Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. –John 15:4-5

As students of redemptive entrepreneurship, we can easily get caught up in the need to make an impact. The need to have changed lives. The need to have built something successful to show our family. After all, we are called to love our neighbors and to make disciples of all nations–fulfilling these callings through entrepreneurship would be good fruit for a solid Christian to bear. We criticize “the church” for not having done enough in our communities and abroad. If we get one step farther, we realize that we are, in fact, “the church,” so the responsibilities land on us. So we put the pressure on ourselves, once again, to be the change in the world. To be, well, a hero. Who else would take the responsibility? Maybe no one we know other than *cough* God Himself. Jesus makes the dividing of responsibilities clear. We are to abide in Him. He is to be the source of life, strength, and effectiveness. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

When we abide in Him, we are able to do His will. In Him, we are called to keep His commandments: verse ten of the chapter says, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” We are also invited to ask for God’s work in and around us: verse seven says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” We have callings and instruction as Christians, but these responsibilities are not the same as the enormous pressure we put on ourselves to become someone who has accomplished something to impact the world. That pressure is on God. Psalm 57:2 says, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” We do not go out to fulfill our purpose for ourselves or even God’s purpose for us—He fulfills His purposes for us.

What does this mean for our redemptive entrepreneurship ideas, goals, and practice? First of all, we may need to recognize that God’s purposes may look different than our own. Our impact may seem small, or we may enter a space of practice that we did not anticipate. But we trust God to work through us in His own way and His own timing. Second, we rely on Him for our strength. This might look like relying a little more on prayer and a little less on our business plan. It might look like living out our values through our business practices even when doing so is not financially profitable. God’s ways are above our own; He determines the amount of—even the metrics of—success in our businesses. Finally, we must prioritize our spiritual health over our involvement in our businesses. If we are not abiding in Him through channels such as prayer and Christian fellowship, we can assume that we will cease to bear fruit. If we want to glorify God and experience His love, we must not direct our attention to bearing fruit, but to the loving God from whom good flows. God will let us bear fruit when we abide in Him.

We will not save the world, but God will. Let us live our calling to abide in Him and entrust our careers to Him to make effective as He pleases.