From Preaching on Sundays to Renting Apartments on Mondays

From Preaching on Sundays to Renting Apartments on Mondays
Is leaving full-time ministry a demotion in God’s eyes?  

In the early years (before The Stone Table was even officially a thing), I was a business guy who found himself back in the business world after an unexpected but wonderful twelve-year season in full-time ministry. 

I went from preaching on Sundays to renting apartments on Mondays. And frankly, that transition ended up being much harder than I anticipated. Pastoring felt spiritually significant. Real estate felt spiritually “less.” Like I took a demotion in God’s vocational hierarchy. 

Crying at the Altar 

Around that time, a pastor friend invited me to fill in for him one Sunday while he was on vacation. He said I could preach on anything I wanted, so I decided to wrestle publicly with what I’d been wrestling with privately. Is there sacred significance in the business world? 

I remember it being a pretty terrible sermon. But after I closed in prayer, I noticed a handful of guys standing at the altar, waiting to speak with me. Two of them had tears running down their faces. 

“I’ve worked in the banking world for 30 years, and no one ever told me God cared about the job I got up and went to every day.” 

A newly retired guy who had just sold his business said, “If I would’ve just known some of this sooner, I would have done a lot of things different with my business.” 

I’ve watched that emotional response repeat countless of times over the last decade. And last week, I saw it again—this time in Medellín, Colombia. That deep longing to find missional purpose in our everyday work isn’t an American thing, it’s a human thing. 

Pastoring in the Marketplace 

Part of our team was in Medellín for a missionary conference. The Colombian church is steadily becoming a missionary sending church! This year’s conference focused on Business as Mission, and we had the honor of talking with a few hundred Colombian believers about how their work in the marketplace could serve Jesus. 

After the first session, a young woman approached me, visibly emotional. 

“I’ve been told by many that I have the calling of a pastor on my life, but I just couldn’t shake this business idea I felt like God gave me. So two months ago, I launched my business, and ever since I have felt like I was saying no to God because I didn’t go into full-time pastoral ministry. I feel like you freed me to make an impact for Jesus through my new startup.” 

There were moments she couldn’t even speak through the tears. She went on to tell me about the dozens of people she’d been able to minister to through her business in just two months. People were opening up to her, sharing their anxieties and fears, and asking her to pray with them. 

Her business had brought her into the lives of people who needed the hope of the gospel. She was pastoring right there in the marketplace. Her gift for shepherding was coming to life through her business. 

Maybe one day the Lord will give her a new assignment in a local church. That would be fantastic, too. But right now, she’s stepping into a ministry calling through her business. That makes me emotional, too! 

The Whole Gospel to the Whole World 

I’m always a little overwhelmed when I get to spend time with the global church. In Medellín, I got to see a Colombian church sending missionaries and a young founder learning to see her own business as a place to minister. Both gave me a glimpse of what I love about the direction global missions is taking as churches across the Global South send more people into the world. 

The whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world. And through every means possible, including the marketplace!