The 3 Benefits of Mixing Faith and Entrepreneurship
Updated: Dec 26, 2020
How do faith and entrepreneurship mix?
Christian or not, I'm sure every successful entrepreneur would say, "you gotta have faith in your product or service for it to succeed." However, is this the same type of faith we learn about in the Bible? And how can we take our entrepreneurial faith walk more seriously so that we can reap the full benefits of a faith-filled mindset?
I used to stress out about thinking of innovative ideas, launching new products, and attracting new clients. The stress would keep me up at night, stating at the ceiling, wondering if I'm good enough to succeed.
This stress would take a toll on my relationships with everyone. My wife would see me working too much. My child would see me leaving home early and coming back late. My employees would hear from me less. And my relationship with God would take a lesser role.
But over the last two years, I've been working on my FAITH walk. I'm not talking about my faith in Christianity. I'm talking about my faith that God will provide.
Faith, as a Christian entrepreneur goes beyond our declaration that we believe in God, go to church and participate in Bible studies. Faith as an entrepreneur is 100% confidence that, when you're in your calling, God will provide. Faith changes our language from "hoping" something will happen to expect it to happen.
Faith is the gift that keeps on giving us business owners the fuel to keep on pursuing our purpose. Since we're always taking risks by starting businesses, hiring new people, and launching new campaigns, faith-filled entrepreneurs don't hope their actions will deliver results; they KNOW God will provide.
However, faith is also a hard mindset for us to understand and a challenge for us to take advantage of fully. We like results we can see, touch, and experience immediately. We like money in the bank that we can store up for a rainy day. But we're not sure how to manage a gift we can't take inventory of, yet we have an endless supply of it.
The issue isn't if we have faith or not, the issue is that we miss it's deep significance and tremendous advantages in our business as we either ignore it or take it for granted. Faith becomes an assumed quality of being Christian and starts to blend into the normal routine of our business day and we can no longer tell it's there. We have it as a card we pull out of our pocket only when circumstances call for it.
A great source to go to when we want to understand faith more is the book of Hebrews. Paul the Apostle wrote:
"THE FUNDAMENTAL FACT OF EXISTENCE IS THAT THIS TRUST IN GOD, THIS FAITH, IS THE FIRM FOUNDATION UNDER EVERYTHING THAT MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING. IT’S OUR HANDLE ON WHAT WE CAN’T SEE. THE ACT OF FAITH IS WHAT DISTINGUISHED OUR ANCESTORS, SET THEM ABOVE THE CROWD." (HEBREWS 11:1-2 MSG)
From an entrepreneurial point of view, there are three golden nuggets to pull out of this verse that you may have never realized.
1) It's not worth owning a business if you don't have faith. You'll be a big stress ball if you're always doubting yourself or second-guessing your actions. Faith is the fun in owning a business because you get to experience God's provision day in and day out.
2) Faith is your handle on what you can't see from your business plans. You can only hope for what you can't see and touch. On the other hand, faith turns entrepreneurial expectation into a surefire substance. “Can't see” usually does not fit with return on investment. However, faith makes it so. Faith turns God’s promises for your business into tangible realities. Faith turns things of the unseen spiritual world into visible things in the business world.
3) Faith is an action of obedience for God-first business owners. All the famous characters of the Bible did things out of faith, taking risks in stepping into the unknown. This should sound like entrepreneurship to you. Like they did for their ancestors, your choices in business will unlock the full benefit the gift of faith God has given you. Faith is what brings your visions to life and is the testimony to all that you trust God in being first in your business. As you make your leadership decisions, the outcomes of your faith are put into motion.
As Christian entrepreneurs, faith is our most potent tool, our biggest ally, and our competitive advantage. We don't wait around for faith to show up, hoping that, maybe this time, God will come through. We've missed the opportunity of faith if we live under this false perception.
Faith as a business owner is the hope of our entrepreneurial spirit. If we don't use it, then that's a choice we've made. No circumstance, situation, or setting should be able to affect our faith. Faith in action is merely choosing to run our businesses, knowing God's got us covered. If we've uncovered our calling, then bringing it to life and telling the whole world can be a faith-filled pilgrimage where our businesses serve to sanctify us and draw us closer to God.
Imagine if all of us Godpreneurs chose to have the kind of faith that turns hopes and dreams into realities we can experience today. Put your action into faith in your business today!