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Entrepreneurial faith
Launching bold initiatives to expoand God's kingdom

By Kirbyjon Caldwell and Walt Kallestad

at first glance, putting the words entrepreneurial and church in the same sentence may seem misguided and ill-advised. At its worst, the idea of entrepreneurship stirs our minds with images of money-hungry, sometimes fraudulent, wheeler-dealers who live for nothing but the bottom line. Shouldn't churches be devoted to serving faithfully, preaching the gospel, administering the sacraments, and caring for the saints? Our agenda is very different from that of the business world, so why even bother talking about entrepreneurship?

Here's why. A close look at the biblical witness reveals that the church's mission is far more than simply serving, preaching, administering the sacraments, and making sure the saints are cared for. The church is responsible to answer the call of God. The apostle Paul caught that vision, and we see him acting entrepreneurially in at least two respects. We know he made tents to earn money that supported his missionary journeys. And more importantly, Paul found bold and innovative means to engage his culture with the gospel.

With meager resources, Paul started new mission ventures in every port. It is estimated that within a ten-year period Paul covered more than 8,100 miles on three great missionary expeditions, which was remarkable in a day without planes, trains, or automobiles. Paul launched churches throughout the Roman world, in places like Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus, Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia (see Acts 13 and 14), and then on to Macedonia, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, and Rome. He and his partners would have extended their journeys into Asia, but changed their plans when the Holy Spirit prohibited them from going there (see Acts 16:6-7).

In his missionary work, Paul networked with key leaders and empowered teams to carry forth his vision. He tenaciously led others toward the goal of preaching grace and salvation to the world. And with great integrity, he passionately committed himself to the mission of the gospel. Paul made use of any resource-no matter how small-and took advantage of every opportunity to advance the Kingdom of God. This is entrepreneurship at its best! From the first century onward, entrepreneurial faith has been the vehicle that has transported the gospel around the world.

 

Entrepreneurial followers
We see entrepreneurial faith exemplified even before the first Christian church was established. You remember the disciples staring into the sky as they watched Jesus ascend to his Father? They stood there, mouths agape, not knowing what to do. Their master, their guide, their leader had just left them. Suddenly, two men in white came to them.

"What are you standing around for?" asked one of the men. "Didn't Jesus just tell you to go forth and make disciples?"

"Yes, but now he's gone," said one of Jesus' followers-maybe Peter. "And we don't know how to carry out his commission. Oh, sure, we know how the Pharisees run their meetings and recruit disciples. But I don't think Jesus wants us to do things the old way. He told us not to put new wine into old skins. It was his way of saying that if we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always got."

"He taught you well. But did he not also tell you that you would not be left alone? Don't you remember his saying that he would send the Helper to be with you?"

"That sounds great," Jesus' followers said. "Tell us about this Helper."

The men in white said, "Don't you remember? Jesus said, 'It is the Holy Spirit. Stay here in Jerusalem, and He will find you'" (see Acts 1:4-5,7-11). And, of course, the Holy Sprit did find them. And after the Helper sent by the Father overwhelmed the disciples with his presence, things started happening.

Think about the amazing changes that took place in the ministry of these men after the Holy Spirit fell on them. Peter was the impulsive disciple who had proclaimed steadfast loyalty to Jesus only to later betray him (see Matthew 26:33-35, 69-74). Then this same unreliable coward, after receiving the Holy Spirit, suddenly took a great risk, both to his personal freedom and to his pride. Peter stood up in front of a crowd that just a few weeks earlier had called for the death of Jesus, and he proclaimed the divinity of Jesus. Peter took a bold initiative, this time wisely and courageously, by stepping outside the way he usually did things. And the results were amazing. Thousands were converted, and the church got its start that day in Jerusalem (see Acts 2:14-41). It had very little to do with Peter's skills and abilities and everything to do with the Holy Spirit.

The history of the early church is saturated with Holy Spirit moments. The widows and orphans felt neglected. The leaders of the church knew something should be done, but they felt their place was in teaching and proclaiming God's Word. Someone had an idea. How about establishing a new position with a new job description-someone to look after the affairs of the needy while we continue to take care of teaching? So a new office was created, what we now call deacons (see Acts 6:1-6). The office of deacon comprises men and women who are skilled in certain areas, such as administration, maintenance, bookkeeping, housekeeping, and the like. It took entrepreneurial thinking in the first century-thinking born in the heart of the Holy Spirit-to meet the needs of the many widows and orphans.

Then came the matter of money-not for the church or its leaders, but for new followers of Jesus. Many converts were ostracized by their families. They were evicted from their homes, they lost their jobs-all on account of their confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. There were many hungry bellies in that church.

Again, the Holy Spirit gave one or more of the leaders an idea: Let's all pool our money. This had to be a God-idea, because no one in his right mind would suggest to a group of people that those who had means should voluntarily give away their money to be used for those who were without. Why should people who worked hard, spent wisely, and saved diligently for the future now turn around and lay their money at the feet of these men, who not so long ago were poor fishermen themselves? But that is just what happened. God blessed everyone-the needy had their needs met, and the givers received more than they gave (see Acts 4:32-35). Again, an entrepreneurial idea was devised to meet a challenge.

Do you fit the description?
An entrepreneur is any individual-or any organization-committed to innovating, seizing new opportunities, and leading others to maximize the opportunities that are presented. An entrepreneurial Christian or church is one that is submitted to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, inspired by the Spirit to seize opportunities, to preach the gospel boldly, and to formulate innovative approaches to meet the needs of people around them. Like the apostle Paul, effective entrepreneurial leaders draw upon imagination, commitment, passion, tenacity, integrity, teamwork, and vision to fulfill a dream.

Congregations-both new and established-are stepping forward to launch new ministries and mission-motivated enterprises that are bridging the gospel to their communities. Entrepreneurial churches and their leaders search for and seize new opportunities to share Jesus Christ with broken people. They don't limit themselves to the path of least resistance. They won't tolerate maintaining the status quo. Instead, they dream and innovate and risk for the sake of God's mission in the world.

What is Jesus doing?
According to business futurist Peter Drucker, there is only one definition of an entrepreneur: "An entrepreneur is someone who gets something new done." So how do we as spiritual entrepreneurs do new things? We can either decide what we want or discern what God wants.

When we decide, we evaluate the options before us and choose which one to pursue. We might study demographics and psychographics. We might take a survey or a vote. Hey, we might even cut a deck of cards. And if we're spiritual, at the end we may even ask God to bless what we've decided to do without first praying about it. This is a prescription for powerlessness.

The entrepreneur of faith wants instead to discern, to move forward in the power of God, to follow him in doing something new. One of the most remarkable passages in the Bible is Isaiah 43:19, where the Lord says: "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." There are three vitally important principles here.

First, God is already at work all around us. He has a plan, He is actively at work fulfilling that plan, and that plan involves new things.

Second, it's our job to perceive the new things that God is doing. The Hebrew word translated perceive means "to know" (properly to ascertain by seeing). You receive tremendous power for life and ministry when you trade deciding for discerning. When we discern what God is doing and join it, we enter into a zone of blessing. We don't have to ask him to bless what we're doing; instead, we enter into what he's already blessing. That's why it's so important to ask and answer the question, "What is Jesus doing?" And more than ask it-start doing what he's doing.

Third, the new things that God is doing are wonderful. There are more Christians alive today than in all the previous eras of church history combined. Christians make up a larger percentage of the world's population than they ever have. Compared to 1900, today we:

. have nine times more churches;

. distribute almost eleven times more Bibles;

. have five times more vocational Christian workers;

. have nearly seven times more missionaries;

. have one hundred and sixty times more Christian books;

. spend thirty-six times more hours in evangelizing;

. have cut the proportion of unevangelized people in the world in half;

. are broadcasting the good news of Jesus Christ via television, radio, the Internet, and the media to every city, county, country, and continent; and

. are seeing our young people poised to do a dramatically better job in reaching the world than we have done.

This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes! So how do we discern what Jesus is doing?

God makes this incredible promise to us: "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).

Let's take God at his Word. Let's assume he means what he says. He tells us to call to him. He promises that if we do, he will tell us "great and unsearchable things," things we'd never come up with on our own. But to hear this amazing thing from God, after we ask we have to listen. More to the point, we have to take time to listen.

God both speaks to us and shows us. He will tell you what he wants you to do-and show you, often by the success or failure of a venture. Some people ask: Is God calling us to be faithful or successful? The answer is simple: He's calling us to be both.

The Spirit of God lives in you, the power of God flows through you, the promises of God are prepared for you, the voice of God guides you, the angels of God protect you, and the armor of God equips you. Do you really think God does all that so we can live mediocre lives doing mediocre things with mediocre results? Of course you don't. So be faithful to unleash the success that God has ordained for you before the foundation of the world.

Kirbyjon Caldwell is the pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston. Walt Kallestad is senior pastor of the Community Church of Joy in suburban Phoenix. This article is adapted from their book Entrepreneurial Faith: Launching Bold Initiatives to Expand God's Kingdom (Water Brook).



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