Do people's faith and their relationship to God have a place in business or on the job site? It might be more to the point to ask if the workplace itself can really do without a spiritual impetus today. Many social commentaries have lamented the decline in ethical and moral values throughout the decade of the 1980s, yet there are indications in recent years of a significant shift in business attitudes. As one news analyst for The Observer in London notes: "The signs are that Americans are increasingly turning to their faith to guide them in the workplace. A national network of chapter meetings is being established, with business leaders meeting each month to discuss the problems of reconciling the harshness of the workplace with their spiritual needs and beliefs." By Lorna Slade, reprinted in The Houston Chronicle, January 13, 1996 . In another news report, author Laura Nash, who has studied extensively the new trend toward spirituality in business, is quoted: "If you have a world view based on faith, you have an ability to see the long term." She continues, "If your mind is on the kingdom of God, quarterly profits are not everything." "Religion," The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA), January 27/28, 1996 .
This, of course, doesn't imply that success in business is no longer important. Yet the measure of success is more often being taken with a different yardstick. As both news reports pointed out, the issues of how a business serves and benefits people, including its employees, and how ethics and moral principles can be advanced, are increasingly viewed as crucial. And each of these issues is being addressed creatively by a growing number of business people. At the same time, rigorous effort is being made to balance all of this with the responsibility for ensuring appropriate profits, which are essential for any business if it is to continue functioning and to demonstrate its usefulness to society.
There is strong evidence that a spiritual approach in the workplace invariably makes a significant contribution both to the lives of employees and to the business. The work ethic and purpose of business people, as well as the purpose of business itself, are lifted to the highest level of operation and the highest degree of meaningful utility, or genuine success, as the laws of God are understood and then applied to each endeavor or venture.
