I have seen a couple of reviews from friends, magazines, and online about Stephen Mansfield's book, The Search for God and Guinness so when I was in Barnes and Noble recently I asked if they had a copy and dove into it quickly. The book is an intriguing history of "the beer that changed the world." I have read a book about George W. Bush that Mansfield wrote a few years back and enjoyed his biographical writing so I thought this would be interesting as well, plus the book was published by Thomas Nelson, a Christian book publisher.
The title alone was intriguing for me on a couple of levels. Guinness is essentially the official beer of Ireland, since I am part Irish and love celebrating St. Patrick's Day with family and friends I was curious about how this brewery had "shaped the world." As a minister, I am naturally drawn to people's quest for God!
I learned a great deal about the history of beer making and the history of Guinness. What struck me most was the faith of particular members of this family who has been the keepers of one of the most recognizable brands in the world. The founder Arthur Guinness was devout man of faith who was
spurred to excellence in his trade, brew master, because of the Reformation influenced faith that he embraced. He was greatly influenced by contemporary preachers of his day like George Whitefield and John Wesley. In addition to that, his descendants were tied to other great preachers and missionaries of the last two centuries, men like Charles
Spurgeon, D.L. Moody, Hudson Taylor, and David Livingstone. The Guinness clan spawned many missionaries and other members of the clergy in addition to men and women who did not take their privilege, wealth or
position for granted but used it to better others in need and poverty all around them. There really are too many stories to relate here, rest assured the guiding principle in the company was to give back to others be it employees, orphans, and any one else in need.
Historians have described The Protestant Ethos, the notion that anything a person puts their hands and mind to can be viewed as their gift, their offering to God, not just a minister or clergy, in great detail. It seems that Arthur Guinness and many of his descendants truly believed at the core of Christianity was this affirmation that workbenches, ledgers, blacksmith irons were just as much sacred tools as the lectern, the liturgy, and the prayers of ordained clergy. Thus they sought to offer their best efforts and promote the most good for their culture that could be found.
Don't misunderstand me or the Guinness family for blindly endorsing alcohol in general or beer in particular! What a tragedy to miss out on the story of this family and the lives that it impacted for the good, even for the sake of the gospel through it's two hundred plus years!
The Guinness Brewery was light years ahead of providing health, leisure, and educational benefits for its employees and their families. They valued and treasured family like few institutions did or even do now. At the core of their company is an unflinching belief in investing in people because they are who God has fashioned in his image.
Along the way they also impacted pop culture, The Guinness Book of World Records was originally a promotional move by the brewery as a trivia book for pubs and patrons!
Mansfield ends his fascinating account of the Guinness story by offering 5 maxims that the reader can draw from this family.
- Discern the ways of God for life and business.
- Think in terms of generations yet to come.
- Whatever else you do, do at least one thing very well.
- Master the facts before you act.
- Invest in those you would have invest in you.
Perhaps those are some helpful lessons for anyone, maybe even churches...
