There are many instances when the Church today does not acknowledge the needs of Christians in the workplace. The message and values of Christianity tend to end at the point where business begins. According to Bruce L Hartman, author of the book Jesus & CO: Connecting the Lessons of The Gospel with Today's Business World, this should not be the case. Hartman goes further to explain and demonstrate how the principles Jesus taught and lived by are incredibly relevant in modern commerce. As the author notes, most of the people whom Jesus interacted with were ordinary men, craftsmen, merchants and people involved in trade, and his message deeply impacted them. His message then is not only applicable to today’s workforce, but also could be the agent of instilling integrity, transparency and growth in the business world.

For me, the most outstanding feature of the themes and, ultimately, the message projected by Bruce L Hartman in Jesus & CO is that it is borrowed from the author’s own experiences. The plot is dotted by Hartman’s own personal accounts, and those of friends and colleagues he has worked with. On the journey that set him to becoming a CFO of different Fortune 500 companies, Bruce L Hartman has seen the same principles he has written about in this book work for him. His unique perspective of the Gospel was also quite captivating. His point of view of the life of Jesus and the different aspects that we could pick and learn from was deeply impactful. Hartman also helped me merge two worlds that have been considered separate for too long. I definitely recommend this book to all readers who would love to learn how their Christian faith applies to the business world.

Jesus & CO.: Connecting the Lessons of The Gospel with Today's Business World by Bruce L Hartman is a guide for those looking to navigate the business world, armed with a Christ-like ethos and the scriptures to back it up. In each of the book's eleven separate chapters, Hartman provides insight into the different hats worn by Jesus and how they personally applied in various stages to Hartman's own career, with practical and credible advice on how, by living like Christ even in the world of today, true leaders are made. "This is where I could serve, I realized, helping people sort out the moral struggles they came across in the marketplace. A place where people were confronted every day with temptation, need, and ambition."

Jesus & CO. by Bruce L Hartman is a wonderful resource for individuals who may feel that finding balance between career and faith is impossible. It isn't, and Hartman is able to show this effectively. Well written and comfortable to begin implementing if you are truly ready to walk the walk, with pragmatic axioms such as "self worth, not net worth," and "Jesus didn’t concentrate on résumés, he focused on the individuals themselves. Not on what they had done, but what they could do in the future." I can't imagine a Christian in any point in their career that wouldn't benefit from this book, just as I cannot imagine a Christian in any point in their career that wouldn't want to live in a Christ-like way. After all, as a follower of Christ, isn't leading in the same way He did the ultimate goal?