Should all manner of business theory and practice be excluded from the kingdom of God, including the Church? Is there any room for business acumen in our communities of faith, or should all such notions be utterly rejected? Is it "unspiritual" for the Church to use business practices? How should we respond to questions of this sort, especially in light of Jesus' own teachings?

Luke 16:1-12 (NIV) Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg-- I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.' "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' " 'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied."The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'" 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied."He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?

Certainly, there were "business people" in Jesus' day who were dishonest and who oppressed the poor. Yet he doesn't seem to advocate a wholesale rejection of "business" practices -- quite to the contrary. I suppose that a case could easily be made for how "business" is an ancient, pre-Enlightenment practice, which shouldn't be discarded along with modernity's trappings. But my bottom-line question is this: How should the Church navigate this issue in the 21st century?

How or where do we draw the line when it comes to presenting Jesus Christ to a culture -- the line between that which is incarnational and that which is commercialized?

There exists a growing disdain for the commercialization and commodification of the faith, and at the same time -- a growing desire for our faith to be incarnational. Perhaps it's just me, but I'm concerned that we may not know how to answer this question, and maybe we don't even care. But if we do care, then how can we tell if the gospel message has become too enculturated? Is such a thing even possible?

Are there ever times when we should deliberately cut ourselves off from someone? This is a question that continues to pester me -- one that stems primarily from the following ancient exhortations:

2 Thes. 3:14-15 (NIV) If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

1 Cor. 5:11 (NLT) What I meant was that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Don't even eat with such people.

In a culture that promotes tolerance and egalitarianism, how can or should followers of Christ put such strong admonitions into practice? Do we just ignore these passages and the principles they contain? Are we overly afraid of the "fallout" it would cause? And if we do decide to live this out, how can we accomplish such a thing in the Spirit of Christ?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Students of the Old Testament quickly come to realize that the story of God's people, in part, is a story of religious syncretism (the contextualization of theology to the point where it becomes united with or incorporates elements of other religions or systems of belief). Just as God's ancient people often considered the exclusive worship of YHWH as culturally unenlightened and restrictive, choosing therefore to blend their faith with the "benefits" that Canaanite fertility rites and temple prostitution offered -- I wonder to what degree followers of Christ today are promoting a "Christianity PLUS", blending our holy, catholic and apostolic faith with the "benefits" that are now available to us.