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The Bible – What Part Does it Play in Your Business?

by | Mon, Nov 26 2018

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Bibles in a business meeting

No one is required to own, read, or believe the Bible…but people buy it in droves. The Bible far outsold any other book, with a whopping 3.9 billion copies sold over the last 50 years. “Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung” came in second with 820 million copies sold, and “Harry Potter” came in third with 400 million copies sold. (Dec 27, 2012)

Guinness Records reports an estimated 2.5 billion Bibles were printed between 1815 and 1975 and The Economist estimates more than 100m new Bibles are printed every year making a staggering total of over 6 billion in print. The New Yorker also pointed out that in 2005 the number of Bibles sold in the US alone was onservatively estimated at 25 million and Barna research indicates that 92% of all (American) households have at least one Bible and typically own three. That means most of the 25m Bibles are being sold to homes that already have at least one and likely more. Why?

Not only does the Bible continue to enjoy annually increasing sales and distribution totals, it does so strictly without coercion. No one is required to buy, own, read or believe the Bible. In fact, in countries heavily influenced by the Bible, freedom reigns. People who do not believe are free to disagree with it publicly if they wish. They can swear at God, find fault with the Bible, disagree with those who believe it and debate the issues without worry

The Bible has also never been an easy book to own.

John Wycliffe, who outspokenly differed with the organized church on many issues, was one of the first to translate the Bible into English. Although he died of natural causes, he was persecuted while he lived and pronounced a heretic several years after his death. To broadcast his judgment, his remains were exhumed in 1428, crushed, burned and thrown into the River Swift. His writings were also burned and scattered.

William Tyndale was the first to translate the Bible into English directly from Hebrew and Greek. His New Testament was also the first English translation to be printed using moveable type and for his efforts, he was executed by strangling and burned at the stake along with as many of his Bibles as could be confiscated.

It was not until 1611 that the first “authorized” (allowed) version of the Bible was produced. This translation is known today mostly as the King James Version. Even though the Bible has been translated, published, read, studied, analysed, bought, sold and given away freely since then, particularly in the English speaking world, it is still banned in many communities.

However, in spite of the bans and the persecution the Bible still enjoys the greatest popularity of any book ever produced in human language.

The Bible’s popularity is not based on clever marketing, cultural trends or legislation. It is based on the desire to know God and its availability is made possible by the efforts of many determined people, now and in the past, and the miraculous intervention of God.

Bible truth is not like rocks or jam or catch phrases. You don’t have to throw it at people. You don’t need to smear it on everything or pin it on your lapel. The Bible changes one’s life, it doesn’t supplant it. If you want to spread the Word, live the Bible, don’t just quote it.

7 business wisdoms in the Bible?

So, if the Bible continues to be the best-selling book worldwide every year. . .

  • Have you read it (from cover to cover)?
  • What is your favourite passage(s). . . Why?
  • What part does it play in your business?

Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun and he was right. Methods may change, but thousands of years ago people were still people dealing with issues just like we do.

I did some digging to find some scriptures about business; because I want to do business God’s way.

Therefore, whether you are a business owner, an employee of a business, or just buy stuff from businesses (that covers just about all of us) there is some wisdom to be received from these scriptures.

  1. The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. – Genesis 2:15 NIV – we were made to work
  2. Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. – Exodus 23:12 NIV – we need to rest from our work
  3. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers. – Exodus 35:35 NIV – we have all been given different abilities
  4. Do not defraud or rob your neighbour. Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight. – Leviticus 19:13 NIV – we have been given principals to follow
  5. Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. – Deuteronomy 25:13-15 NIV – we need to do business honestly
  6. Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. – Psalm 112:5 NIV – we are blessed to be a blessing
  7. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters . . . . – Colossians 3:23 NIV – ultimately we are actually work for God

The challenge to you

So let me challenge you . . .read your Bible . . .and apply the business principles in it to your business. . .and see the difference it makes.

Andrew L'Alamont

About the Author

Andrew L’Almont is the Chief Partnerships Officer at Vision Christian Media.

Contact Andrew via email on andrew@vision.org.au