The Significance of Your Business as Ministry

It's extremely important for Christian entrepreneurs to realize that your business is a ministry. Otherwise you will undervalue the opportunities God gives you everyday to serve and impact people through your business.

One of the foremost experts in the Body of Christ who articulates better than most is David Doty, who has more than thirty years' experience as a three-time small business entrepreneur, board membership, and business coach for several not-for-profits and small businesses.  He is the author of Eden’s Bridge: The Marketplace in Creation and Mission  – which is the first articulation of a biblically-based theology of the marketplace as an institution of God. In a recent blog David discusses the significance of business as ministry. Here's a excerpt:

"So, how exactly is it that business is ministry? The answer lies in the nature of creation itself, which emanates from the nature of the godhead. The central focus of God as God and of creation as a product of God’s nature, character, and will, is relationship. Ministry is simply the mediation of the relationship between God and humankind, and business, as a vital institution in human society, is fundamentally about the facilitation of relationships. It is not the only institution that mediates the relationship of the divine and the temporal but it is perhaps as significant as any simply by the fact that it is the institution by which we survive and even thrive.

The core function of business is service through relationship. All gross domestic product is ultimately a function of labor, and labor alone. All the materials (and energy) used in production have already been provided by God for the abundant blessing of humankind. We simply manipulate what already exists. Therefore, the only real concern of business is relational stewardship – how we care for others. If we treat our vendors, customers, employees, and communities with the due respect and dignity of being created in the image of God, the outcomes are to be left in the hands of God’s determination. That is not to say we do not exercise due diligence to sustain the business and “give away the farm,” but it places the emphasis on what is not seen rather than what is seen. That is living by faith, or walking in the Light, or according to the Spirit, whichever descriptive phrasing we prefer."

Read the entire article Business is Ministry here: http://edensbridge.org/2013/10/18/business-is-ministry/

What are you thoughts on the concept of business is ministry? Leave your comments below...

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