Cohesion is about connecting dots. Cohesion brings meaning as the parts stick together, they work together, and they create a unified whole. Like Avodah.
Avodah is the Hebrew word for work, worship and service. It is used interchangeably in the Hebrew bible. Worship is not sanctified entertainment. Work is worship. Avodah. The Jewish concept means work is worship as we serve God and people. Life as an integrated whole: to work, worship and serve. Cohesion!
Or as the Apostle Paul said: Whatever you do, do it unto the Lord.
Thus, business is not a distraction from serving God. Business is Avodah: work, worship, service. We’re taking our Sunday talk into a Monday walk. We’re connecting the dots. Cohesion, a unified whole.
There is a time to compartmentalize. Science does it. Like water is hydrogen and oxygen. But when you’re thirsty you don’t want a chemical formula, but an integrated whole. And we don’t play oxygen against hydrogen. Or the spiritual against the physical. Cohesion, a unified whole, quenches thirst and gives life.
Our faith needs cohesion, also as we do business and seek impact. Faith is not a mere intellectual exercise. Faith mustn’t be a thin veneer brushed over our business operations. We’re not doing business with just a touch of churchianity. Faith should be an integrated whole; authentic, real, and permeating who we are and what we do.
What is the purpose of business? Is it primarily about making money, maximizing profit? If so, I suggest we do drug or human trafficking. Very profitable. But I assume we all say: No! I won’t do that. Why not, I may ask? Because it is against our faith, our values. Rightly so.
But then we need to ask: what is our faith and what are the underpinning values that should inform and guide us? Values deeply rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition which should shape our businesses. Identifying, internalizing and applying these values will make a difference, and have an impact. Let’s see how that plays out in real life on a macro scale.
Why is North Korea dirt poor and oppressive, while South Korea is flourishing in so many ways? A reason is three foundational values from Genesis which make a huge difference. Creativity, freedom and dignity.
We are created in God’s image to be creative, including creating goods and services in community and for community. God gave us freedom to exercise this creativity, also in the marketplace. Because, without freedom there is no creativity. Without freedom human dignity is affected. And work gives dignity. Handouts never give dignity, but jobs do. In the Jewish tradition, the highest form of charity is to give someone a job, or a loan so they can develop a business.
North Korea shuns freedom, creativity, and dignity and its people pay a heavy price. But in South Korea we can witness these values in action, and its transformative impact.
There are other biblical values which are a part on an integrated faith. Cohesion, parts working together. Like shalom. When shalom exists between people, also in business, there’s trust and honesty. Each person seeks the other’s well-being. The relationships mirrors harmony — between humans, God, and creation.
We want to see the Kingdom of God preached, demonstrated and extended as we do business. But it is not “Kingdom values” without the King, or applying “Christian ethics” without Christ.
The Great Commission makes that clear, and also reminds us about the global thrust – to all peoples and nations.
God is the original entrepreneur, who created in community and for community, and after each production day he did quality control. It was good!
There was an astute business woman in the Middle East many centuries ago. She assessed market opportunities, invested, made a profit, reinvested to grow her business, and gave part of the profit to charitable causes. She was in manufacturing and retail, and she had functioning supply chain. She provided employment and cared for staff and other stakeholders. Her impact in business was recognized citywide. We can read about her in Proverbs chapter 31.
God called and equipped John Cadbury to business, 200 years ago, when he started the chocolate factory in Birmingham, England. It had a holistic impact on many stakeholders for several generations. There was cohesion, faith and impact.
God called and equipped Hans Nielsen Hauge in Norway, also two centuries ago. He was instrumental in catalyzing a nationwide spiritual revival as well as starting an entrepreneurship movement, which transformed the nation. There was cohesion, faith and impact.
Today there is a global movement of women and men in business, called by God to start and grow businesses, and to find business solutions to human trafficking, growing youth unemployment, environmental challenges, and to serve unreached peoples. And make Christ known.
But how about faith in the marketplace? Good question, but remember that faith is not an imposition, but a proposition. We are never to impose Jesus, but propose Him. He should be a part of our value proposition, alongside our products and services. Why? Because of a cohesive faith seeking impact, and market demands.
A global survey done by McKinsey shows clearly, that the vast majority of people around the globe, regardless of culture, religion and socioeconomic status, consider spiritual health just as vital and important as physical, mental and social health. So, making Jesus – and our faith – an integral part of our value proposition can make business sense and meet a need in the market.
We live in a world that is broken, in so many ways. We live in the tension of the world that is and the world as it ought to be. But we are called to repair it, to mend, to heal, to be change agents. We see dire poverty. Not what it ought to be. We see unemployment making people vulnerable to exploitation and human traffickers. Not what it ought to be. We see big rivers in south Asia deeply polluted. Not what it ought to be. We know of large areas around the world where the name of Jesus is rarely heard. Not what it ought to be. But there are business solutions to many of these challenges.
Tikkun olam is another Jewish concept, which means bridging the gap between the world which is broken, and to a world as it ought to be – filled with Shalom. Tikkun olam means repairing the world, to co-create with God, bring hope and healing to the world, also through business. The Lord’s prayer is a tikkun olam prayer. May your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven – as we do business.
To heal and repair – tikkun olam. It is about a cohesive faith and holistic impact.
A few more words about impact. We are to serve God and people with professionalism, excellence and integrity, and trust God for impact. As Saint Paul put it: I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow.
Paul and Apollos served faithfully in the ‘Chronos’, in time and space where we operate and have certain control. But then there were ‘Kairos’ moments. God can use the planting and the watering for an impact bigger than us, and beyond our control. Don’t try to do God’s job – it is tiring, and doesn’t really work. Do your job in businesses, or whatever it may be, with a cohesive faith, but trust God for impact.
In conclusion, let me quote Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. He writes about faith, tikkun olam, and a purpose driven life to make an impact.
“To live the life of faith is to hear the silent cry of the afflicted, the lonely and marginal, the poor, the sick and the disempowered, and to respond. For the world is not yet mended, there is work still to do, and God has empowered us to do it – with him, for him. … As long as there is unemployment and homelessness, depression and despair, our task is not yet done, and we hear, if we listen carefully enough, the voice of God asking us, as he asked the first humans, ‘Where are you?”
Dare we respond: Lord, here am I – send me
PS. This is a slightly revised version of the presentation I did at the Branches Summit https://www.branchessummit.com/ in Ohio, USA early November 2025.
Tags: avodah, Hans Nielsen Hauge, John Cadbury, Proverbs chapter 31, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Tikkun olam