Very good comments on the topic of Christians and business. My talk at the Bible conference was a lot of fun, and hit upon some of the same points you all raised in your comments.
I talked about several major businesses founded by Christians and run according to Christian principles – LeTourneau Technologies, ServiceMaster, Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby. All four are now multi-billion dollar businesses, capable of pumping millions of dollars per year into Christian ministry. What concerns me as I look at these companies is that the youngest of them – Hobby Lobby – was founded in 1972. Thirty-six years ago. I may be missing an example or two, but I can't come up with a single billion dollar company founded by committed Christians in the last 30 years. Which led to the central question of my talk – Where have all the Christians gone?
Another theme raised frequently in your comments was how difficult it is to build a business while raising a family. The two focuses – entrepreneurship and child-raising – don't seem to live well together. So we focus on our families, and the world starts all the new companies that will go on to have huge cultural impact. Hmm.
The Apostle Paul pointed out the difficulty of serving God wholeheartedly while having a family. He even went so far as to suggest that ideally, all Christians workers would choose to remain single as he had. (An idea the church obviously ran with up through the Reformation.)
So here's a radical question: Are we, as Christians in America, focusing too much attention on family and child-rearing as "God's will" for every Christian? Admit it – when we see a single, middle-aged Christian man or woman, we shake our heads and think, "Oh, that's too bad." I'm searching the Bible for the verse that says, "And you shall all get married, have 2.2 children and aspire to an upper-middle class suburban lifestyle, without which you shall never be happy."
But I can't find it.
And when I read single, middle-aged Paul saying, "I wish you could all be like me," I'm thinking maybe there's a reason that verse doesn't exist.
I'm certainly not against "family," being quite attached to my own, but couldn't it be possible that God still calls some of us to devote ourselves completely to his work? Maybe that work is showing God's love to people in distant lands where having a spouse and kids just wouldn't be practical – or safe. Maybe it's about plunging into the world of media or the world of business with complete devotion to God and the needs of others.
I know numerous elderly missionaries who chose to remain single so they could devote themselves fully to the service of God and others. They don't seem even a little bit unhappy about the choice.
It's a highly unconventional thought – certainly in modern, Protestant America. But is it worth considering?
What do you think?
Well, I’m a mid-20’s single entrepreneur, and have thought quite a bit about the distinction. Oftentimes those who raise a family expect their primary ministry and mission to be to their children, which leads to a very insular church, which leads to a stigma towards evangelism. The cultural pressure towards self-love as opposed to others-love, and against Christianity in general, doesn’t help. I think the church will adapt, but hopefully not too belatedly to lose cultural influence completely.
On a completely unrelated note, I was thinking about your donation/subscription decision, which I thought was revealed in the blog post “Here It Is!” If you have determined that you financially can’t survive without advertising, consider this idea. Often in social sites newcomers have a hard time adapting to the culture, and lose the sense of collective value that the original members shared. On the financial front, you could maintain a sense of community commitment by showing the disparity between the initial month and the most recent month of the average donation amount and percentage of viewers who donated. The message is conveyed that the vision is important enough to deserve a donation, but also that there is value in sacrifice for this vision. Instead of a culture of neglecting to donate because no one will notice, a public reminder shows everyone what’s needed for JellyTelly to remain in business. Additionally, people are much more inclined to give if you ask them directly, and if you ask them how much their cable costs, and ask them to pay in proportion to that recurring cost, it will drive home the idea that maybe one day they can give up their cable completely and just watch JellyTelly!
As a single, middle-aged Christian with a “matchmaker” at my church, I heartily agree! This person is constantly telling me I should find someone and have children. I tell her that I have plenty of children to work with at school, and that God did not intend for everyone to be married and have lots of children! It’s embarrassing the way she approaches newcomers with two questions: “Are you born again?” and “Are you married?” before they even sit down!
I think there are many sides to this coin. I have several single friends that aren’t going out of their way to get married: run towards God and then look around to see how your mate might be, but don’t make that the focus. Adam was asleep when God brought his mate to him so we just need to wait.
However, there’s also nothing that says if we’re called to do something like run a business that God’s going to then automatically make it $ucce$$ful (boy, don’t I know it). His plan it might be to have it grow only to wind up in bankruptcy. 😉
I agree that as Christians, we are “distracted” by many other things that we believe/assume/are convicted of/etc. that are higher priority. However, if God wants it to grow, it will even w/o effort (in a sense). Look at imdb.com and such, college projects that are huge. CDBaby.com was just a little side-thing for a musician that just sold to Discmakers for a hefty sum, I’m betting. The point being, He can make it happen.
So if there are people that are willing (I’m guessing many of the readers of this including this one) and it only takes God to make it grow (and maybe He won’t or maybe He won’t prevent it growing in the wrong way), what’s the bottom line?
I know several/many Christian entrepreneurs? I don’t think they’re missing. However, “successful” (in growth and $) Christian entrepreneurs are lacking. Why is that? B/c they won’t make the sacrifices and be cut-throat to go the route of the worldly for like gains? B/c they aren’t relying on God and He can’t bless it? B/c they are relying on God, but He has different plans?
So what’s missing? Investors? Capital? A market for Christian companies?
As someone who is at a crossroads in this area: I have the time, motivation, discipline, drive, eagerness, desire, heart and passion – what can I do? I am a Christian entrepreneur. Of course, I’m not noticeable so I certainly don’t answer the question of “where are the Christian entrepreneurs?”
You, Phil, ARE a Christian entrepreneur. If someone asked me to name one, I could easily say you’re name. What’s the difference, in what you’re stating here, between you and me? Success? If so, then I’d say, that’s God’s business and in my obedience to Him, I can’t change that nor do I think I should focus on that.
I’d love to help answer the call/question of where are the Christian entrepreneurs. Any help/suggestions/tips/advice/prayers/etc. you can offer would be eaten up and the gravy sopped up w/ a biscuit.
I wrote the Bible conference last week and ordered your and your brother’s talks for the week. Maralee Dawn got me your ICVM talks also and is mailing them to me. Maybe those will all be a start.
I guess that means my answer for “where are all the Christian entrepreneurs”… from me… the answer is “I’m here. I’m trying. Prayers are appreciated. :)”
I think that the biggest reason is that Christians have become followers instead of leaders. We see what everyone else is doing and try to mimic it, instead of being pioneers and advancing whatever industry we’re called to.
There’s a phrase that I read years ago that has stuck with me. “Are you skating to where the puck is now, or where it’s going to be.” In other words, if you’re going to what’s hot right now, you’ll have missed it by the time you get there.
I think that the reason most of us don’t succeed is that we get the American Dream confused with God’s Vision. God never says we’ll have the 2.2 kids, the minivan, and the HOA dues. He has a plan for all of us, but most of the time we never look for it. Instead we strive for mediocrity with the people next door.
hblondon.org
and then “we” (‘cept not me) boycott them if/when it’s felt they’re rejecting our values and perhaps feel like we’ve done our part and sent our message… When I was a young Christian adult, I bought into that mentality until I realized how ugly I felt inside by keeping a naughty list and boycotting…
I like what others have said and echo their thoughts. I don’t believe owning a successful business necessarily means ignoring your family. It could, and it certainly seems to mean that in our culture. But with God in the picture, it certainly doesn’t have to. It just means He’d get the glory for any success, as I know is your aim this time around anyway. Also, perhaps when there are young children in the house is not the time to do so; but they do grow up, and we need another hobby besides meddling in their adult lives. 🙂
re: singleness. I don’t think either married or single should be looked upon as better. Both are good. Too often, we project our own callings onto others and are sometimes perplexed when they don’t have the same ones as we do. We need to let each other be who God made us to be. My husband was sidelined from the ministry for about 5 years in his mid-late 20s because he was single. Isn’t that crazy? Several churches missed out on a good pastor during those years because they had their ideal mold that a pastor must have a family, and yet they could’ve had someone whose interests were not divided.
Now, of course when Paul was writing, it was “in light of the coming persecution,” which we now know to be the torturous, murderous rule of Nero. But still, people today have their own callings, and deciding for others what those are is a bit loony.
It’s interesting that you posted this. I have a Friday evening comment pending over at this blog post, which seems on the surface to have a slightly different conclusion: http://www.hblondon.org/2008/08/did-you-know-to.html
I’m hoping he just means marrying vs. living together…
correction: the top of my post should say, “Phil Said” instead of hblondon.org. oops!
These are really good questions! Yes, God does have a personalized plan for each of our lives. I believe that. But if we believe that God has complete control of…well, everything (even the bad stuff)…then it causes us to think that maybe there is a bigger reason that less Christians are going into successful BIG businesses. What is His plan? Gee, I truly wish I had a clue about that some days! His plan IS what it IS and we are not prevvy to the details many times. Not much of an answer, I know. But I think we need to put less emphasis on why man isn’t doing what he could be doing, and more emphasis on man waiting on the Lord. His timing (hmm… where have I heard that?) Ok, now my brain hurts!
As for the family issue: Guilty! I am totally guilty of thinking that what makes me happy and fullfilled (my family) should work for everyone. I see a single person and I do feel sad for them. I guess I wrongly think alone = lonely. That isn’t always true. Again, it’s about putting our lives into the hands of the Lord and letting Him lead. Of course just because I say this doesn’t mean I am good at doing it! But …a work in progress, I guess. 🙂
I’m as guilty as any who spend too much time working and not enough time with the family and I have suffered from the resentment the kids have towards me. I obsess easily and find it difficult to balance. Perhaps that’s one of the difficulties Paul was referring to. There are some very special people who have the discipline to turn off the business at 5:00 and close that door.
As far as Christian business, I know you refer to big business. I ave a couple of Christian business directories for Central Indiana and they each have around 70 pages of listings…and these are only the ones who want to buy an ad.
Christians witness best one on one. The numbers of super-sized ministries are small. The number of small to medium size ministries is huge. So possibly the that’s the correlation. We minister best one-on-one. We can educate many to one and that’s the way the church has always run.
Jelly Telly will fit in that one-to-many model of being a teaching ministry. Its still a ministry even though its providing a service. You can get chicken from nearly any restaurant, yet Chick-fil-A is thriving. I think it may come down to the owner’s obedience to God.
As far as boycotting. That very thought came up in regards to McDonald’s recently. If a franchise is owned and operated by a Christian, what should other Christians do? We have that situation here at home. A Christian man owns at least two franchises…we would hurt his business only slightly, but shouldn’t we support him? He’s a Christian that owns a business and all the ministry opportunities that go along with it.
FWIW, the company I worked at for the last 5 years was started and run by Christians. The corporate types came in and took notice b/c it was doing well. They assured everyone nothing would change, but as soon as possible ran out those from the old guard (the Christians not willing to cut throats for $$$) and basically everything has changed.
And that’s why today I worked from a coffee shop no longer w/ that company having been laid off from that company.
So beware of success b/c of those that will notice.
I have puzzled over this one quite a bit as well. I’m not a phsycologist but I do wonder about the emotional factor. Mostly I wonder if this is not somewhat a product of modern society. In older society brothers and friends worked in trades as life long partners both for social and buisness purposes. Add to that, you probably still had a very tight network of family around you, aunts, uncles, elderly parents living in the house. You could still be single and be a “family man.” There was also more likely to be a consistent closeness between those you worked. You probably had a mentor at work or lots of family that you could confide in and fellowship with.
The modern world is quite different. There is a social stigma to mixing work with personal life. If you are married, great, hang out with your friends at work and then go hang out and take care of social needs at home afterward. Single? Sure, enjoy work and then go to the bar aftward and see if you can get a date. Oh wait, your a Christian and want to do something more productive? Hmmm. Ever thought about getting married?
To use my personal example. I grew up in a large family and always had lots of folks to talk to. After finishing college I was all pumped up and excited thinking that I would be a Paul for a while. Marriage, if ever, could wait. I planned to go teach computer skills to orphans in developing countries with a ministry (hey it got India on the fast track) I sent out tons of letters but got a mixed and cold response. I don’t know this implicityly but after a while I started to feel that a “who was this single guy” card was being raised? I had some family in town and taught a local youth group at a small church with them. Then my nearby family moved away. The following week the pastor asked me to file a weekly report detailing my plans as a volunteer youth minister. Did the idea just come to him or did he feel odd with a single guy teaching a roomful of youth on a Wednesday night? I devolunteered. I enjoyed work and had lots of friends there but every evening the family guys headed home to their families and all the single guys headed for the bars. I headed for my apartment and worked on my videos and animations … but with no one around to joke and show of my progress to even that got hollow pretty fast.
So I met a wonderful and Godly woman and happily got married.
Suddenly we were teaching Sunday school the very next week after returning from our honeymoon. We went on a mission trip and smiling grandmothers, at our church, pushed envelopes of cash into our hands and every night was cozy fun as we worked on goofy projects and laughed joked over our progress.
So was it so impossible for me to be a Paul? In my situation it was pretty hard. I was lonely and miserable. Could I have been a Paul if things had been different? Sure I think so but I am at a loss as to how I could have pulled that off. Move in with my parents? They live far away from the types of jobs I can subsist on and even then move often. Siblings? They have thier own families and I would start to stink after a month or two. Do ever feel bad for giving up a life of Paul for marrying my wife? Even in the most selfish sense … NO! … Life has been 200% better since getting married ( and besides that she is an absolutley wonderful woman that the Lord was very kind to cross my path with … Praise the Lord for that).
Ok but that was just my situation right? Well, sadly I think it is the situation of many young men ( and probably the women as well ) of my type. I’ve been married a couple years now and have started taking harder looking at the next wave of people who are facing up to my just out of college dilma and I have to say I am seeing it play out again and again. Even amoungst those that we much more ambitious “Pauls” than I.
I think that it is somewhat the church but more the modern society that deprives the singles of thier chance to enjoy close friends and fellowship. For many the only way to get it is through a family of their own. This is not true of all and my hat is off to the many dedicated Pauls out there that have chosen not to wed and have used that choice to the glory of God. Sadly I think that your path is very hard for most others to follow and probably getting harder with every generation.
You might interpret it differently than I do, but the Bible says you should have children:
Since there would be no point in preserving a command that was given only to two specific people who are already dead, God probably meant their descendants to be fruitful too. At least, that’s the Jewish interpretation. Do Christian interpret it differently?
Remember your post about the Disney store and how stressful it must be to come up with new products to raise earnings each year? People who take an eternal perspective of things are more likely to recognize that trap and seek to avoid it. It’s one thing to dedicate your life to being a missionary, priest, etc. It’s another to do dedicate your life to growing a business, even if you do it ethically and are a positive role model.
The real question to ask might be “are Christians more or less likely to open small/medium businesses than secularists with the same number of kids at the same ages”. Running a small business is probably more like a job and less like an obsession than running a huge one.
Oops. the cites didn’t go through in my post. The first is from Phil’s post above. The second is Genesis 1:28.
To be a HUGE business, you have to be publicly traded. When you’re publicly traded, you are owned by shareholders and live to please them.
Ethics, love, patience, self-control – all of these play second fiddle to profit. That’s what investors want.
A Christ follower, who also happens to be a business man, is concerned primarily with serving Christ. I think the idea is to simply “do well with what we’re given?” (Whether it be big or small).
Jesus doesn’t need the “influence” of a big business. He doesn’t even need the influence of a small business! He invites us into partnership with him; but it’s still him doing the work.
Nice contemplation of celibacy, Phil 🙂
There’s a reason some of us have been pushing it for 2000 years. 😉
As for the main topic, there are many ways to bring Christ into the workplace. Some do it by not being open on Sundays; others do it by giving to charity.
As for the boycott question, for me a large part depends on the company’s attitude. Whenever she sees something offensive in a company’s advertising or whatever, my wife writes to the company. Sometimes, she gets back an apologetic message. When she gets no response, or an overt dismissal of her complaint, she boycotts.
Thank you Phil. Being single in the church can be ridiculously hard. As a single woman who is not yet close to middle age, it is still good to have someone step back and say, “maybe God has a reason, a good reason†is very refreshing.
Frankly the discouraging and even demeaning comments that have come with continued singleness are frustrating. There is a perception that singleness is bad, and from some Christians that it is wrong. That verse about 2.2 children isn’t there, but often single people are held to its imaginary slandered of the perfect Christian household.
At this time I’m not being lead (I don’t think) to start a huge business, but I know that God has me in this place in my life (yes even in my single state) for a reason. The one thing I am certain of is that his reasons are best.
re: public trading — you actually don’t have to be publicly traded to be a huge business. Pardon the mention of make-up in this discussion; but living in Texas and all, I can’t get away from mentioning Mary Kay Ash. She built a company on the principle of 1) God first, family second, career third and 2)The Golden Rule — always treating others as you’d want to be treated. I think that reputation is waning a bit these days, but anyway… her corporation is global and it is not publicly traded. They dabbled in that for a short time, but rethought the idea and decided to offer their stockholders a fair market price for their stock. So… although possibly a rare occurrence, it is possible to be huge and still not have to answer to shareholders.
Try this blog … http://entrepreneurialministry.com/ …started by David Phillips.
Remember, as God created the world, he said repeatedly, “It is good”, until we get to Genesis 2:18:
18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Notice that – something is not good. And the two are commanded to be fruitful and multiply. Here’s the biggie – note that this is pre-fall. So it is not good(God’s word, not mine) for man to be alone. It is God’s design that we have a partner.
Unfortunately, after the fall, the relationship between man an woman changes. In fact, to the point that Paul would advise that one is better off to not marry.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not jumping on the matchmaker’s bandwagon and trying to get everyone hitched. Just pointing out that the original intent was indeed for man to be completed by woman.
Much as there are many people addicted to wonderful things God created – sex, wine(check Proverbs – it makes a man’s heart glad – argue with scripture, not me), posessions, the fall caused something God created for good to become so damaged that one of his chosen servants would gravely caution us to abstain from it.
So you won’t find the verse commanding it because it was already a part of created order.
Keep up the great work Phil, and continue to keep us on our toes.
Late to the discussion, but…
Has not God’s way usually been about the small and insignificant changing culture?
Mother Theresa, who was she? Albert Schweitzer’s crowning achievement was after he left the spot light.
How about the impact of a Sunday School teacher who teaches kids one-on-one, face-to-face for thirty years. Does Google and Nike have that kind of impact?
Consider that most of us experience life changes when people are involved. Not many say “When I bought a pair of Nikes, my life fundamentally changed,” but many of us can say “As the result of someone’s friendship, my life changed.”
I am a Christian (practicing Lutheran if we need to be specific) and (gasp!) middle-aged wife and mother of two. I agree that God calls each of us to different roles in this life. He gives each of us different talents and capabilities. He asks each of us to choose to follow him. Each of us may have a different path but all of us can serve him in wonderful ways. Being a dedicated parent and head of household is one way. Being a dedicated entrepreneur is another way. Being a single missionary is yet another way. Being a married missionary is another way. All valid. And so many other combinations. I cringe when I encounter anyone who believes that there is only one way to come to Christ, one way to worship, one path to follow… and applaud the diversity in thinking, worshiping and serving God. Thank you for raising the questions!
It is probably a little late to be joining this conversation, but then I only just discovered it. =)
I think we need to stop worrying so much about what we “should” do and start doing the things we are told to do.
And the heart of that issue is seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness. I have too often allowed myself to be distracted from the question, “God, what do You want from me today?” by chasing after endless lists of what I “should” be doing.
We have so many books telling us what to do and how to be good Christians. But in the end, you are looking at man’s interpretation of God’s plan, instead of going straight to the source. Sure, it won’t always be as instantly gratifying as latching on to something in a book. But then faith is not looking at whether I can do as good or better than that guy over there. It’s about fixing YOUR eyes on Jesus, and following that path regardless of what that may mean.
I’m completely in agreement with Phil on this one. How many of us can be like the Apostle Peter and abandon their wife and family to follow God and do what He commands? Christians in America have been so inwardly focused that they have lost the influence to reach the lost. We are too busy looking after our own. Of course there is a balance, but Christians have largely abandoned their call to love their neighbors. However once Christian persecution starts in America, it is beginning already, Christians will not have the luxury of sitting in their insular worlds. Wake up! Start working hard! Break out of your Christian bubble!