Journal of Biblical Integration in Business

After the Fall: Scriptural Implications for Artificial Intelligence Innovation

Cora Barnhart — 2024-12-16

Innovation is often met with resistance, but the rapid pace of artificial intelligence (AI) development and adoption across the economy raises unique concerns, including the possibility of supplanting humans and diminishing human knowledge and creativity. This article uses the biblical narrative of the Fall to develop four challenges posed by AI: pursuing the knowledge and skills necessary to apply AI ethically, maintaining honesty without any hint of deceit, avoiding partiality, and seeking ways to influence ethical guidelines for the use of AI within professional disciplines.

Redeeming AI: A Response to “After the Fall: Scriptural Implications for Artificial Intelligence Innovation”

Larry Locke — 2024-12-16

Cora Barnhart and Leslie Turner’s article, “After the Fall: Scriptural Implications for Artificial Intelligence Innovation,” is a timely and insightful piece on the Christian response to the growing penetration of artificial intelligence systems across industries.

New Testament-Based Culture and Climate as Antecedents to Employee Engagement and Psychological Safety

Bruce Winston — 2024-12-16

The purpose of this study included testing to determine if there was a relationship between the New Testament-based organizational spirituality concept, as measured by the NTOS-L and NTOS-C scales, and employees’ self-perception of their work engagement and psychological safety. Survey Monkey’s Audience Service collected 226 usable results from participants who were 21 years of age or older and had three or more years of work experience. We conducted a three-model hierarchical multiple regression for each of the six dependent variables (three variables measuring employee engagement and three variables measuring psychological safety). We controlled for gender and tenure. NTOS-L and NTOS-C significantly impacted the six dependent variables. Neither gender nor tenure were significantly related to the dependent variables. In addition, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis of the NTOS-L and NTOS-C scales, with each measurement model showing a good fit. We recommend several future research areas to gain a greater understanding of the New Testament-based organizational spirituality concept

Work As Post-Pandemic Worship: The Urgent Task of Formulating a Theology of Work for Today

Martin Jones — 2024-12-16

Over the last three years, we have all been witnesses to a watershed moment in recent history. COVID- 19 ushered in a new era of human existence, the result of which is that our present context is not the same as that which existed prior to spring 2020. As we emerge from the pandemic, COVID-19 appears to have impacted morality and created a new ethical landscape from that which existed prior to it. The marketplace has undergone change, and we are only just beginning to assess what the future might look like. The first glimpse of the workplace as it emerges from the pandemic reflects what we are discovering in society as a whole—that a moral shift has taken place towards individualism, with choices being driven by personal preference. The knock-on effect will most certainly impact how Christians perceive the intersection of theology and work. Today’s marketplace is more self-focused, which undermines how Christians must approach their work. The need for a re-evaluation of a theological ethic for this emergent marketplace is evident. The Christian response to work today ought not to embrace the new individualism but must reject self as god and reaffirm the original creation mandate of work as stewardship, worship, and a missional endeavor.

Scaling the Business Enterprise: Lessons from the Early Church

Ernest Liang — 2024-12-16

Significant changes, whether at the organizational or social level, are effected only at scale. The early Christian church delivered perhaps the most remarkable scaling phenomenon in history, exhibiting tremendous resilience, resourcefulness, and capacity to leverage adversity. Adherents to the faith manifested the power of a simple vision that spawned a strong culture and elicited behaviors that delivered remarkable outcomes through networking, change management, and incentives mechanisms—lessons with broad beneficial implications for scaling nascent enterprises.

God and Mammon: Christian Thought About Enterprise in the 21st Century

Chris Langford — 2024-12-16

This article examines different perspectives within the Christian faith concerning enterprise activity, including the generation of profit, impact, and scale. It builds from the core assumption that Christians hold different schemas about enterprise, religious teachings, and the proper methods for integrating their faith and work. Schema theory is utilized in the article to suggest Christian enterprisers hold one of the four primary mental models concerning their enterprises. An integrated typology is developed and the ramifications for enterprise activity are explored.

Plugging in the Pentateuch: A Biblical Framework for Effective Managerial Strategies

David Fowler — 2024-12-16

This study investigates the integration of principles from the Pentateuch into contemporary management practices, with a focus on ethical, effective, and socially responsible leadership. By analyzing leadership styles, ethical frameworks, teamwork, communication, and stewardship through the lens of figures such as Abraham and Moses, this paper provides a comprehensive examination of visionary, servant, and adaptive leadership. Ethical principles derived from fairness, truthfulness, and integrity underpin the decision-making process while teamwork dynamics and communication strategies offer actionable guidance. The paper concludes with practical recommendations for implementation in organizational training and policy development. The findings aim to contribute to the discourse on leadership practices and encourage further research into cross-cultural applications, longitudinal studies, and comparative organizational analyses.

Meeting the Challenge of Ensuring Fair Compensation for Church Employees

Jerome Lockett — 2024-12-16

Even when serving in corporate America, Christian business professionals are routinely placed in charge of the financial operations of local churches. Whether full-time or volunteer, having been entrusted with the local church’s finances, Christian businesspeople are obliged to ensure that the organization’s pay structure is fair. This paper will explore the meaning of fair compensation and examine issues surrounding fair compensation for both clergy and non-pastoral church employees. A compensation study from the Southern Baptist Convention and Lifeway Christian Resources, along with Guidestone Financial Resources and other research will be used to identify appropriate determinants of clergy and non-clergy compensation based on position, education, budget, membership, and other factors. This paper will offer multiple strategies to assist Christian business professionals responsible for compensation fairness for church employees.

The Marks of The Spiritual Entrepreneur: Competencies, Entrepreneurial Mindset, and Worldview

Janice Black — 2024-12-16

Is there a way to distinguish an entrepreneur from the rest of the population? Is there way to distinguish a successful entrepreneur from other entrepreneurs? Is there a way to distinguish an entrepreneur who is a true Christian from other entrepreneurs? This paper suggests that the answer to these questions is, “Yes, but it is complicated.” Taking a strategic management approach, the authors outline the connections between an entrepreneur’s critical competencies, created by and embedded in an entrepreneurial mindset and the individual’s worldview. We propose that success results from fitting competencies to the market through the entrepreneurial mindset and making decisions through the entrepreneur’s value system embedded in his or her worldview. The paper ends with a model showing the links between the entrepreneur’s mindset and a biblical worldview.

A Tribute to Sharon Johnson

Richard Martinez — 2024-12-16

On May 14, 2024, Dr. Sharon Johnson, founding editor of the Journal of Biblical Integration in Business, went to be with the Lord. In recognition of his service and gratitude for his friendship, the journal is pleased to publish a small collection of tributes to Dr. Johnson by some of those who knew him best.

Saving the Protestant Ethic: Creative Class Evangelicalism and the Crisis of Work By Andrew Lynn

Jason Stansbury — 2024-12-16

Saving the Protestant Ethic is a sociological account of the Faith at Work Movement, a social movement among a subset of mostly white and mostly male Evangelical Christians whose living is made in professional, managerial, entrepreneurial, or creative work. That movement addresses a widespread sense among adherents that Evangelical religion does not value and does not meaningfully inform the work that so absorbs their energies and identities.

The Sacredness of Secular Work: 4 Ways Your Job Matters for Eternity (Even When You’re Not Sharing the Gospel) by Jordan Raynor

Trevor Hodges — 2024-12-16

How does secular work matter for eternity? Jordan Raynor sets out to answer this question in his book, The Sacredness of Secular Work: 4 Ways Your Job Matters for Eternity (Even When You’re Not Sharing the Gospel). Raynor writes his book to expand upon established biblical concepts of work and missions to encourage his audience to spread the gospel through their actions, not just via evangelism. The insights shared by the author allow readers to view their work as worthwhile as they continue working with a renewed perspective on the grace of God upon their lives and professions. Raynor argues that a Christian’s secular work maintains eternal value when performed for God’s glory, which calls Christians to view their work as essential to God’s perfect plan.

Magnify Your Impact: Powering Profit With Purpose By M. Miller and H. Nokes

Mike Pease — 2024-12-16

Magnify Your Impact aims to help business leaders consider their company’s deliberate contributions to societal needs. The authors, Maggie Miller and Hannah Nokes, suggest that when companies align their resources with the organization’s core purpose, they magnify the company’s value for all stakeholders. Miller, the “Chief Troublemaker,” is driven by her passion for thinking “outside of the box” and pushing the limits of what is considered standard. She has an M.A. and founded an international microcredit nonprofit, which she ran for ten years. She then transitioned to a consultancy to influence corporate leaders to use their profits to facilitate special purposes. Nokes, the “Chief Optimist,” is equally passionate about her work. With an M.B.A. and previous careers at 3M and Lockheed Martin, she now leads the vision of Magnify Impact alongside Miller.

Endings: Review Board, Guidelines & Opportunities

Larry Locke — 2024-12-16

Endings: Review Board, Guidelines & Opportunities