4 ways Christian entrepreneurs are needed
Let me give you four ways we need Christian entrepreneurs to show up and be present.
1. We need people who will live out a Christlike ethic in the marketplace.
In other words, we need people who will live and serve and do business the way Jesus might do business. I’m not suggesting that Jesus would do business. I’m just saying that Jesus came up with ideas like going the second mile for people, taking the high road, being brutally committed to honesty and authenticity and charity.
All of that originated in the mind of God and in the mind of Jesus, and so businesses that are committed to solid ethics, to honesty, to truth, to generosity, to charity stand out in an age of corporate corruption and greed.
2. We need people who will serve others in Jesus’ name in the marketplace.
Zig Ziglar was very successful and became very wealthy by the end of his life and yet still managed to be, even though he was a motivational speaker and a great salesman, very humble and very Christlike in his life.
Ziglar used to say, “You’ll have everything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”
So we need servant-hearted, generous leaders who will elevate others.
3. We need people who will create wealth from the marketplace to support missions.
When I hear about Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or so many others who have made millions or billions of dollars and then have established foundations and trusts in their name whereby they can continue to distribute money through charitable causes throughout the years to come, I think that’s awesome! I think we ought to celebrate and duplicate that as Christians.
If we really have a desire to eradicate AIDS and other diseases, to improve education, to tackle issues like poverty and healthcare around the world, and if we really want to plant churches, raise up leaders and share the Gospel everywhere that we possibly can, then we need to be creating wealth from the marketplace that can be given to missions.
4. We need people to be creative thought leaders in the marketplace.
This goes back to the idea that we shouldn’t just sit around and wait for the world to invent everything. Christians should feel the freedom to be innovative.
Innovators change the direction of society. When you think about the most influential people in history, so many of them were innovators. We know who Gutenberg was because he invented the printing press, and out of the printing press came all of the books and libraries and the bookstores that we know today.
Christians ought to be right in the middle of shaping the culture around us. We shouldn’t be afraid of science, psychology and other various disciplines but instead, fully engaging and being creative thought leaders in our marketplaces. This kind of engagement will make for better communities.
Next steps
• We need to get over our limiting beliefs.
Our limiting beliefs hold us back when we say:
-I just could never do anything great.
-I’m not supposed to be earning money.
-I shouldn’t be thinking about my potential.
-My platform doesn’t/shouldn’t matter.
• We need to cut through the stigma surrounding success and wealth.
We need to move beyond the stigma surrounding entrepreneurship. This is not about getting rich quickly or having tons of money so we can go on a permanent vacation and never work again.
Where’s the influence in that?
But entrepreneurial acumen, when cultivated properly, contributes something very valuable to the culture.
• We have to overcome our fear.
We’re not risk takers by nature. I don’t believe in taking dumb risks, but we do have to get over our fear of taking any risk at all. We have to be willing sometimes to step outside of our comfort zone and try new things and venture in a new territory. We have to get over our fear.
• We have to think about the potential.
We need to think about what society could look like if Christians felt empowered to apply their faith in every facet of life. What would it look like for Christianity to influence the world around us?
Christian entrepreneurs, let’s go change the world together, OK?
Photo source: istock
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