was an inspiring conference and as an employee of TFN I would like to thank Karen Williams for her hard work and administrative gifts in making the conference so good. Mark Roques TFN

A delicious two-course hot lunch was provided by Nurture. Nurture is the food and catering arm of St George’s Crypt. It provides a platform of training and engagement for offenders, service users, and anyone who has difficulty in moving their lives forward.

Next year's conference will be on Saturday 9th November 2020. If you would like to be informed about this, please email Karenwilliamsleeds@gmail.com