Thinking with Jesus

How we can improve our decision-making process.

The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw a huge increase in productivity in the developed world. With the advent of assembly-line manufacturing, factories and mills made large strides in efficiency and output. This period is often called the Industrial Revolution because of the dramatic way that the growth of industries changed society. As with any other social transformation, however, these changes had elements of both light and darkness to them. And as we might expect, the church took notice.

Observing the increase in child labor, unsafe working conditions, poverty, and extremely long working hours, Pope Leo XIII voiced his concern. In his encyclical Rerum Novarum (All Things New), the pope stated that “human beings are not to be used as mere instruments for money-making” (RN, 42). He said that owners of capital are obliged to look after the welfare of their employees, suppliers, and their customers.

Now this article is not meant to be about Rerum Novarum or the Industrial Revolution. We simply wanted to use this history to illustrate an important point about our own lives. Just as Leo XIII called for business owners to include a higher philosophy aimed at the common good, we too are called to include a higher philosophy in our decision making—a philosophy that considers God’s purposes and the welfare…

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