The Role of the Christian in the Corporate World 

Leke Alder 

This Present House Sunday, July 13, 2008

Babel

On of the most important inventions at Babel is the ‘EST’ word extensor. 

• BiggEST • LongEST • ShortEST • RichEST

In language the ‘EST’ extensor is based on an Economic premise:

All things are FINITE.

Within the amplitude of finity, some things are BIG, others BIGGER but there can only be one BIGGEST.

In the same way, some men are RICH, others RICHER, but there can only be one RICHEST.

In other words, we live in a world of SUPERLATIVES.

This superlative world is built on man’s competitive instinct. Men like to compete even when there is no competition!

[Why do you think a Lagosian rushes to embark a bus even when he’s the only one at the bus stop?!]

We must beat someone, even if we are the competition!

Extensor Level 2

Without doubt, the second most important invention at Babel is the ‘ER’ word extensor! 

• BiggER • WidER • RichER

What the ‘ER’ extensor does is to localise competitiveness and make it extremely personal.

Consider the following:

• My Mercedes is biggER than yours 

• My son is smartER than yours 

• My wife is prettiER than yours • My business is strongER than yours 

• My coffin is longER than yours

• My grave is deepER than yours 

• My probate lawyer is meanER than

yours 

• Even the Pastor preaching at my

funeral is PreachER than yours!

It’s like we don’t know our worth or value unless we cross-compare ourselves with others.

The new formula for value is comparative advantage or comparative disadvantage.

Yet Apostle Paul says, that those who compare themselves to themselves are not wise. 2 Corinthians 10:12

Amazingly, contrary to this dictum,

Christians measure their worth and

righteousness against others by the

“ER” word extensor, hence the

expression, HoliER than thou! It is our

pharisaic homage to a mendacious

masquerade of holiness.

(I guess when two Christians pray and

fast, one is prayER and fastER than the

other!)

We think we are better than everyone else. We forget that the one thing we have in common with the rest of humanity is something called SIN!

A sinner saved by Grace is still a SINNER!

We do not seem to understand that there is a difference between morality and righteousness.

Morality, according to the Word of God, is the lowest common denominational regulator of human existence.

It is a basic societal protocol governing relationships and interactions.

Paul said : “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, impurity of a sort that is condemned and does not occur even among the heathen; for a man has [his own] father's wife!”

1 Corinthians 5:1(NKJV)

In other words, morality is not a native Christian virtue!

It’s a humankind thing.

God does not deal in morality. He deals in Righteousness. (Cf: The destruction of Edom)

• It was Righteousness that saved the thief on the Cross. 

• It was Righteousness that saved Mary from legal assassination by stoning. 

• It was Righteousness that wiped out the firstborns in Egypt. 

• It was Righteousness that wiped out Edom.

• Righteousness brought me before you this morning. 

• Righteousness brought you to Church this morning. 

• Righteousness will take you home. • Righteousness will provide for you. • Righteousness will promote you.

Righteousness is the rights of the First Born!

And so when we talk about the Role of the Christian in the Corporate World, we are not interested in speechifying morality.

We need to go beyond the soporific, denudating confines of moral catechism, and liturgical cultural excretion. Instead we must do an exegesis of the Protocol of Beginnings - the Book of Genesis!

We must move beyond the limited and limiting interpretation of “Salt of the Earth”.

Our role in the corporate world must not be dictated by moral salinisation. Our job is not the infusion of ethical standards.

And my job this morning is not to give you the 11 th Commandment:

“Thou shalt not bribe”.

To reduce our discourse to such a mundane proposition is to make a mockery and buffoonery of the Divine Ones.

We must begin from the Beginning! Everything begins in the Book of Genesis.

• The Church originated in the Book of Genesis. 

• Marriage originated in the Book of Genesis. 

• The 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd Men are in the Book of Genesis. 

• Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is in the Book of Genesis.

• The 26 dimensional universe of String Theory is in the Book of Genesis. 

• Horizontal evolution is in the Book of Genesis. 

• Resurrection is in the Book of Genesis…

The list is inexhaustible.

And so it makes sense for us to go back to this Book to dissertate our present topic.

The Commencement Charge to the Adamic Race reads as follows: “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the Earth; and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every moving thing that moveth upon the Earth.”

This Commencement Charge unusually gives Man authority in 3 Realms:

The inclusion of the heavenlies within the realm of authority is a curiosa but without it, the Church cannot exercise authority in Heaven as the Body of the Mystical Christ!

Christ is seated in the heavens. His body is on Earth!

Neither can we, as mankind, explore Planet Mars for mineral resources and alternative energy solutions. Planet Mars is in the heavenlies.

The other 2 realms - the Deep and the Earth are the present realms of economic activity. Power comes to us from the 1 st Realm to exercise economic authority in the 2 nd and 3 rd

realms.

The Power to get wealth comes from the authority of Christ Jesus seated in the 1 st Realm.

When Jesus said:

“All power is given unto me in heaven and earth…” he also empowered the Church economically in himself. Matthew 28:18

The chief economic asset of God

today is the brand name of Jesus.

God Inc. is the richest corporation on

Earth because of the control of the

intellectual property rights to the name

of Jesus. It is the name above every

other name, and not just spiritually, but

also in terms of economic valuation.

(Cf: Microsoft $274.38b, Nokia $101.93b,

Nestle $113.92b, Exxon Mobil $ 425.80b)

Brand Extensions and Franchise

If God were to sell subscription for the use of the name of Jesus, he’ll probably create 2 ‘Recharge cards’ - 1. Contract for Pastors and prayer

warriors 2. Pray-as-you-go for the rest of us

At N500 and N100 per month respectively, God will make at least $371trillion per annum just for the use of the name of JESUS.

(Exchange Rate - $1 to N120)

And we haven’t started selling the biological and genetic properties like the Blood of Jesus or the Born-Again DNA.

I’ll love to manage the Jesus brand.

To say that God is rich because he owns the cattle on a thousand hills is to be un-Issachar-ised. It is a display of a lack of understanding of the times and seasons.

Just as the Bible is divided into spiritual dispensations, (dispensation of innocence, law, grace etc) it is also divided into economic dispensations. This economic dispensations are evident in the phases of creation.

There are 4 phases of creation:

1. The Creation of nature – Gen. 1:1 2. The Creation of Man – Gen. 1:27 3. The Evaluation of creation – Gen. 1:31 4. The Rest of God – Gen. 2:3

These 4 phases are actually the economic history of the world.

When we say that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, we are actually referring to God’s economic assets in the 1 st economic dispensation.

We are now in the Brand Economy. Therefore, God’s wealth is now abstract and entirely based on intellectual property rights to the name of Jesus.

Genesis 1:28 is not just a procreational Charge. (Many have interpreted it to justify having a football team as family). It goes beyond that!

The Message translation of Genesis

1:28 reads:

Prosper!

Reproduce!

Fill the Earth!

Take charge!

Be responsible …

Because the Church is in the last Adam, the role of the 21 st century Christian is in the last Adam. And therefore, his role in the corporate world is contextually found in the Charge given to Adam in Genesis 1:28. The corporation is his contextual vehicle.

The progression of the phrases of the Charge are as follows:

You will easily see that there are 2 classes of responsibility: the Economic and the Political

The Anti-Christ, the second Man, scion and seed of Satan, clearly understands this. He will seek to take control of the political and economic realms through the instrumentality of branding.

He will establish his dominion through the control of his brand name and the number of his brand name - 666.

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.

The role of the Christian in the corporate world as an entity in the last Adam is to take control of the political and economic spaces and ‘occupy’ till He comes.

It is imperative that the Christian must be the head and not the tail.

It is imperative that Christians rise to leadership positions in the corporate and business world.

It is imperative that businesses controlled by Christians become dominion brands in the economic realm.

(Dominion brands are brands that totally dominate their niche, industry or environment).

Dominion brands

Characteristics of dominion brands

Query How many dominion brands are controlled or headed by Christians?

Without economic power, there will be limits to godly intentions.

Because we are in the brand economy, your promotion in the office, your business progression, even the progression of your country, will be regulated by the Brand Protocol. (No matter how good you are if you are not perceived as good you are not Good!)

This fulfils the scripture that Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.

And to make sure that this economy is not alien to you, God changed your branding protocol. He turned you into a brand!

In the Old Testament, God’s people were branded through circumcision Genesis 17:11

In the New Testament, you are the brand!

But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. Romans 2:29

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Philippians 3:3

One critical characteristic of the brand economy is Fuggerianism, named after the Fugger family.

The Fuggers were the great German 16 th

century banking family. They were the IMFs and World Banks of their time. They financed Kings and wars. They were richer than States and even had a right to mint their own money!

In other words, in this economy, corporations can be richer than nations.

Source *Forbes Magazine (February, 2006) + Samsung Electronics Google Finance (April, 2007), www.cia.gov (April, 2007)

In closing, I’ll like to show you a table.

This is the accounts of some of the financial brands in Nigeria (2007).

Imagine what 10% of N153,999,046,00 (combined profit after tax) can do! You must give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God’s.

The role of the Christian corporate brand is to finance the capital projects of the Kingdom. The corporation is the only legal entity on Earth today that can multiply wealth in the order of magnitude.

10% of the Power To Get Wealth combined with the numerical strength of the Church is a political, social and environmental decider, in any democracy.

www.lekealder.com