Article originally hosted and shared with permission by The Christian Economic Forum, a global network of leaders who join together to collaborate and introduce strategic ideas for the spread of God’s economic principles and the goodness of Jesus Christ. This article was from a collection of White Papers compiled for attendees of the CEF’s Global Event.

— by Aimee Minnich

Recently, I experienced an existential crisis caused by, of all things, baseball and Coca Cola. I watched leaders of these organizations openly oppose a new Georgia voting law; Major League Baseball even went so far as to incur huge expense to move the All-Star Game and 2021 draft out of Atlanta.[1] I wondered when we’d get back to the good old days where we could buy a soda and watch a game without being confronted by politics.

It seemed to me these companies weren’t responding to the law. Instead, they were feeding on massive criticism—some might say bullying—from opponents of the law who expected these companies and others based in Georgia to speak out against it. While I haven’t taken the time to form an opinion about the law itself, I was deeply troubled by the ways these companies acted. If 2020 was the year of Covid-related shutdowns, then 2021 may well go on record as the year of political corporations.

David Seminara writing in the WSJ OpEd explains it well: “[In 2020], I lamented the rise of the woke corporation, documenting how many of my favorite companies embrace values antithetical to my own. But it’s increasingly clear that the sharp increase in corporate virtue signaling…wasn’t a passing trend but a sea change.”[2] Companies from Patagonia to Harry’s Razors are increasingly using their influence to advocate for a progressive worldview and are suggesting that anyone who disagrees with their positions is “racist,” “homophobic,” “transphobic,” etc. The rhetoric has become so divisive as to preclude actual debate.

What bothers me most about this trend isn’t just the actions of these companies but also the questions it raises for me as a professional who has devoted her life to investing in companies that seek to make a positive difference in the world. I co-founded Impact Foundation to help families put charitable capital to work in for-profit businesses that create jobs and share the Gospel. I serve on the board of a family of ESG and impact investing mutual funds. The essence of this work is to engage companies and encourage them to act for the benefit of their employees, vendors, and communities.

The events in Georgia caused me to wrestle with some difficult questions: How is my life’s work different from the outcry that led to the responses from Delta, Coca Cola, and MLB? Am I bothered by their actions simply because I disagree with them politically? Is there something fundamentally off in the way these events played out? Or am I part of the problem in advocating for companies to act for positive social change?

Answering these questions required me to examine the appropriate role of business, generally, and a company, particularly.

Milton Friedman Wasn’t Totally Wrong

I’ve always heard that Milton Friedman said the only role of business is generating profit for shareholders. Not surprisingly, this characterization misses a lot of what the famous economist actually said. In his 1970 paper The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits, Freidman says:

“In a free-enterprise, private-property system, a corporate executive is an employee of the owners of the business. He has direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to their basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.” (emphasis mine)

He further explains that companies should make money for shareholders who can then put their profits to charitable purposes as they see fit.

Capitalism, according to Friedman, contains its own inherent constraint on exploitations. The free market “forces people to be responsible for their own actions and makes it difficult for them to ‘exploit’ other people for either selfish or unselfish purposes.” Companies act in the interests of the employees and communities because that is good for business and, therefore, good for shareholders in the long run.

Making money for shareholders over the long term will actually mean acting in the interests of employees, vendors, and the community. Otherwise, the executive will not be able to retain top talent, could lose support of the community in which he/she operates, or may even encounter fines for bad behavior.

Understanding Freidman’s historical context makes his words even more timely for a reader in 2021. Talking about the corporate reformers of his own day, Friedman says, “In fact they are— or would be if they or anyone else took them seriously—preaching pure and unadulterated socialism.” He says that “corporate social responsibility” would necessarily lead to socialism because it’s anybody’s guess what “social responsibility means.” Freidman warned that this would eventually lead to the “politicization of everything.” That sounds familiar in 2021.

This exposes one of the biggest issues that I have with the current culture of corporate social activism. It’s inconsistent/arbitrary. My daughter’s favorite brand of hair care products wants us to know the “PANTENE Family is #BEAUTIFULGBTQ—Proud to Support Transgender Visibility.”[3] But are they also excited to bring visibility to the issue of modern-day slavery in the supply chain?

The goals these companies are advocating change with the winds of popular sentiment, exposing the flawed worldview they are built upon. There’s no way to defend them because there’s no definition of right and wrong. Right is what most of us—or the loudest among us— say is right. Thus, there’s very little opportunity to have a genuine debate of issues.

This leads to my second major issue with the social activism dominating 2021.

It’s dehumanizing. In the Georgia issue, there has been seemingly little to no attempt at dialogue with lawmakers—only a series of Twitter denouncements and name-calling on the Sunday news shows.

In short, I disagree with both the end and the means of these companies.

The Business Roundtable: Socialism Repackaged?

The leaders of Coca Cola, Delta, and MLB are following a trend expressed by the Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs of the world’s largest corporations. They met in the summer of 2018 and issued a statement “redefining the role of business.” In truth, it was not a redefinition so much as a restatement of the ideas that Friedman was responding to in his original 1970 article. In short, businesses should now be run for the benefit of 5 stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, communities (including environment), and shareholders.[4] According to the Business Roundtable website, this includes taking actions such as:

Increasing minimum wages and adjusting starting-wage scales upward to increase employees’ economic security from the start;

Investing in opportunities for employees to gain new skills, grow personally and professionally and contribute to a more innovative future for their companies; Increasing accessibility and affordability of health care before, during and after trying times; or Offering educational benefits, such as student loan repayment programs or scholarships for children of employees.[5]

These are great benefits to offer employees. I have no issues with them. But the idea of stakeholder capitalism, as a whole, seems to have a few inconsistencies. Namely, what happens when there’s a conflict between priorities for each of the five stakeholder groups? What if there is not enough money for all the programs that each stakeholder group needs?

Friedman recognized this tension and said that the obligation to shareholders needs to win out because they’re free to use their profits, even if ill-gotten, to give to charities to fix the issues created by their corporations.[6]

That seems inefficient, though. Thankfully, these are not our only two options for answering my existential questions.

What does Scripture Have to Say About the Role of Business?

Friedman’s notion that business should make money for shareholders to give away to charities fixing the ills of society sounds painfully familiar. How many businesspeople have felt like second-class citizens in God’s Kingdom because they aren’t the pastor or missionary, as if their most important role is to make lots of money to give away to those doing “God’s work”?

To set the record straight and understand the role of business, we need to go back to the beginning and understand the world God established. What is the story He is writing?

N.T. Wright, in his book Surprised by Hope, explains this story beautifully. We live in the “now but not yet” of the kingdom of God. He is actively working to make all things new again: the New Heavens and New Earth as described in Revelation. As Jesus says, “The Kingdom of God is among you,”[7] yet He also makes it clear that He is coming back to make things complete.[8] Before He ascended, Jesus charged His disciples (including you and me) with preaching, teaching, baptizing, and discipling as we go about our lives. We know the Great Commission, but do we really know what it means for work and business?

Tim Keller explains: “The Christian faith gives us a new conception of work as the means by which God loves and cares for his world through us. Look at the places in the Bible that say that God gives every person their food. How does God do that? It is through human work— from the simplest farm girl milking the cows to the truck driver bringing produce to market to the local grocer. God could feed us directly but he chooses to do it through work.”

Work was part of God’s original design—one of His gifts to us in the garden—before sin entered. And after the fall, our work is the means by which we partner with God in His work of renewing all things.

Business is simply a collection of people working together to produce goods or services for customers. Extending the theology of work, we see that business plays a critical role, not just in creating financial value but also in adding to human flourishing.

In short, Scripture paints the ultimate picture of the purpose of business…to partner with God in bringing about His purposes for the world. So, we have to ask, what are His purposes? What is the world that He has in mind for us?

No more sin or evil-doing[9]

A healed earth and a beautiful city of God[10]

An end to suffering and the joy of unbroken fellowship with God[11]

Broad access to meaningful work[12]

Scripture gives us a better definition of the role of business than Milton Friedman or the Business Roundtable. It also paints a picture of the way the work is to be carried out: Business is meant to work with God (the means) to bring about His purposes in the world (the end). Sounds simple, but what does it mean for me as an investor or business leader? First, it means I don’t have to quit my job and go back to serving coffee. Phew!

Some Practical Ideas for Moving Forward

It’s great that Scripture gives us a blueprint for the role of business, but it probably wouldn’t work if I walked into the board room of a public company and suggested it should be their corporate vision.

It is much easier to live this mandate as a small, family-owned company. And yet, I don’t think that means my husband and I should abandon our public stock positions or step down from the board of the mutual funds. Maybe the following framework can provide practical guidance for how to engage:

Do no harm. This principle is a good place to start in large, multi-national businesses with diverse ownership and leadership. Instead of trying to convince a group of secular-humanists of the correctness of our biblical worldview, we could start with issues on which most can agree. Let’s work to promote training for workers from under-served communities. We can also work to end child labor; slavery in the supply chain; unsanitary/unsafe working conditions; profiting from pornography and traffcking; etc.

Don’t be mean. This is similar to the first idea, but it relates more to the way in which one should advocate for change. I think it speaks for itself, but my mother also explained it well: “Treat others as you want to be treated.”[13] Rather than Twitter bullying, let’s seek to engage in productive dialogue where we treat each other with respect even when we disagree.

Encourage redemptive enterprises. In the context of startup investing or working with private equity and venture funds, we find more common ground for advancing Scripture’s view of what business should work to accomplish…bringing about the Kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven. Impact Foundation has over 200 examples of companies like this in our portfolio, and I love telling their stories.

Here are a few examples:

Clara Brown Commons: A safe and caring community where residents can stabilize their lives, expand their economic capacity, and deepen spiritual connectedness.
Hayden Harper Holdings: A for-profit portfolio of operating companies with a focus on Impacting and Enriching the lives of our clients, employees, and community while operating our businesses with Excellent Stewardship in Freedom. HH owns businesses in different industries all focused on generating positive long-term earnings while applying Biblical Principles to how we live our lives and run our businesses.
Pallet: A social purpose company on a mission to build equal opportunity access to housing and employment. For the more than half a million people facing homelessness across the United States, our durable, portable, and affordable shelters are a steppingstone out of personal crisis and into a life of stability—because a shelter changes everything.
Mediae Group: A small social enterprise that’s committed to addressing the informational needs of East Africans through sustainable and research-based media productions.

[1] “M.L.B. Pulls All-Star Game From Georgia in Response to Voting Law,” The NY Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/us/politics/mlb-all-star-game-moved-atlanta-georgia.html

[2] “What I Wouldn’t Give for a Shave That Isn’t Woke,” Dave Seminara, WSJ,

https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-i-wouldnt-give-for-a-shave-that-isnt-woke-11617567413

[3] An entire page on the Pantene website is devoted to spotlighting gay and transgender stories. https://pantene.com/en-us/pride

[4] https://opportunity.businessroundtable.org/ourcommitment/

[5] Ibid.

[6] See, https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2017/06/23/what-is-the-business-of-business/ [7] Luke 17:21

[8] “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” Revelation 22:12.

[9] “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.” (Matthew 13:41-43).

[10] Revelation 22:2

[11] Luke 6:21. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4).

[12] God gave Adam work to do before the fall (Genesis 2:15). The ancient command of gleaning was to ensure that everyone in society had access to the means of production. See my CEF whitepaper from 2019.

[13] Jesus also said it well: “Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get.” Matthew 7:12 (The Message).

Woke Activism v. Biblical Stewardship

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