Wealth creation is not the same as making people rich. Helping people have access to opportunities that will allow them to be creative and productive, and to provide for their families and children, can often only take place through wealth creation, which never comes from handouts. One of my favorite lines from the Poverty Cure is this, "I have never heard of a third world nation becoming a first world nation because of aid. That track is wrong and it leads nowhere."
I was happy to see the Lausanne Movement and BAM Global come out recently with a wealth creation manifesto. I think they have done a very nice job of putting this together. I have pasted it below and would love to hear thoughts on this.
As the DML team has just completed three different trainings in Nigeria (Abuja, Jos, and Lagos) that apparently went very well. Close to three hundred pastors and church leaders were trained in Discipling Marketplace Leaders! I will include some pictures from those trainings at the end of this post.
Wealth Creation Manifesto
Background
The Lausanne
Movement and BAM Global organized a Global Consultation on The Role of Wealth Creation for Holistic
Transformation, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in March 2017. About 30 people
from 20 nations participated, primarily from the business world, and also from
church, missions and academia. The findings will be published in several papers
and a book, as well as an educational video. This Manifesto conveys the
essentials of our deliberations before and during the Consultation.
Affirmations
1. Wealth
creation is rooted in God the Creator, who created a world that flourishes with
abundance and diversity.
2. We
are created in God’s image, to co-create with Him and for Him, to create
products and services for the common good.
3. Wealth
creation is a holy calling, and a God-given gift, which is commended in the
Bible.
4. Wealth
creators should be affirmed by the Church, and equipped and deployed to serve
in the marketplace among all peoples and nations.
5. Wealth
hoarding is wrong, and wealth sharing should be encouraged, but there is no
wealth to be shared unless it has been created.
6. There
is a universal call to generosity, and contentment is a virtue, but material
simplicity is a personal choice, and involuntary poverty should be alleviated.
7. The
purpose of wealth creation through business goes beyond giving generously,
although that is to be commended; good business has intrinsic value as a means
of material provision and can be an agent of positive transformation in
society.
8. Business
has a special capacity to create financial wealth, but also has the potential
to create different kinds of wealth for many stakeholders, including social,
intellectual, physical and spiritual wealth.
9. Wealth
creation through business has proven power to lift people and nations out of
poverty.
10. Wealth
creation must always be pursued with justice and a concern for the poor, and
should be sensitive to each unique cultural context.
11. Creation
care is not optional. Stewardship of creation and business solutions to
environmental challenges should be an integral part of wealth creation through
business.
Appeal
We present these
affirmations to the Church worldwide, and especially to leaders in business,
church, government, and academia.
• We
call the church to embrace wealth creation as central to our mission of
holistic transformation of peoples and societies.
• We
call for fresh, ongoing efforts to equip and launch wealth creators to that
very end.
• We
call wealth creators to perseverance, diligently using their God-given gifts to
serve God and people.
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam - For the greater glory of God
Version 4.0: 23 April 2017
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| Dr. Walker, Barbie Odom, and the leaders from Lagos |
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| 200+ pastors in Lagos, very excited to be together. |
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| After a long and tiring trip, Dr. Walker still teaching with passion. |
