Episode 6 of The Missional Marketplace Podcast addressed the traditional comic villain, the businessman. Dun, dun, duunnn.
Often cast as the enemy of all small businesses, elementary schools, and after school programs, the businessman has been portrayed as the greedy Hollywood antihero for decades. However, this unfortunate representation of business, and its leaders, is merely a reflection of its counterfeit image. Today, Erik & Darren unpacked that counterfeit for us, as well as explaining the genuine heart of what true good business looks like.
The counterfeit expression of business, which we do indeed see in the world today, is the expression that carries the mantra of, “what can I take from you?” This is the fallen representation of business, and it has unfortunately cast a negative & unspiritual light on the marketplace for a long time. This is the state of business that allows greed to enter the picture. While broken business sees people as transactions, redeemed business sees people as image bearers and seeks to add value to someone else.
True business, redeemed business, was created by God for good. According to Erik, “business was meant for mutual dependence to create human flourishing.” Through the redeeming power of Christ’s work on the cross, and a business owner that desires to honor God with their work, this is what business can still be today; something that honors God and loves their neighbor.
Following that, our Missional Moment in episode 6 came from Matthew Rohrs of Sinapis. Sinapis is a non-profit organization that is training & accelerating entrepreneurs for the Kingdom. Their goal is ultimately to be creating jobs where people are treated with dignity, thereby transforming communities through business. As Matthew noted, making a profitable business provides jobs for people in impoverished communities and allows them to provide for themselves, their families, and their educations.
Matthew had a profound quote to share with us as well; he said, “Whatever the profession is, when it is dedicated to God, it is spiritual.” He said, “… not just as a platform for sharing the Gospel, which is good, and not just as a platform for giving to the local church, which is also good, but when the Kingdom is spilling out of us like it was Jesus everywhere He went, that work is spiritual. The excellence of that work is spiritual.”
I feel like this just hit me today as I heard him speak about the revelation he received from the Holy Spirit.
I’ll end with this quote from Matthew as well, “Because [a business] is profitable, because it’s led by people that love God, they’re making a huge difference in the lives of people.” Let me, and the Stone Table, encourage you today… If this is you, you too are making a huge difference in the lives of people, right where you’re at.
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