Church Leadership and Developing the Entrepreneur

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? Today, we think of belief as an intellectual experiment. “Yeah, this is some pretty good logic, so I’ll believe in *insert your religion, philosophy, political party, etc. here.*” But that’s not how the New Testament writers thought of belief. For instance, in John 3:16, when it says that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish,” belief is not a cerebral, abstract concept. Belief was something so strong that it consumed the whole person. If a Greek said he is a person πιστεύων in Christ, he was saying he held fast to, entirely trusted, and actively pursued his intellectual understanding with action. Faith was something to be exercised—not just thought about.

As Christians, Catholic or Protestant, we can all agree that God cares a lot about what we do to express our faith. Therefore, what is the Church’s leadership’s role in spurring on congregants and parishioners to express faith in, love for, and devotion to Christ? Here’s what Paul has to say in the fourth chapter of his letter to the Ephesians and the modern Church about spiritual leaders:  “¹¹So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Their job is to equip us to do good to build up the body of Christ! This means adding more people to the body, but also encouraging and edifying the body itself.

Now, where does the entrepreneur fit into this picture? The entrepreneur has a distinct talent for stewarding resources— people, money, time, etc.— for the sake of passing good along to society, especially in a free-market. Pastors, priests, evangelists, teachers— help our entrepreneurs! The majority of churches today consist of less than 100 people. A church, on average, reaches about 100 people per week, but, assuming there’s a handful of grocery stores in a town,  there’s a good chance those stores will see the entire town in and out of its doors. The entrepreneur creates systems to reach people, so, church leaders, work to train up these people. Help them think about how to incorporate social enterprise and kingdom-mindedness into the DNA of their company. Help them be generous with their church so that they may edify it and encourage it with their gifts. Most of all, help the entrepreneur be rooted in the fountain that will not run dry, the rock that will not move, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind, Christ Jesus, our Lord.