Doing Virtuous Business: A Review

Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, a professor at Yale University, provides a cogent defense of capitalist society in his recent book Doing Virtuous Business. While the intent of manuscript focuses upon the incorporation of faith-based practices into corporations, he demonstrates clearly the worthlessness of socialist critiques of modern capitalism. Malloch does concede that examples of perverse business practices exist, yet he changes the argument into one where left-wing critiques are forced to understand their contributions to these shortcomings.

Malloch focuses upon spiritual capital, which he defines on page 60: “the long-term investment of trust that is contained in a religious faith, and which enables people freely to elicit the best in each other, however menial the task.” He described numerous examples of organizations that are founding upon religious principles and demonstrates their profitability. His underlying assumption stated that faith-based practices produce better profits and satisfaction for all involved.

He correctly states that “we are works in progress, and God has a purpose in it all” (xiv); however, I left this book with a fear. That fear is based upon an omission by the author because he never addressed an implication. Instead of driving home that faith acts as a personal change agent, he left impression that anyone with any belief in any higher power will attain profit by having faith. By remaining silent on the issue, Malloch inadvertently sides with historians like Paul E. Johnson who state that religion is little more than social control (see his work A Shopkeeper’s Millennium). After all, if faith is just a tool that can produce corporate profit and philanthropic drive or control the behaviors of the masses, then faith is of little, eternal value. While the author does have a short chapter (only 13 pages) devote to answering some questions, he needed more time on the issues mentioned above to fully explain away the concern.

The book is structured logically in an easy-to-follow manner. He begins through a discussion of spiritual capital but refuses to define it until much later in the work. He moves through the classical assumptions – both Greek and Roman – of virtue and highlights why he selected the specific virtues in the book. The next two chapters discuss “hard” (leadership, courage, patience, perseverance, discipline) and “soft” (justice, forgiveness, compassion, humility, gratitude) virtues in significant detail with specific, corporate examples provided for each. In my opinion, the strength of the work rests in these sections and Appendix 1 where he restates the virtue and summarizes the examples.

Assuredly, this work advances content that should reach the hands of every corporate CEO. However, I caution readers to avoid viewing these pages as a get-rich-quick scheme. Faith must change the heart before it can change the life. Even then, Jesus Christ beckons us to choose whom to serve – God or money – because no man can serve two masters.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Truth....

It is amazing that you read passages over and over but completely miss things. I guess our lives are so busy that we must force ourselves to "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). In this fast-paced world of so many gadgets, it truly is hard to be still and think; yet, those times of personal and spiritual reflection are invaluable.

On my drive home this evening, I was pondering two verses from Matthew 21. Verse 26 and verse 45 contain a similar phrase: "they feared the multitude." In this first instance, the religious rulers demanded an answer from Christ, but He told them to answer Him first. They chose not to answer because He forced them to make a choice -- admit who sent John the Baptist (God), which would destroy their "religious authority," or call John the Baptist a mere man, which would rile the people against them because they perceived him to be a prophet. They chose the neutral position of not saying anything.

The second instant is rather similar because they were angry at Jesus. Again, Christ confronted them with truth, but, instead of changing, they hoped to end this Jesus issue once and for all. They did nothing because they feared the people's view of Jesus as a great prophet.

In both of these vignettes, the religious rulers -- those that were to set the tone for the entire nation -- chose error over truth. They had opportunities to recognize Jesus as God and follow Him, but they held on to personal pride and prestige instead of humbling themselves before the truth.

I had never thought about these passages in that manner until this afternoon, and then I thought about my life's routine. This application fits both the physical, social, and spiritual worlds that we inhabit. We want to preserve what we know as a comfortable or secure life, and that often means remaining silent when we should not. The old adage that "silence means assent" applies perfectly here. Do we or do we not value the truth? If we value the truth, then it should be spoken at every opportunity. Yes, revealing of truth needs to be done with love and in tactful manners; however, not speaking the truth is perpetuating error.

Do you love the truth? If so, do you live truthfully? That last question is the penetrating one for me. I pray that God will challenge my heart and mind to speak the truth when the opportunities are presented to me.