The development of Seventh Generation’s global imperatives began with a question: What is Seventh Generation uniquely able to do that the world most needs? It’s a question that lies at the heart of our beliefs about the purpose and possibility of business.

While that may seem reaching for a new church plant looking to open a coffee shop. But is it? As I have shared previously on this blog, “Good business practice alone will not by itself point people to Jesus. For that to happen the company must be more intentional.”

Therefore, what are the imperatives that guide us? Or stated another way: “What are the imperatives that are scary, inspiring, hopeful, impossible, and awesome all at the same time, and are designed to provoke change in the world around us by ultimately pointing people to Jesus and thereby incorporating them into our church community?”

As a business we are committed to being an incarnational presence in our community and to encouraging those we do business with “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8).

To achieve this we must create a world of more conscious workers, citizens, and consumers.

We are committed to creating a world that is rich in the values demonstrated in the life of Christ (Luke 22:24-27).

In order to perceive the richness of global Christianity, we must include the recognition the multiplicity of perspectives and contexts from which people read the biblical text.

To achieve this we will work to create social systems that increase the capacity for listening to differing perspectives by the suspension of judgment, the identification of assumptions, and regarding others as colleagues. This type of listening, inquiry, and reflection will require a patient, intentional process on our part.

We believe that our business should engage in the spiritual growth of everyone who works for us. In other words, we will create a discipling culture among us by meeting God daily in a set time of prayer, allowing God confront us daily through the Scriptures, and participate in God’s mission in the world by ever remembering the command, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34).

We are committed to approaching everything we do from a systems perspective, a perspective that allows us to see the larger whole, not a fragmented, compartmentalized world, not just what we want to see, our own point of view, our own reality, but a world that is endlessly interconnected. (For more on systems thinking click here.)

Adapted from 8 Imperatives to Guide the Vision of Value Based Businesses