As discussed in the last post, there were three basic topics to be covered as we analyze the Bible and Entrepreneurship. The relevant paragraph is displayed below:

“First, we must understand the mission of the church, as seen in the personhood of Christ. Second, we must understand that the doctrine of creation is not merely about seven “days” in Genesis, but about the whole function of man’s day to day life and the history of mankind. And thirdly, we must understand that redemption and entrepreneurial thinking are compatible because of  the doctrine of creation, so long as we are careful to define their relationship to one another, and our relationship to God. It is these three matters that we will delve into, along with the practical implications for ministry, over the next two blog posts.”

In this post we’ll examine the first point.

While there are numerous ways to approach this topic, given the temperament of today’s culture it seems pertinent to address the difference between “The Church” and parachurch ministries. The Church is the corporate body of Christ, constituted most clearly in the corporate gathering of professing Christians who demonstrate to a reasonable extent the fruit of the spirit. Parachurch ministries, especially as they are constituted within the United States are very new and very dangerous to the health of the Church. Before we delve into why, we should establish what the Church is not. The Church does not exist primarily to travel to exotic locations and build wells, organize fun activities for teens, or give parents an opportunity to send their kids off for a few weeks in the summer. These may very well be by-products, but they ought not to be the focus of the Church’s resources, time and energy, nor should they act as the primary means of out-reach. The primary focus of the Church ought to be the faithful preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments. Parachurch ministries, whether they operate outside a particular church or even under a church umbrella, align themselves with, or even claim to be the Church, and yet often engage in very little preaching and sacramental administration. Instead, they operate as rogue entities with their own agenda, often crafted by a few well-meaning but spiritually immature individuals. Soon, they become the blind leading the blind. A great example of this is Young Life. Does God work through his Church to heal and redeem creation, including the human race? Absolutely. But he does that through the faithful preaching of his word and the administration of the sacraments. We do not accomplish that by creating novel organizations that think they’re going to “do church differently.”

The problem with parachurch ministries are not that they don’t contribute in physically positive problems. No one would reasonably object to building churches in Ghana. The issue is that parachurch ministries have replaced the right corporate worship of God as the central focus of the Christian community. A driving force in this is the industrialization of the church. Many pastors seek to be entrepreneurs and innovators first, emotional counselors second, and spiritual leaders, well, maybe never. God doesn’t need us to innovate His church. The blueprint was set forth over four thousand years ago, got a face lift when Jesus was born and crucified, ushering in the New Covenant era, and it hasn’t changed since. The reason Paul’s letters are still relevant today? The church was the same then as it is now. Superficial details may shift but the same problems have always been there. Look no further than 1st Corinthians 1:10-17:

 ^“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. ¹¹ My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.'”

^{13 “}Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” 

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? But let’s keep on reading.

 ^“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

“Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

It cannot get any clearer: “has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” And, “…but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles..” 

The mission of the Church is to preach Christ crucified. Without that, there is no Church, there is no hope, there is no purpose. Why do we think depression, anxiety and suicide are such major problems today? Perhaps few people have heard Christ crucified. Every human endeavor relies upon Christ crucified. So before we get all excited about our outreach program, we should ask ourselves, is Christ crucified being preached? And what’s more, is it being preached to those already within the physical church? You see, the great tragedy is that the problems we face are not for lack of global and local missions. They stem from a dereliction of duty from the pulpit on Sundays.

Can entrepreneurship be redemptive? I would argue that only Christ performs the act of redemption. Can entrepreneurship be done in a God-honoring way? Absolutely. When done in a God-honoring way, does entrepreneurship align with the redemptive reality? Yes. But entrepreneurship does not drive redemption, the truth that Jesus Christ redeemed for Himself a people when he died on the cross and rose from the dead gives purpose and value to entrepreneurship. This is not a chicken and the egg scenario. But sadly, the vast majority of problems that we face today in our culture are driven by the same reasoning that drives the idea that we make entrepreneurship redemptive: that man can leverage the gospel, God, and creation – of course these are not mutually exclusive – to accomplish the gospel’s mission.