How does God see a business’ worth?

“Economic life is not meant solely to multiply goods produced and increase profit or power; it is ordered first of all to the service of persons, of the whole man, and of the entire human community.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church 2426

It may surprise us to learn that the Catholic Church has quite a lot to say about the moral value of human work, the economy, and business practices. On these topics, which make up daily life for so many of us, the Church calls us to see how the work of our hands can and should be a participation in the ongoing, creative work of God. 

To start, the Church has always seen work — human labor — as a good thing. In Genesis we learn that God made us for three things: leisure, love, and labor. He told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden: “Go, cultivate this garden. Care for it; go to work. Be fruitful, multiply.” 

So human work has inherent dignity because a human being — a person created in the image and likeness of God — is doing it, and that person is doing that work in accordance with God’s instruction. Whether our daily tasks find us caretaking within our families or trading stocks online — as long as our actions are morally good, there is great dignity in the occupations that fill our days. 

While inherent dignity is true of all good human work, for Christians something even more incredible becomes possible: if we offer our work to be united with the sufferings of Christ, our daily work can become redemptive. Whether we are serving retail customers or studying in medical school — or whether we are so ill that our work is lying in bed and interceding for others in prayer — our daily cares can be transformed by God and take part in his redemptive plan of salvation. What a gift!

So the Church tells us that human work has dignity and that the work of Christians, when united to the sufferings of Christ, can help redeem the world. What does this mean for the businesses who employ such workers?

The Church lays out for us a beautiful vision of how good businesses build up a healthy social fabric: “the development of economic activity and growth in production are meant to provide for the needs of human beings. Economic life… is ordered first of all to the service of persons, of the whole man, and of the entire community.” When businesses act ethically and contribute in positive ways to society, they are acting “in keeping with… God’s plan for man.” (CCC 2426)

However, the Church warns that money alone can never be the “whole point” for a Catholic employer. The Catechism has strong words for those who would ignore this warning: “Every practice that reduces persons to nothing more than a means of profit enslaves man, leads to idolizing money, and contributes to the spread of atheism.”

I encourage business leaders to carefully read the incredible sections of the Catechism (2419-2436) that go into even more detail about the relationships between employers and workers as well as those of businesses and society. In these passages, the Church summarizes the Catholic social teaching that governs healthy, positive economic activity — the sort of activity that elevates our life on earth and prepares us for heaven.

Business owners do a great service to the community if they “consider the good of persons and not only the increase of profits” (2432). May God bless you in your daily work and help you to put that good work at the service of the whole world.