Entrepreneurship benefits society in many ways. It delivers obvious and tangible economic blessings. The spiritual blessings of entrepreneurship are harder to see, and yet these are essential in order to arrive at a more complete understanding of the role entrepreneurship plays within a virtuous society. This article considers common grace as a helpful lens through which to view the spiritual reality of entrepreneurship and to discern the intangible contributions it provides to economic shalom. Viewed from the perspective of common grace, we can see that entrepreneurship bears witness to the beauty, creativity, power, and responsibility bestowed on Gods image bearers to participate in the providence of economic shalom. Furthermore, common grace provides a context for discussion of the spiritual aspects of entrepreneurship, which can lead to a more profound understanding of business and economics than purely secular discussions can realize. Several themes stand out in this regard: multiformity, spiritual capital, beauty, civic virtue, and risk. We address these themes with special attention to the work of Abraham Kuyper. In conclusion, we see how common grace contributes to an understanding of the spiritual dimensions of entrepreneurship and how this perspective affirms entrepreneurship as a positive movement in the direction of economic shalom.
Bruce Baker, "Entrepreneurship as a Sign of Common Grace," Journal of Markets & Morality 18, no. 1 (Spring 2015): 81-98