- Preaching the Gospel: "…so that people would be saved and start to be transformed and the church would be restored to biblical purity."
- Teaching: "…so that people would know how to live, the authorities would know how to govern, and all would know how to work in their different spheres."
- Accountability: "…so that the teaching would not just be theoretical but applied in all areas of life."
Calvin had no room for a Sacred-Secular Divide. He believed "holy vocations" included the work of the banker as well as the pastor, and advised bankers to not charge high interest rates, identifying this as the sin of "usury" in the Bible. Calvin understood that Jesus is the Lord of all banks.
Geneva became "a city on a hill," where a healthy church of transformed people engaging in God-glorifying work throughout every sphere of life in the city brought righteous commerce and just governance to the public square from the inside out, not the outside in.
John Knox came to Geneva and took what he learned to Scotland. English believers were influenced by Geneva, and later brought the so-called "Protestant Work Ethic" to North America.
See Thomas Bloomer's, "Calvin and Geneva: Nation-Building Missions." Click here.