Video Transcript: Video: The Marketplace Christian's Primary Mission in Business (Part 1)

In this first unit, we're going to talk about the Marketplace Christian's primary  mission and business. Several years ago, I was speaking at an event, and it  was not a quote, unquote Christian event. It was attended by business people of all different faith backgrounds. Some did not profess any faith at all, and I was  meeting some of the people there as I was about to get up and go and speak.  And I explained to this gentleman at the time I was in seminary. And I explained  to them I was in seminary in preparation for going into business. I really wanted  a biblical foundation for my life and for what I was going to do in my career. And  and so he looked at me, just so confused, and he said, Okay, so you're studying  theology to go into the business world. That must mean you're going to become  a televangelist, which is interesting, because I'm sitting here, standing here  before you, presenting some teaching about what the Bible says about  business. So I think he had some prophetic insight, but nonetheless, I think he  was a little bit confused about how God might think about the business world  and and I explained to him that I'm not just studying theology, I'm studying  practical theology. And he said I didn't know theology was practical, and he was  so serious, and I just really felt for the guy. And I've noticed that throughout my  professional life, as I run into Christians and people that are not of the Christian  faith, that a lot of people have this idea that theology just really isn't practical,  that is really just something that you kind of take the seminary, or you you go  and you serve in a church or something like that. So in this particular unit, we're  going to really dive into some foundations of what is the marketplace Christian's  primary mission in business. Why Does God care so much about the  marketplace, when I started to get a hold of this understanding that God was not only interested in my work, but that he was passionate about my work, and the  attitude that I brought to the purpose and the meaning that I drive in the way that I conducted myself in my workplace. I was serving in the Air Force, and I'll never forget, I was leaving this exact spot, leaving the Air Force Base after a day of  work, and I was about to go and do some volunteer activities through my local  church. I was about to go do what I thought really counted as ministry activity. I  was playing on the worship team. I was playing guitar in the music team at  church, actually, in a couple of different places. I was serving in the parking lot  ministry. I was taking a group out every Friday night for a year to go and do  street evangelism. I was doing a lot of great ministry activity because that's what I thought ministry was. Was basically something that happens when you're not  getting paid to do it. And I was, I was leaving the base on this particular day.  There's some railroad tracks that are right next to that picture. You can't see  them. But as I was leaving the base, the Lord said to me, this air force base is  your ministry. And I would say that to you, your business, your office, your  whatever your workplace is, that is your ministry field and the marketplace in  particular. And so I'm going to differentiate between workplace which is kind of  the broader workplace context that would encompass social sector, public sector

and the private sector. So when say social sector, I'm talking about the church  world. I'm talking about nonprofits. When I say the public sector, I'm talking  about working in government or in education. Here we're talking specifically  about the private sector and and that's where probably about 85% of the  Christian workforce works, and that's about a cross section of the entire  population. At least here in the US, I know we have people taking this course  from all around the world, but at least here in the US, about 85% of the  workforce is working in a for profit company, not just in a nonprofit or in  government or education, but in a business. And so why is the marketplace such a great place for a Christian? Well, first of all, almost all non Christians work in  the marketplace. So if you're passionate about the Great Commission and  evangelizing the world and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you want to  find some lost people to be able to do that, and to be able to carry out that  biblical mandate. The business world is a perfect place for you to do that. By  2050, at least here in the US, only about 11.7 % of the US population is  expected to be attending a local church, and churches probably another course  you could take here at CLI but there are a lot of different there are a lot of  different types of church, you know, Home Churches, and things that are not  really being counted, but only about 11.7% of the US population will be attending the local church as we know it, by 2050 as well. Almost all Christians work in the marketplace. So if you want to be able to collaborate and do ministry activities  with other Christians, then look no further than the marketplace. About 85% of  the Christian workforce spends the majority, probably 60 to 70% of their waking  hours working in a for profit business setting. And I would also suggest to you  that discipleship can actually happen in the marketplace, because that's where  we spend our time. I mean, how much discipleship can happen as you're sitting  there in a pew, silent, listening to the preached word. A lot of discipleship can  happen through a powerful message that's preached under the unction of the  Holy Spirit, and I love that but, but discipleship has to be relational, and it has to  be in the context of your everyday life. And that's how we begin to bring and  that's why people think, as I shared the example from this gentleman that I met  who said I didn't know theology was practical, a lot of people don't because they don't see it outside of their local church. Discipleship can actually happen. We're going to talk a little bit more about what discipleship is and how that relates to  the business world here in just a minute, and it's also the example set by Jesus,  and that relates back to discipleship, because where did you see Jesus in the  Bible, teaching so many of his parables and doing so much of his discipleship  was as they were going to and fro in the marketplace, as they were on fishing  boats. This is where the good stuff really happened. It wasn't inside the  synagogue, typically, and also, Jesus was a blue collar worker. Don't miss this.  What was Jesus doing in the first part of his life that there is so little on record  about? Well, he was working in his father's workshop, his carpentry shop, as a 

blue collar worker. 92% of his public appearances were in the marketplace.  That's just astounding. And 87% of his parables had a workplace context. A  Marketplace is a great place for a Christian. So now let's get into our identity.  We're going to talk about our mission as marketplace Christians in this unit, but  we also need to unpack some things about our identity, because I've even seen  it just today, just more confusion about the identity of Christians who work in the  marketplace. I literally saw this article on LinkedIn, where this person a  reputable writer in the Christian world, was suggesting that that you're you're  either a player or a payer, and that the players are the ones on God's team, that  are the ones that are actually out on the field of battle, or they're on the  whatever analogy you want to use, but they're the ones that God has put In the  game. And what he was saying was, those are the pastors, those are the pulpit  ministers. Those are the ones that we traditionally think of as the heroes of the  Christian faith. Those so those are the players. And then he said, Now you might not be a player, but you might be a payer. So the people that are supposed to  make the money to be able to give so that the players can do what God has  called them to do. There's just a lot of confusion about about the role, what?  What if you're not in pulpit ministry, does that mean you're not a player on God's  team? That you're not that God hasn't put you out on the field with an  assignment that goes beyond just making money as a business person, so that  you can give to things that really matter. I hope you're going to, especially  throughout this entire course, I think you're going to have a change of heart and  a change of thought, and that you can really start to see your identity as a  marketplace Christian in a way that God sees it. So let's dive into the Word of  God here, which says in I Peter 2:9, but you are a chosen people, a royal  priesthood, a holy nation. So what are royal priests called to do in the business  world? And a lot of what I've seen happen is. There's this idea that that and well  meaning ministers have have suggested that some of us are priests, and then  some of us are kings. And we're looking at an Old Testament paradigm. So we  need to bring this into the New Testament, which is where this scripture is  coming from, which says that that you are a royal priesthood. You marketplace  Christian as you hear the sound of my voice, you are at Once a king and a priest at once. You're not either a king or a priest. You are at Once a king and a priest.  You're not just the business person that's out there to make the money so that  you can give it to the priests. Again, we're drawing from this Old Testament  paradigm of the Levitical priesthood, but the priesthood Jesus has in mind is the  order of Melchizedek Royal. It's a royal priesthood, and that's what you and I,  marketplace Christian are so blessed and overwhelmingly privileged to be a part of. So what do priests do? First of all, Royal priests sacrifice and proclaim. And  we can look further into that passage there in I Peter 2 two. And I encourage you to bring out your Bible and kind of dive into this passage, which is so powerful  as it relates to our identity as marketplace Christians. So first of all, Royal priests

offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. And there's the statement there in I  Peter 2:5, offer spiritual sacrifices that please God, that's what priests do. So  you know you might not be offering burnt offerings. You might not be offering  

and when you think about the Old Testament, the way that sacrifices were  offered, you may have disqualified yourself from the idea that you're a priest,  because I'm not the one who's supposed to be offering burnt sacrifices. And  then we kind of are pulling from now this idea from hundreds of years ago that  Martin Luther really came against, and he really suggested this idea of the  priesthood of all believers, that it's not just a few people that went to seminary  that are are uniquely qualified to be the go between, between us and God, so  that we can't come into the Holy of Holies. Because you can stop this recording  right now and go into your prayer closet and go straight into the Holy of Holies,  because you have access in the name of Jesus, and there's nothing that you  could do, there's no amount of education, there's no amount of personal piety or holiness that could pay the price to give you that access. But Jesus is the Way,  the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. So  he is our our high priest, but he has made us priests in him, in the order of  Melchizedek, because we are in Him, and that's the kind of priest he is, and as  he is, so are we in this world? Is what the scripture says. So what do what do we mean by spiritual sacrifices for marketplace Christians. Well, first of all, in  Romans 12, it says to offer your body a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to  God, this is your reasonable act of worship. So this isn't just sort of when you go on Sunday morning, when you sing some songs, which is powerful, and I hope  you're entering into worship, as I really strive to do every time I come in to the  congregation and be able to get the joy of being able to worship with my  brothers and sisters in Christ. But I hope that you view your life as as an as a life of worship, as a lifestyle of worship. And where does that lifestyle happen  again? We go back to the business world, because that's where we spend so  much of our waking hours. So what are some of the spiritual sacrifices? Well,  the work itself is a spiritual sacrifice, personal holiness, conducting yourself in a  way that is pleasing to God, with ethics, with integrity, forgiveness. Have you  ever had to forgive somebody in the business world? You know, maybe you've  had to forgive somebody, and we're going to talk about this later on in the  Business Law Section. But there are going to be times, if you haven't already  faced them, that you may have to forgive people and and you may lose 1000s,  maybe 10s, maybe even millions of dollars in the process of having to forgive  that person, depending on what God has called you to do. In any event, no  matter what happens in the courts, we're called to forgive. You may have to we  you will have to sacrifice financial earnings, because that's what we're called to  do. We're called to give. We're called to live lives of generosity as believers from the money that we make in the marketplace. We're called to then sacrifice that  to the Lord, maybe giving to the poor, maybe giving to our local church, maybe 

giving to a cause that God puts on our heart. We're called to sacrifice, perhaps  extra time at the office in order to serve your family, in order to be there for your  children. I know that's a sacrifice that the Lord is constantly calling me to offer is  because I can, I'm telling you I can just work, work, work, but it is a sacrifice. But then when you like, like any sacrifice to the Lord, when you see the price that  was paid, when you see what the Lord is offering in exchange to give up what?  What he's asking you to give up. And then you realize what is on the other side  of that the joy set before you. It is, it is no it's no question. It's, it's really not a  sacrifice at all in the grand scheme of things. I mean, when I get to spend more  time with my kids instead of just kind of pursuing selfish ambition by burning it  both ends of the candle, or just kind of wearing myself out at both ends, it's just  really not much of a sacrifice. You're going to have to sacrifice selfish ambition.  You're going to have to sacrifice the ways of the world. These are all spiritual  sacrifices that please God and that we are called to make each one of these as  marketplace Christians. So what else do royal priests do? They also proclaim  the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous  light. There, right in that same passage of I Peter 2. So in the Old Testament,  there was the priest, and then there was everybody else and and so the priest  was the go between, the one that would go to God about the people, and then  go to the people on behalf of God. And really had to be sort of that that go  between is, was the function now, as a royal priesthood, you are called to go  into the Holy of Holies, to have that relationship with God, to pray continually on  a daily basis, to cultivate that relationship with God, that you know him  intimately, so that you can then Go to your coworkers, so that you can go to your boss, so that you can go to those that you supervise in your workplace, so that  you can interact with customers in a way that proclaims the excellencies of Him  who has called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. I mean, talk  about a character shift. Talk about making it easier to walk with integrity in the  business world when you realize that you've been called out of darkness and  into God's marvelous light of Jesus and that relationship that he so freely offers  so as priests, you can see here that we are called to offer spiritual sacrifices,  and that we are called to proclaim and proclaim what the excellencies of Him  who has called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. So next time  somebody tells you that, oh, your you know, your pastor is the priest, you're not  a priest, well, yes, our pastors have a unique calling to preach the Word, to do  hospital visits, to pray for us. I mean, I hope that we're also praying for our  pastor. I hope that we're also visiting our people in the hospital, even though you might not have a pulpit on Sunday morning, you have a pulpit there in your  workplace, and so don't let anyone tell you that you are not a priest unto God,  because you most definitely are, because that's who Jesus is, and you are in  Christ, and as he is, so are you in this world? What are our responsibilities as  kings? So you are a priest and you are a king. What do kings do? Kings provide 

and kings protect. In Genesis 1:28 This is one of the the earliest statements that  God has given to humanity, fill the earth and subdue it and rule. So we are  called to exercise authority and dominion and the world. And this statement  there in Genesis 1:28 really is a blessing. It really is the lifestyle that we've been  called to, to fill the earth and subdue it and rule. So how do we provide as  marketplace Christians. Well, if you're a business owner, then we provide  through meaningful work, we we provide meaningful work for people. Then  maybe they've only worked for employers, or maybe they've only had bosses. In fact, you don't have to own the company if you have any influence with people  and you're in your workplace and you're able to help them discover a deeper  sense of meaning in the work that they're doing. You're providing for those  people. You're providing the things of God for that person. And this is a way that  you exercise this responsibility as the kingly aspect of the royal priesthood.  We're called to provide economic value regardless of what your job is. It really  doesn't matter how much you get paid for it. What matters is that you're creating value for the marketplace and for people. And this is all an act of worship for  God, maybe providing opportunities. As a business owner, you may be in a  position where you're able to create enough value to where you can then you  can then hire people. You can then create opportunities for other people to  receive compensation, financially and otherwise, for the work that they're doing.  How else do we provide? We provide through offering spiritual gifts, and we're  going to get into that a little bit more here in just a minute, but we offer spiritual  gifts that God has given to each of us, and those are not just gifts for ourselves.  When somebody says you're gifted, your gift is not for yourself, your gift is for  the Lord, and it's for the people around you. Another way that we might provide  as business people is through almsgiving, through giving to the poor when there is we just had a the costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States.  Happened here in Houston, Texas, where this is recorded, and I'm telling you,  there is tremendous need in the church has stepped up. And as business  people, we've had a tremendous opportunity to be able to provide financially for  people who are in desperate need, who literally lost all of their financial all of  their material possessions, their house and everything. Another way that we  provide, that we live out this calling as kings in the marketplace, is through  protecting people. And so how do we protect people? We protect through  making wise and righteous decisions. I mean, just thinking about some of the  companies that are out there that have these celebrity leaders, or not just  companies, but any type of workplace. I mean, if that person made just one  unethical decision, what does the ripple effect? I mean, what a what a powerful  ripple effect that has throughout the entire organization, potentially, and it could  happen through just one bad, unethical decision, and all of a sudden, 1000s,  hundreds of people are out of a job. And this has happened time and time again. But you can protect the people that work in your company by making wise and 

righteous decisions on behalf of your maybe it's your department. Maybe it's  only the one task that you're responsible for in your company, but much  depends on how you exercise discretion and make wise and righteous decisions there in your sphere of influence, we also protect through life giving words. I  mean, think about how many of your coworkers are just struggling. I mean,  they're really just having a hard time, or who knows what kind of personal  hardships they're going through right now. But if you would just say an  encouraging word, if you would just, if you would just tell them that what they do  in this workplace matters, even if the owner of the company isn't coming around  saying it in fact, that's another, another issue. How prevalent is gossip in so  many organizations? And what does gossip do? It just destroys. It just creates  destruction. So instead of gossiping about the people that you're upset about.  How about just go to those people and share what's on your heart, and maybe  start with something to encourage them. Maybe say something nice about them, to lift them up. And then, you know, share what's on your heart we can protect in the marketplace through praying for people, we can protect through supporting  people through financial hardships. There's just so many ways that we live out  this responsibility to provide and to protect people as marketplace Christians. I  mean, how powerful is prayer? I mean that we can actually put a prayer  covering over our department so we can put a prayer covering, over our leaders, in our company, over our customers, over our communities in which we want our businesses to thrive, to be able to serve people. So there's just so many ways  that we live out this role as a royal priesthood. So again, don't give into this idea  that some Christians are the priests that have this, this access to God that you  don't have, and then some people are kings, and they're just called to make the  money to give to the people that are the priests. We are all priests. Yes, we have different responsibilities. We're going to get into that here in just a minute. So  what is our primary mission in the marketplace? And this is where we're going to get back to this original question that we started out this time together with, what is our primary mission in the marketplace? Is it to apply timeless principles. I  mean, the book of Proverbs has incredible insight for our business. I mean, in  fact, I named my firstborn son Solomon, because I love Proverbs. I love the  wisdom of this Solomon shared with us through the Scriptures, but but you could have a relationship with some timeless principles of be a good person, be a  person of integrity in business, there's plenty of scriptures about business, about finance, about management, and yet we could take those scriptures and actually not have a relationship with God. So there has to be more to it than just applying timeless principles. Is it about being financially prosperous so that we can just  give money to the things that really matter? I mean, I hope we have debunked  that in this last segment here about how we are all called to be royal priesthood.  Royal priesthood, a royal priest. This is, this is foundational to our identity as  believers in Christ. So there's got to be more than just giving financially that that 

we have a responsibility that goes beyond that in our workplace. Is it about  abolishing the local church model in favor of something quote, unquote better?  And there is this idea. In fact, I've seen it where people have said, you know,  your business is your church and and I don't necessarily buy into that. I certainly do believe that the Church of Jesus Christ gathers in the business world. I  mean, that's just a given. 85% of the Christian workforce works in a for profit  enterprise, a for profit company. So it's a given that, yes, Christians are gathered together, hopefully on mission in the business world, but there, in terms of  establishing church structure and all those things, it really starts to break down  this idea that that God is interested in not having us gather as believers across  all different plate workplaces, and because there can be conflicts of interest that  can get a little bit weird if you try to turn your business into something that's  going to supplant or replace your local church, I don't buy into that. I I totally  firmly believe that every believer should gather with a local body of believers  where you don't have all of those conflicts of interest. I mean, it's one thing to  not show up to church and your pastor is upset because you didn't show up, but  if it's your boss and you didn't show up to church, you know, there's a financial  consequence potentially that could happen there for the person that lost that  favor with their with their boss, and, in fact, it's legal, at least here in the US, to  do a lot of that, that sort of stuff, in in the marketplace. So, so no, your your  business, your your marketplace contact that is not the replacement for your  local church. Is it about selling Christian themed stuff to Christians? A lot of  times when I talk to Christians about about starting companies, their mind  immediately goes to, oh, that means I need to start a Christian coffee shop, or I  need to start selling Christian themed T shirts to Christians. I mean that. I mean  if, and there's certainly a target market for each of those things and potentially,  that's what God has called you to do. But don't run the risk of limiting what God.  Might want to do through you by assuming that God only wants to use, wants  you to sell quote, unquote, Christian themed stuff. I mean, I run a book  publishing company that that specializes in Christian books, so I'm I totally  realize there's a market to sell things to Christians. On the other hand, like CS  Lewis said, We don't need more Christian books, we need more books written  by Christians. So even though a lot of our all of our books are written by  Christians, they're not all quote, unquote Christian books. Because I really want  to encourage Christians to step out and to speak into the culture in a way that  they can listen. Is it about a prescribed method of marketplace ministry? Often,  when I hear marketplace ministry talked about, it often comes with some  requirements of okay, marketplace ministry is about making we're getting  together as believers, and we're making money so that we can give to things,  the ministry that really matters, and putting relatively no emphasis on the way in  which your work in the business world is ministry or perhaps, and I'm just  Thinking off top my head, other prescribed methods of marketplace ministry, 

maybe it means that it's all about evangelizing your coworkers, and so when I  show up to work, I need a game plan for how I'm going to share my testimony  with five people during the work day. You know there might, there may or may  not be an opportunity that the Holy Spirit presents on a given workday to share  

your personal testimony in terms of going through the Scriptures, of explaining  the gospel and sharing how you've met Christ for the first time, how He's  changed your life. And you're going to get there, and you're going to preach, and you're going to be fired up and share that with your co workers, what I would  encourage, and we're going to get into this later on about how do you do  evangelism in the business world, but building that relationship? Yes, absolutely. Invite coworkers to go out to lunch with you, but, but it's not just about sharing  your personal testimony or passing out tracts. I know some businesses do that  where they have gospel tracts in the lobby. See, all these things are part of it,  giving financially, absolutely evangelism of your coworkers, sharing the gospel,  sharing your testimony, doing all of that is absolutely part of marketplace  ministry. But what is our primary mission in the marketplace? Our primary  mission, and we're going to conclude this segment with this slide right here. It's  all about making disciples go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.  So it's not just about making a profit. It's not just about local church programs.  It's not just about even making converts or getting people to pray a prayer of  salvation. It's about making disciples. It's about becoming more like Jesus and  helping the world around us to look more like Jesus as a result. And now in the  next segment, we're going to get into what that looks like.