I am currently preparing to preach for our series on the Theology of Work, and in the course of my study, I encountered the writings of Abraham Kuyper, particularly his thoughts on business and economics.

Abaraham Kuyper was a Dutch theologian, pastor, journalist, educator, and statesman who eventually became Prime Minister of the Netherlands in the early 1900s. He was one of the most influential Christian thinkers on the relationship between faith and public life. What made Kuyper particularly compelling to me was his conviction that Christianity should never be confined to the church or to our private spiritual lives. For him, the lordship of Christ extended to education, politics, culture, economics, business, and every other area of human life.

He is perhaps best known for the idea that there is not one square inch of creation over which Christ does not declare, “Mine.” That conviction becomes especially clear in On Business and Economics, a collection of Kuyper’s writings on work, capital, labor, money, poverty, business, government, social responsibility, and economic life.

What struck me while reading Kuyper is how relevant his ideas remain today. In fact, I would argue that many of the economic and business issues he wrestled with more than a century ago have become even more important in our time.

I have spent most of my adult life in finance and business, and one thing I have learned is that economics is never just about economics. Behind every business decision is a view of people. Behind every financial system is a view of what matters. Behind every pursuit of profit is a deeper question of purpose. Numbers may appear neutral, but what we choose to do with those numbers is never neutral.

Kuyper was writing during a period of industrialization when societies were struggling with the concentration of wealth, the relationship between capital and labor, poverty, harsh working conditions, rapid technological change, and the growing power of businesses and governments.

Does that sound familiar?

More than a hundred years later, we are still asking many of the same questions. How much power should corporations have? What do businesses owe their workers? What is the proper role of government in the economy? What happens when wealth becomes concentrated among a few? How should we balance profit with human dignity? What happens when technology begins replacing people?

These questions have become even more urgent today. We live in an age where business success is often measured almost entirely by numbers: revenue, valuation, market share, returns, productivity, and shareholder value. None of these things are inherently wrong. Businesses need to be profitable, obviously. A business that consistently loses money will eventually stop employing people and stop serving customers.

But Kuyper reminds us that profit cannot be the ultimate purpose of business. And this is where his thinking connects strongly with what I would call kingdom economics.

Kingdom economics begins with a very simple but profound truth: everything belongs to God. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” Our businesses belong to God, our money belongs to God, our skills belong to God, our opportunities belong to God, our capital belongs to God… even the marketplace ultimately belongs to God. Once we understand this, the meaning of ownership begins to change. Ownership is never absolute, ownership is stewardship.

The question is no longer simply, “How much can I make?” The better question becomes, “What has God entrusted to me, and how can I steward it faithfully?” That includes profit, but it also includes people. This is one of the things I appreciate most about Kuyper. He refused to reduce workers into mere units of production.

We often use the term “human resources” today. There is nothing inherently wrong with the term, but we must be careful that our language does not eventually shape the way we see people. People are not merely resources, they are image bearers. Genesis 1:27 tells us that human beings were created in the image of God. That means the person cleaning the office carries the same God-given dignity as the CEO sitting in the boardroom. The warehouse worker, the driver, the sales clerk, the executive, the entrepreneur, and the professional all bear the image of God.

This has enormous implications for the way we conduct business. How do we pay people? How do we treat them? How do we develop them? How do we make decisions when the business is under pressure? How do we balance productivity with compassion? How do we pursue efficiency without sacrificing human dignity?

These are not merely management questions, they are theological questions…This is also where theology of work becomes very practical. Work did not begin after the fall as work was part of God’s original design.

Genesis 2:15 tells us that God placed Adam in the garden “to work it and keep it.” Before there was sin, there was work, meaning work is not merely something we endure so we can earn money and eventually retire. Work is part of what it means to bear the image of God.

We create, we cultivate, we organize, we solve problems, we build, we produce, we bring order where there is disorder, and we take what God has placed in creation and develop its possibilities.

When done well, work becomes a form of love for our neighbor. A doctor serves through medicine. A teacher serves through education. An engineer serves by building infrastructure. A banker serves by helping allocate capital. A farmer serves by producing food. A businessman serves by creating useful goods and services, organizing resources, and providing employment.

This is something Tim Keller also emphasizes in Every Good Endeavor: our work matters because through it we participate, in some small way, in God’s care for His creation and in the flourishing of our neighbor.

But because we live in a fallen world, work can also become distorted. Business can become greed, ambition can become idolatry, efficiency can become exploitation, profit can become the only measure that matters and success can become our identity.

Remember, money is a very useful servant, but it is a terrible master. Jesus was clear in Matthew 6:24: “You cannot serve God and money.” Notice that Jesus did not say money itself was evil. He warned us about what happens when money becomes a master.

That may be one of the greatest economic dangers of our generation. We live in a culture that constantly tells us that more is better. More money, more growth, more possessions, more influence, more followers, more market share and more valuation.

Kingdom economics forces us to ask a different question: How much is enough? And perhaps an even more important question: Enough for what?

If God gives us more resources, the biblical response should not automatically be greater consumption. Greater provision should also lead to greater stewardship, greater generosity, greater responsibility, and a greater capacity to bless others.

Kuyper is also helpful because he refused to put absolute faith either in markets or in government. That is especially important today because economic debates often force us into extremes. On one side is the belief that the market should be left alone and will eventually solve everything. On the other is the belief that government must step in and solve almost everything.

Kuyper challenges both assumptions. Markets are useful, but markets are not saviors. Governments are necessary, but governments are not saviors either. Only God is sovereign. Kuyper developed the idea of what he called sphere sovereignty. Society consists of different spheres—family, church, government, business, education, civil society—and each has its own God-given responsibilities. None should try to dominate all the others.

This is incredibly helpful.

Businesses should be allowed to create and innovate. Governments should uphold justice and protect the vulnerable. Families should form people. Churches should disciple believers. Schools should educate. Civil society should serve communities. When one sphere attempts to become absolute, society begins to become distorted.

There is another reason Kuyper’s thinking is becoming even more relevant today. We are entering a period when artificial intelligence, automation, globalization, and technology are fundamentally changing the nature of work.

We can produce more with fewer people. Machines can perform tasks that once required hundreds of workers. Artificial intelligence is beginning to perform work we once assumed required uniquely human intelligence. This creates tremendous opportunity, but it also creates tremendous responsibility. We must never allow efficiency to become more important than humanity.

The question cannot simply be, “Can technology replace this worker?” We should also ask, “What kind of economy are we creating for human beings?” That is a kingdom question.

In God’s economy, people can never simply become costs that need to be reduced. They are neighbors we are called to love.

This does not mean businesses should ignore efficiency or maintain structures that are no longer sustainable. Stewardship requires wisdom: businesses sometimes need to restructure and leaders sometimes have to make painful decisions. But Christian leadership must always remember that behind every spreadsheet is a person. Behind every payroll number is a family. Behind every retrenchment decision is a story. Behind every business decision is ultimately a moral decision.

I really believe theology of work matters so much. We cannot continue treating Christianity as something we practice on Sunday while conducting business according to a completely different set of values from Monday to Saturday.

Jesus is not merely Lord of our worship services. He is Lord of our boardrooms. He is Lord of our investments. He is Lord of our hiring decisions. He is Lord of our compensation policies. He is Lord of our profits. He is Lord of our ambitions. And He is Lord of the marketplace.

For me, this is where kingdom economics becomes very personal.

After spending decades in finance, I have seen what money can do. Money can provide, protect, create opportunities, fund businesses, educate children and bless generations. But I have also seen money destroy relationships, distort priorities, feed pride, and give people a false sense of security.

The gospel gives us a different economic imagination. We are not ultimately owners. We are stewards. We are not merely consumers. We are servants. We are not called simply to accumulate. We are called to participate in God’s work in the world.vAnd we do this not only through ministry inside the church. We do it through our businesses, through our professions, through our investments, through our workplaces, through the way we treat people, through the way we deploy capital, through the way we create value and through the way we serve our communities.

Business can become worship. Work can become witness. Profit can become provision. Capital can become a tool for human flourishing. Success can become stewardship.

This, I believe, is why Abraham Kuyper’s thinking may be even more relevant today than when he first articulated it. The great challenge before us is not simply to build bigger businesses or stronger economies. It is to build businesses and economies that remember what human beings are for. We were not created merely to produce, we were not created merely to consume,we were not created merely to accumulate wealth… we were created to bear the image of God, to cultivate His creation, to love our neighbor, and ultimately to live under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

The goal of kingdom economics is therefore not simply a more prosperous economy, it is a more faithful one. An economy where capital serves people rather than controls them. Where profit serves purpose rather than replaces it, where work carries dignity, where wealth carries responsibility, where business serves the common good… and where those of us entrusted with resources remember that one day we will give an account to the true Owner of everything. That is the kind of economics worth pursuing, the kind of business worth building, and that is the kind of work that truly matters.

My 2 cents.