Building God’s Way: Part Three

One thing that many people do not consider is the purpose of their business when building. Some build with the only thought of making money, having fame, power, or status. Those things are nice but are they things that matter to God? As Kingdom people, we have a unique privilege and responsibility to do something more than pursue those things. Paul the apostle told the people of Corinth, “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest (1 Corinthians 3:12-13a).” While Paul was speaking in reference to the gospel, we cannot ignore the reality that what we do in life has eternal consequences.

Building for Discipleship

One of the greatest things that we can do as Kingdom people is to build with discipleship in mind. Everything we’ve been given positions us with an opportunity to disciple others. We can disciple in and through businesses, creativity, governing, or wherever we find ourselves. When Jesus gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, it wasn’t just something that he expected his followers to do in the context of temple worship. Discipleship is a process of spiritual formation that happens over time.

J. C. Penney was a businessman who founded his company in 1904. Prior to founding his company, he worked for a retail chain by the name Golden Rule. The chain, for obvious reasons, was named Golden Rule because they believed that one should operate according to the biblical principle of “treating others as you would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12).” Penney carried this concept into his business. He made sure that his sales team was well versed in scripture believing that a moral foundation would produce salespeople who would not take advantage of the customers they served. Another well-known name was associated with Penney before starting his own empire; Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club.

In the early days of many of America’s Ivy League universities, the founders of those elite schools were operated with the thought that our nation’s leaders could not do rightly as businessmen, lawyers, and elected officials without a foundation of biblical knowledge. The Bible wasn’t just something taught to educate and train ministers of the gospel. The Bible was taught as a foundation for ethical and moral decision-making.

Seeing the shift away from that foundation, is there no wonder that building businesses and other things have taken such a drastic turn from doing justly in the community to merely being about the bottom line?

Author Ed Silvoso has two books that speak greatly to the power of the Church in the business sector. One is titled Ekklesia: Rediscovering God’s Instrument for Global Transformation. The other is Anointed for Business: How to Use Your Influence in the Marketplace to Change the World. These are not the only books out there but they are by far among the best for those who wish to make an impact through the mountain of business.

The apostle Paul was a tentmaker and used his skills and talent to fund his missionary trips. While he often received help from others who supported his work, he put to work his own efforts to see disciples raised all across Asia Minor. Lydia, who was one of Paul’s supporters used her skills as a tradeswoman to make things of an expensive purple dye. Her business became a resource for funding Paul’s journey. Today, there are still others who use their business as a philanthropic venture to help in the process of discipling.

The Salvation Army was founded by William Booth and his wife Catherine as a means of helping the poor. It was known as an army because of its disciplined way of carrying the gospel to support people in physical and spiritual need.

When you consider your call to build, it is your opportunity to go beyond making money, a name, securing prestige, or something like that. It is your opportunity to make disciples. Some businesses do this through simple gestures. Chic-fil-A, Hobby Lobby, In-n-Out Burger are but a few of the contemporary businesses that have a process by which they are making disciples and impacting the communities in which they inhabit. You too can have such an impact. As you seek what to build, remember that you can and should build with discipleship in mind.