Tech giant Apple made international headlines recently when it became the first company with a $1 trillion market capitalization, something one executive says has significant implications for Christians.

UMI (Urban Ministries Inc.) CEO Jeffrey Wright, who has an MBA in finance and international business from Columbia University, says Christians inside global business corporations can change lives and express Christ’s love far beyond the church.

“Imagine if Apple CEO Tim Cook were to decide that pursuing Kingdom outcomes was of equal or greater importance than shareholder value creation,” Wright wrote for UrbanFaith.com. “More people would be employed and fed, healthcare would improve, consumption would go up, families stabilized, and poverty reduced globally.”

Wright suggests that it may be time to further develop a “corporatist” theology, starting with the faith, work, and economics movement. He said books like Amy Sherman’s Kingdom Calling and Tim Keller’s Every Good Endeavor are a start, but other steps are needed for those who want to effectively use corporate entities to make a global impact for God. 

“A corporatist approach . . . could include a nonprofit or for-profit entity, even a church, that uses legal and business structures . . . to accomplish its goals,” Wright said.