Christians That Produce Unprofitable Businesses

Why many Christians are unable to build profitable businesses!
The unbiblical view of “Separation of Church and State

As a Pastor and Christian Entrepreneur working with people from all walks of life, I have the privilege every day of meeting and working with Christian Entrepreneurs in all industries.

What has been interesting to me during the past 10 years is the vast differences of opinion about money and running a “profitable” business that I find among those who claim to be readers and believers of the same Bible.                                

Many Christian’s have embraced the wrong notion that money is the root of all evil! If you read the scriptures carefully, you will come to the conclusion that money is not a bad thing, nor is IT the root of all evil, but “answers all things”.

Scripture warns that it is the LOVE of MONEY that is “the root of all evil.”

One of the reasons many professing Christians are not building profitable businesses is because of the idea of “separation of Church and State“. We have been made to believe that, for the Christian, there is the spiritual life and then there is the secular life. There are a number of reasons for this that time would not allow me to get into right now. I would just say that this “separation” view is contrary to a proper understanding of scripture.

Some believe poverty glorifies God

Then there are those who believe God is glorified through poverty so they see ambition or business ownership/entrepreneurship as contrary to spiritual growth and maturity in Grace. I guess Poverty could bring Glory to God, depending on who you are and where you live. But many forget that God also condemns slothfulness and foolishness throughout scripture and attribute them to reasons for POVERTY or lack of success in business or any area of life! What’s interesting is I have met very few who have attributed their poverty or lack of success to laziness or foolish choices.

It is my conviction that no Christian in America needs to be “POOR”. The key word for me needs to be. I also understand that the word Poverty/Poor is relative. So I am not saying every western Christian should be rich (also relative). But every Christian should be Industrious and Enterprising like the Ant of Proverbs 6. If more of us were, we would not have so many Christians in financial turmoil during this economic downturn.

Then there are the professing Christians who compartmentalised their lives into secular and spiritual. So Church and bible related activities are spiritual. But work, business activities, entrepreneurship and/or play are secular or neutral. But this mindset is also contrary to scripture. We are told that whatever we do, whether we eat or drink, we should do ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD – 1 Cor. 10:31.

The “Prosperity Gospel” is unbiblical!

Then there are those who despise and rightly reject ‘THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL.”

In an effort to avoid that extreme, they violate scripture and go to another extreme and see ambition as a sin. Not realizing that enterprise and industry are other ways to Glorify God. The Ant of Proverbs 6 is a great example of this. For more information on this, read the post 12 PROVERBS FOR BUSINESS & MARKETING SUCCESS!

No Christian should be afraid to prosper or produce success. I pray Psalm 112 for my family at least 2-3 times per month. If Christ is first in an Entrepreneur‘s life, HE will come out in his/her conversations and daily interactions; for no man can serve two masters! So we should not be afraid of biz success!

What’s important/first in our lives, we will talk about. A Christian should never be afraid to build a great business with Christ as the HEAD. After all, a heart that is passionate for God, free from the Love of Money and understands the importance of being RICH IN GOOD WORKS, is the best person – in my opinion – to be trusted with Wealth.

Conclusion

As a Pastor and Owner of a few businesses, I conduct my business by using the principles of scripture and teach God’s people to Live Recession Proof Now. Focusing especially on the Wisdom books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. And all of this can and should be done without violating Matthew 6:19-25.

In conclusion, the idea of “separation of church and state” has not only affected the Christian’s view of money, but also Christian Business Owners & Entrepreneurs are usually afraid to promote the Gospel among their peers.

My response to this is, it would be foolish of me to attribute my success to God’s wisdom and blessing – in private – and not give HIM credit publicly! No Christian who credit’s God for his/her success, should be ashamed to make him publicly known. What’s worse is for any successful Christian business owner or Entrepreneur to use “their wealth” for them and their family alone.

We must remember that we are stewards. The earth and the fullness thereof belong to the Lord. This is His world. Everything the Christian has should be used to build the Kingdom of God and Glorify Him Now!

Selah!