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God s Freema:q19fs\ Entrepreneur

by Donald Williamson, Jr.

Question: How do you make peopleon Wall Street laugh? Answer : Askthem i f Jesus Christ is Lord of fmanceThose who don't give you a blank stareor look of horror will probably respondwith a chuckle.

Such are the times in which we live .Financiers , with nov elist Tom Wolfe 'sbond salesman , Sherman McCoy(Bonfrre of the Vanitie s), would usedebt to gain power rather than fosterwealth creation (the production of actualgoods and services). By clever dealingthey would sweep aw ay all limits to

become "Masters of the Universe."For their aeries these "Masters," by

telephone (Wolfe's "electric doughnut"),would manipulate people as theymanipulate numbers on their computertenninals. But let their confidence beshaken (as in the Market crash of '87),and they willingly ensl ave themselvesto "New Age" guru s, in a desperate attempt to escape fmancial ruin .

f Wall Street fm anciers seem all tooready to "worship'.' id ols of greed andpower, are businessmen more respon

sible? A growing number of writers onbusiness management believe there is,indeed, a breed of busine ssman who ismore responsible: the entrepreneurThey maintain it is entrepreneurs who

spur economic growth, not some impersonal mechanism of market exchanges .Recogni zing that new businesses (Over500 ,000 begun annually) account forthe majo r portion of new jobs in America, they see a "boom in entrepreneurship."

But with the reali zat ion that entrepreneurs play an important part inwealth creation (the enlargement, notredistribution, of the economic pie)come troubling questions. If we have anentrepreneurial boom, why do the vast

Donald Williamson , J r . Is a PresbyterIan who publ ishes an occasional newsletter caled The Christilzn Reasoner For those Interested. the address Is5909 Kingsford Place, Bethesda,Maryland 20817.

majority of new businesses fail? Onlyone in twenty survives ten years Whydo best selling writers on entrepreneurship typically fail to integrate their often useful but fragmentary observationson entrepeneurs into a coherent and compelling analysis of the entrepreneurialmindset?

The thesis of this article is that theyfail to do so because they do not appreciate the spiritual, specifi cally the Christian, wellspring of entrepreneurial zeal.They do not comprehend that it is God's"freeman" who precisely fits the entre

preneurial mold n fairness , GeorgeGilder CThe Spirit o f Entemrise) strongly intimates this might be the case.Observes Gilder: "It is entrepreneurswho know the rules of the world andthe laws of God." "Entrepreneurs ...emerge from a culture shaped by religious values. The optimism and trust,the commitment and faith, the dis-cipline and altruism that their livesevince and their works require all canflourish only in the midst of a moralorder, with religious foundations"

Spirit of Entewrise).W. Edwards Deming, credited withhaving revitalized post-war Japaneseindustry , displays an entrepreneurialcommitment, emphasizing management's responsibility to workers not ascogs in a machine but as human beingsmade in the image of God. managementcan "break down barriers between staffareas" and "remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship," promoting cooperation and enhancing productivity . t is no accident Deming begins Chapter One of the book summarizing his "Deming M anagementMethod " with .Ioh 38:2. "Who is it thatdarkeneth counsel by words withoutknowledge?"

An objection may be raised at thispoint. f the entrepreneurial mindset isan integral part o f a larger world-viewthat owes its existence to Christianity,why do so few entrepreneurs demon-

strate an appreciation of this fact? Onelikely reason: being men (and women)of action, most are inclined to viewtheir wealth creating activities as a"common sense" respons e to the prac-tical exigencies of ife They do not selfcon sc iou sly act in terms of a "full-orbed world view.

This is understandable. The Churchhas not taught a theology of work aspart of a Christian world-view. Since aman' s vocation, his calling , is a centralpart o f his life, many men pe r ceive theChurch to be only peripherally relatedto the ir activities. R eluctant to becomewhole-hearted spiritual l e aders, they arere signed to "going through the mo-tions " of being Church members. Theresult is a culturally impotent Churchand a weakened economy . Businessmen

fail to grasp the implication of the factit is God Who gives them "power to .get wealth that he may establish hiscovenant . .." 8:1 8)

This is no "gospel o f wealth," withits simplistic association of faith andmaterial riches t is , rather , an awarene ss of the interrelat edness of all freedom in God's .universe God. m indingus to Hims elf by means of Hi s covenant, gives us a n ew "resurr ec tion" lifewith Jesus Chri st (His Son). Christ,having defeated Sa tan at the cross, frees

us from the reigning power of sin intoa life of faithful obedience to a "law ofliberty" (RQm. 6, 1 25) in theJWm I of that Spirit of liberty, theHoly Spirit (2 Qn : . 3:17) .

Empowered to exercise self-r:oyernI Wl1. businessman, as economist R.E. McMaster has noted, are not onlyfreed, but know how to covenant andcontract and give before re ceiving. Thisis vital to an under standing of entrepreneurship . The French ve rb fromwhi ch we get the word "entrepreneur,"entreprendre , mean "to contract."The "entrepreneur" (fem . entre-pren euse) is defined as a "con-tractor" and a "master builder."Others will enter into contract with himbecause of his trustworthiness, hisobedience to God's Law . The businessman father of W. Edwards Deming isreported to have "had a reputation for .writing contracts that couldn't be bro-

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l t (Mary Waltdr;; The e m i ~ 2 of God's Kingdom. Heknows that theMaJtaieiJ'lllt Method. p ~ A>'Might he God Who created the universe andhave helped tb iil.still an ~ n ~ e p r e n e \ i r i a l". everything therein has provided thea ~ t u i J efu his spn? , .- . . _ _ _ ~ c h e t y p eor:, attern _or all ) J l l l ~~ b r k

:As b l s ~ e s s m e n o m e_ o p p r e c i a t e ( E ~ .10:9, 10(a);11), and as the originalthe covenantal 'context of wealth crea- . Wealth Creator, issues a divine sumt i Q h; . : b u s m e ~ s

-Win; n h ~

words or mons or WJ.i.D2to meanfugful, IWl:JosephR. M c A ~ i i f f e ,assume _a place ductjye labor. Aware that his work is"aithe vanguard :ofGod;s restorative and . a ''cornmand.:peifortruiJlce" in fulfilljudgzitenW-\YOtkm:the e ~ . It will rrient of .his K i n g ~ s(God's) doritinion'h ~ l p. build a. struqture of ":nle insti- ' . IllllQ

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guish true entrepreneurs from enttepreneurial phonies (e.g., drug" enttepreneurs," "paper entrepreneurs," etc.).With a generosity of spirit. as wealthcreators, we can achieve that "breakthrough" that will restore Americancompetitiveness. Moreover, as W.Edwards Deming helped the Japanese toboost the quality and quantity of theirproducts, we can point the way forthem as they seek to improve upontheir "group think" mindset and becomebetter innovators. As the economic pieis enlarged, everyone wins

The enttepreneur is no "Master of theUniverse." Nor is he a business demigod, a member of an elite group who,by virtue of having created successfulbusinesses of their own, stand atop acorporate "Mount Olympus." In fast, hemay work for somebody else ("inttapreneurs") Realizing that next to God,other people are his "ultimate resource,"he invests in them, dirtying his handsas God's "footwasher."

Certain objections will likely beraised against the thesis of this article.

t may be argued that businessmencommonly exhibit entrepreneurialtraits. But it is only God's "freeman"who "puts i t all together." Some willblame America's dwindling capacity toinnovate and compete on the fact thatour high military spending (e.g., vis-a

vis Japan) and high taxes sap talent andresources that would otherwise beavailable to enttepreneurs. But for reasons too involved to explore here, ourmodern military-industrial complex andWelfare State are not so much the

as the mu. 1 of a lack of entrepreneurial zeal

s more Americans, Wall Streetchucklers included, acknowledge theirneed to be extricated from a quagmire off'mancial debt, will they be receptive tothe efforts of entrepreneurial "freemen"

to lend a helping hand, wash their dirtyfeet and set them on solid ground? God~ a n tit be so D

The Counsel of Chalcedon, September, 1988

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