What might a Kingdom business look like? 

This series links Bible characters with people in parables to see if their stories fill in a picture of what a ‘Kingdom Business’ might look like. We are looking for fresh insights for business leaders who want to see Kingdom outcomes as well as sustainable business success.

This first blog explores business at the heart of mission through the example of Lydia. By Terry Young and Phil Hanson

 
Many of Jesus’ parables contain characters or scenery that would be very familiar to his hearers: a king, a debt, a farmer, or a field or vineyard. However, sprinkled among them we catch a glimpse (often only a brief glimpse) of characters with commercial occupations that were less common back then although much more common now: a tower-builder or a merchant trading in pearls (Matthew 13:45-6). Lydia reminds us of both the merchant and the woman described in Proverbs 31:10-31, with its portrait of the mistress of the household who acts independently in trading and decision making.
 
Lydia (Acts 16:11-40) was originally from Thyatira, a town in modern day Turkey south of Istanbul, known for its dyeing and garment trade and where presumably she learned the skills of her trade. In particular, the town was known for its purple dyes and in its ancient ruins there are inscriptions relating to a guild of dyers.
 
Lydia’s story is clearly pivotal, if only because the community that gathered at her home and business became the first church in Europe. The whole story is unusual, in that Paul doesn’t accept persecution in the way he normally does but insists that the city authorities escort him and Silas out of prison, and then they visit Lydia’s place where they hold a farewell service, before moving on. What is going on here?
 
Clearly, we don't know a great deal about Lydia but were inspired by Paula Gooder who has turned her research into a delightful book, Lydia, that paints an imagined back-story. She suggests how the business might have looked and how, from a modest start, Lydia had grown it to a point where she had a substantial property in a location that was easily accessible to her customers. 
 
Paula imagines that Lydia's large home would have housed both the workshops and sales rooms as well as being home to her employees. Dye workers would be an integral part of her household.  She is imagined as paying to free the slaves who worked in the business. The internal walls of the public sales areas might have been an opportunity to paint stories from scripture. The building could also have provided an inclusive meeting place for groups of Christian followers from all sorts of backgrounds. All this public witness, however, would have risked drawing attention to their non-Roman beliefs, thus potentially alienating some of their status-conscious clients.     
 
Paula’s informed guesses may be right (and she has many references to back her hunches) but that’s beside the point: the point is that Lydia was a real person who was part of a real business network that we would readily recognise today. She had clients who bought her wares and suppliers who brought her stock, with some sort of workforce to turn what arrived at the back door into satisfied customers.
 
Roman colonies such as Philippi were where Roman soldiers retired with their families, so her clientele put great store in social status and purple cloth was an important symbol of status, power and wealth, where the exact colour was of the utmost importance.
 
Paula Gooder’s intent is to build a narrative through which to see Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It probably isn’t her purpose to populate a picture of a Kingdom Business, but her narrative does just that. She has sketched a compelling example of how the idea of kingdom business comes alive in the earliest context.  She reminds us that a Kingdom business doesn’t need to operate in an overtly noble cause. Being a fashion house serving the tastes of wealthy customers is no bar to advancing the kingdom through the way in which you deal with suppliers and customers, treat employees, serve the community, protect the planet or support Christian mission and ministry.
 
Isn’t it curious that the church in Europe should start in a commercial environment rather than an overtly religious setting or even a secular lecture hall? First contact was made by a woman rather than a man and she was not a farmer, local governor, or anyone remotely important in religious circles.
 
In our day of institutionalise Christianity with staff and hierarchies and facilities and networks, what do we make of the fact that it started for us, at least, when the gospel found a home in a depot or workshop?
 
Perhaps we might reflect upon how important all the roles are that we tend to discount when we think of spiritual strategy.  It’s not always in recognised places of worship or among recognised religious leaders that the exciting stuff starts. Clearly, sometimes it starts there (for Paul was a Pharisee before he was an Apostle), but it might make us ponder.
 
Like Paula, we can only guess as to why this might be, and like her we might get it right or wrong, but let's press on and tentatively try to make some connections between the church and its European origins in a dealership.
 
The Holy Spirit clearly uses networks to spread the gospel. Roman roads and shipping lanes provided affordable and relatively safe transport links for evangelists, church leaders, and a host of couriers carrying letters to their first recipients. As a small and fast-growing Jewish sect, the early Christians first gravitated to the network of synagogues around the world. And, in the story of Lydia we see the power of commercial networks with someone who is socially insignificant, yet is able to communicate back into her supplier network and out into her client community.
 
And finally, missions cost money. Almost every penny ever spent by any church or allocated by any Christian committee first had to be earned by someone like Lydia.


Image | Iwaria Inc. | Unsplash
 

This blog is part of a series that links Bible characters with people in parables to see if their stories fill in a picture of what a ‘Kingdom Business’ might look like. The series is looking for fresh insights for business leaders who want to see Kingdom outcomes as well as sustainable business success.

Details of all five blogs are below.
 

• What might a Kingdom business look like? - business at the heart of mission through the example of Lydia (publishes 29 January)
• God’s project manager - Nehemiah who prayed and planned ahead - and is an example of what godly project management could look like (publishes 31 January)
• A business empire that loses its way - Solomon’s narrative goes to the heart of a vital tension in Kingdom business, which is how we balance economic outcomes with evangelistic progress (publishes 2 February)
• Employing the whole person - How the vineyard owner and David were ahead of their time in looking beyond the work done (publishes 5 February)
• What might a Kingdom business look like? A discussion - The final part of the series offers two ways to reflect on Lydia, Nehemiah, Solomon and David as exemplars in business (publishes 7 February)

Phil Hanson is an engineer by profession. For the latter part of a 30 year career in IBM, he was Lead Principal for IBM’s Manufacturing Industry Consulting Practice. Since IBM, he has been Principal Industrial Fellow at the Institute for Manufacturing at Cambridge University and a Special Advisor to UNIDO for supply chain projects in Africa. He is ordained in the Church of England.

Terry Young is a missionary kid who read science and engineering. After a PhD in lasers, he worked in R&D before becoming a professor, when he taught project management, information systems and e-business, while leading research in healthcare. He set up Datchet Consulting to have fun with both faith and work and worshipped at Baptist churches in Slough for 19 years before moving to the New Forest.

Terry and Phil's new book How to Merge Kingdom and Business -The Most Excellent Way has just been published by Grove Books

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