I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9)

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Thanks for tuning in to GLOBAL REACHOUT. I am Sister Angelie, and starting from November, we have launched the program called the "Kingdom Business Culture". This program is based on the workplace training course by GLOBAL JIREH entitled, "Christ-centred Entrepreneurship". This course was compiled by Pastor Tony TAY Meng Hiang to help brothers and sisters live out Christ in the workplace.

We encourage brothers and sisters to sign up for this course, so that they will not only have the opportunity to communicate directly with the instructors, but also establish long-term and close contacts with the kingdom business operators in the group, learn from each other and encourage one another, and put the theory into practice. Living out Christ in the workplace. For those who are interested, you can refer to the end of the manuscript and register by email.

In today's program, we're going to discuss the theme of "the purpose of making profits."

Different cultures have different views on corporate profits. For Christian professionals, we need to understand and integrate three key points in order to have a clear and correct view of corporate profits.

Firstly, individualism that emphasizes individual interests needs to be integrated with collectivism that emphasizes collective interests. You may think that one emphasizes individual interests over collective interests, and the other emphasizes collective interests over individual interests. How can these contradictory concepts be integrated? In fact it is possible to put God's glory above personal and collective interests. Christian entrepreneurs and managers need to start from the perspective of the kingdom of God (which is quantitative growth) and God’s righteousness (which is qualitative growth), and take into account both individual and collective interests, so as to achieve individual and collective sacrifices together. While the individual and the collective benefit together, and individual interests and collective interests no longer conflict with each other.

Secondly, owning private property is licensed. The Ten Commandments commanding us not to covet our neighbor's house (Exodus 20:17); the law also says that one must not remove the neighbor's boundary stones (Deuteronomy 19:14), which shows that owning a private property is not against God's will. God give us permission to run a private business. However, the purpose of business operation is not only for yourself, but also for others. Business owners should stick to the golden rule and pursue a life of neither rich nor poor (Proverbs 30:8-9), willing to share with others while taking care of themselves. And Christians are willing to do this because we are not looking for wealth (Luke 12:15), but imitation of Jesus.

Thirdly, individual interests are based on individualism integrating collectivism and private industry integrating public industry. In other words, we should seek personal interests on the premise of benefiting others and ourselves, and take into account the interests of others while protecting ourselves. When we live with others in the principle of loving others as ourselves, the relationship between people will get better and better.

We must be shrewd stewards in the use of profits. Jesus told us in Luke 16:9 to use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. A shrewd steward will make good use of wealth to bless the lives of others, invest money in people's lives, and fulfill God's mission. In this way, when money has nothing to do with us any more, that is, when we leave the world to go to the heavenly home, there will be those who have been favored by us to welcome us.

The use of profit needs to follow three principles, which we summarize as the three Ps.

The first P is Profit. The primary function of profit is to keep businesses going, to provide tax revenue for the government, to create jobs for people, to promote social prosperity and to improve people's living standards. If there is no profit, the enterprise will face the dilemma of bankruptcy, just like if the human body loses the function of hematopoietic, it cannot continue to survive. Businesses must make new blood in order to continue to survive. It's like the "settler" needs a career that will allow him to take root.

The second P is Product. Enterprises should use profits to continuously produce products that are beneficial to people, and continue to carry out research and development to improve the quality of products and services to better benefit people. This is like a person should exercise his body well when he is alive. It is also like an "immigrant" mentality, to constantly move to a place that is more suitable for him. Therefore, enterprises first seek profits from "settler" style’s Value Imitation, and then benefit others with "immigrant" style’s Value Imitation.

The third P is Passion. Passion can drive innovation. Enterprises should use the profits they earn to support innovation work, so that people with passion can fully explore, develop and exert their talents. Since innovation requires a large investment of capital that does not necessarily pay off, or has a long payback period, well-funded businesses can do it more efficiently. This is exploring with a "pioneer" mentality, looking forward to discovering better things. Enterprises should make profits from "immigrant"-style operations and supply blood for "pioneer"-style R&D work.

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Friends, have you ever noticed how your company distributes and uses the profits it earns? What is the principle behind this distribution method? Welcome to leave a message to share and discuss with us, and let's see whether those profit distribution principles are in line with the teachings of the Bible and Christian beliefs.

Dear friends, this is where we end today's episode. I hope to see you again on the next episode of Kingdom Business Culture!

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Discussion 

1. Does your company take into account individual interests, collective interests and social interests?

2. How does your company distribute and use the profits it earns? What are the principles that influence this distribution?

3. Based on what you have learned today, do you think there is anything that needs to be adjusted or corrected in the current distribution method?