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THE BUSINESS OF THE KINGDOM

by Peter Tsukahira
100264.327@compuserve.com 

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Introduction

The purpose of this pamphlet on business and ministry is to help mobilize believing men and women in business for ministry and the task of world evangelization. In many communities, there is a strongly-held belief that only full-time, fully supported ministers are truly qualified. One result of this deep but often unspoken belief is a "cultural" gap between business people and the pastors who serve them. Believers in business often feel misunderstood by congregational leadership. In spite of his or her usefulness in administration or releasing funds for ministry, a business person’s personal potential for ministry may be underestimated and underutilized. Overall, believing business people are a powerful resource waiting to be released for the building of the kingdom of God.

There is a great need today in the Body of Christ for a way to help business people find their spiritual calling and to train them creatively for the task defined by Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). An individual may be called by God to business but have a parallel call to ministry. Business and ministry are distinct but not mutually exclusive--that is, one does not cancel out the other. The following material is meant to begin bringing this understanding to business people and ministers alike.

Giving to Caesar and to God

In 1923, then President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge said, "The business of America is business". What he meant was that America as a nation had a business culture, an orientation toward the marketplace that pervaded all levels of society. By and large, this is true of America and other industrialized countries today. But what about those who are called by God to live and serve in the kingdom of heaven? Is our business as believers to be found in the marketplace? Is it just "business as usual"? President Coolidge’s fiscal policies led America to a stock market boom in the 1920s followed by economic collapse. Does God do business? If so, how does the Lord conduct the "business" of His kingdom?

The Old Testament scriptures are consistent in their positive attitude toward commerce. Abram, a man of faith and God’s friend was "very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold." (Genesis 13:2) King Solomon, with God-given wisdom conducted international trade, increased the wealth of his kingdom and built God’s temple in Jerusalem. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, he wrote, "It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it." (Proverbs 10:22) However, according to the Bible, all activities in the marketplace must conform to God’s moral purpose for humankind. Amos the prophet spoke out against unfair taxation of the poor and the taking of bribes. (Amos 5:11-12) It is not wealth, but injustice, stealing and fraud or the gaining of unfair advantage by means of deception that God’s word condemns.

The New Testament does not introduce a bias against commerce. Instead, we are challenged with a deeper understanding of riches. True wealth is described as "heavenly treasure" and a crucial choice must be made between it and the pursuit of earthly riches. At the age of twelve, Jesus said to his earthly father and mother, "Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?" (Luke 2:49b NKJV) Obviously, the father Jesus refers to here is not his earthly father, Joseph, nor is the business carpentry. Jesus meant His heavenly Father and the business of God’s kingdom.

Luke’s gospel goes on to record that Jesus’ parents did not understand what He was talking about but that He went with them back to His home in Nazareth and was obedient to them. For the next eighteen years or so we hear nothing of Jesus’ life but it is safe to assume that he apprenticed as a young carpenter under Joseph before beginning His ministry that would change the world forever.

As a carpenter’s apprentice, Jesus probably made all kinds of things for the ordinary lives of His customers. Sinners bought furniture made by Jesus. They did as they pleased with what they bought, for good or evil, for honor or dishonor (Thankfully, no furniture made by Jesus is known to exist today. What a tremendous religious idol would be made of that!). It’s hard to think of Jesus making wobbly chairs, or tables that weren’t smooth or cheating a customer on a bill or failing to pay the supplier of His lumber on time. He must have been a good carpenter and an honest businessman. He paid His taxes and His tithe. He and His family were respected for the excellence of their work and the righteousness of their lives.

Jesus knew intimately the daily routine of the working people to whom he ministered. So many of His parables and sermon illustrations are drawn from everyday life. On the other hand, we have no record of any inspired words uttered by Him while he was a carpenter. Those years were His preparation for ministry. In the life of His Son, God drew a clear line between the business of the world and the business of the kingdom. This is nowhere more clearly illustrated than in the following two portions in the Gospels. In Luke, chapter sixteen Jesus exhorts His disciples to be found faithful first in their earthly businesses before God will entrust them with the business of the kingdom.

He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? (Luke 16:10-11)

The close relationship between money and true riches is shown above, but Jesus’ intent to maintain a clear distinction between these two worlds was illustrated when He drove the money changers and merchants out of the temple.

And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers seated. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the moneychangers, and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a house of merchandise." (John 2:14-16)

Many sincere believers in Jesus equate their work, their business in this world with the ministry that God has given them. I believe that business is business and ministry is ministry. While there is nothing wrong about believers conducting business in the world, understanding our dual roles and keeping them distinct is essential for success in both areas. In a country where believers are harassed and even fired for their beliefs, someone once came to me and said, "I am torn between my deep desire to witness about my faith to my clients and my contractual responsibility to give them professional advice. Shouldn’t I let my ‘light shine’ at work?" I told this person to give the professional advice with wisdom, integrity and private prayer but to witness wholeheartedly to those clients with whom God gave a personal relationship apart from working hours.

Some years ago while working in a Japanese electronics company I met a young man who developed a great hunger for the Word of God. It seemed that everyday at break time he would appear with more questions about the Bible. I greatly enjoyed trying to answer him, but struggled to keep from being consistently late returning to my desk. After several months, one evening, I invited him to a restaurant after work for dinner, and just before desert, he prayed inviting Jesus into his heart. Today, he is a pastor in Osaka. The line between the time for work and the time for witness is not always clear but if we seek to honor our commitment to our employer, there will be less opportunity for the devil to accuse us of irresponsibility and a stronger witness to co-workers.

John the Baptist preached repentance and holiness, but he did not demand his followers to leave their work even when it was questionable work like gathering Roman taxes or serving in the Roman occupying military forces.

And some tax-gatherers also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages." (Luke 3:12-14)

In His famous Sermon on the Mount Jesus said,

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

It is our good works, our professionalism, our integrity, wisdom and success that will win friends for the kingdom in the marketplace. People will be drawn to us when they see our good works and they will listen to our words of faith and believe when we describe a heavenly kingdom far greater and more real than this passing, earthly, economic city.

Jesus was both a carpenter’s son and God’s promised Messiah. He maintained the integrity of a life that was perfectly whole yet He did not confuse His two callings. The possibility for any of us to believe and to be saved exists because one day, Jesus put down His familiar tools, left the carpenter’s shop and began to preach the Kingdom of God. The Bible says,

And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:23)

Everyone who is born again has received a new life through complete identification with the death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection. With Him we have passed from death into life and in our new life, the Spirit of God is progressively transforming us into the image of Jesus. Our call is to be like Him. Each one of us receives a measure of faith and spiritual gifting to accomplish our call. Each one of us is given a portion of Jesus’ ministry by the Spirit. There is really only one ministry in which all believers participate as priests to some degree. It is the ministry of Jesus. He is our perfect model and living mentor for the business of the kingdom. The work of His ministry comprised prayer, teaching, preaching, prophesying, visiting others, healing, helping the hungry and poor, raising the dead and giving Himself as a sacrifice. All genuine ministry will in some way incorporate some or all of these elements.

Some believers are called to full-time ministry and are supported totally by the gifts of others. Most are called to work and to earn a living in the secular world. Secular work for a believer can either be preparation for full-time ministry, a vehicle for ministry or both concurrently. The great apostle Paul made tents commercially in order to support his disciple-making and church planting ministry. He did not preach a gospel of tent-making but, rather after he put down the canvas, thread and needles, he preached the gospel of Jesus the Messiah.

After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tent-makers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (Acts 18:1-4)

Some of Paul’s spiritual illustrations derived from his secular business. To the believers in Corinth where he had worked with Aquila and Priscilla, fellow tent-makers he wrote,

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven; inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:1-4)

Tent-making was not Paul’s ministry but his vehicle for ministry. Believers should feel no compulsion to insert gospel tracts in every product they make--but every believing worker must strive for integrity and excellence on the job. After hours, with freedom purchased fairly through hard work and success in the marketplace we can offer the Gospel to the poor, free of charge like Jesus. In the same way that believing workers must strive for moral excellence in commerce, preachers of the gospel of the kingdom should never preach a gospel tainted with commercialism. We should preach the same gospel that Paul preached, a gospel devoid of financial promotion, self-aggrandizement or selfish ambition. The gospel of Jesus is heavenly and pure; it has no unrighteous obligation to the marketplace whatsoever. Paul said,

For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God...nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we might not be a burden to any of you (1 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:8)

Business exists to provide value (products and services) to society. However, it must do so at a profit in order to continue its function and to grow. Harvey Mackay, a writer of best selling books on business once said, "There is only one reward the marketplace has to offer: money. If you’re not making any, bail out. Quickly." Business in the world must involve making money. For the believer, there is nothing wrong with making money, if this is your assignment from God. "The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it," (Psalms 24:1) so the creation of wealth in essence is the extraction of God’s blessings which lie latent in His creation. Even the full-time minister who lives on the tithes and gifts of others must realize that it is fishing, farming, mining, manufacturing and the profitable exchange of goods and services in the marketplace that somehow puts cash into the offering plate. We must work hard, believing God for success, but we should not come to believe that this business, which involves making money is synonymous with our business in the kingdom. Success in worldly business is a wonderful blessing from God, but His greater blessing is when we can leave our carpenter’s shop (whatever that may be) and begin to minister the gospel free of earthly charge--for eternal reward.

This does not mean we cannot make money and minister concurrently. We may work both in the secular world and the kingdom of God, like the Apostle Paul as long as we understand that the two are essentially separate worlds. Jesus said, "You cannot serve both God and money." God is our only master. He alone calls men and women to serve Him in various ways both in earthly business and in spiritual ministry. God’s blessing of success in secular business can mean the opportunity to release time and resources to enter more fully into His ministry.

Practically, if you have adequate income and if you are confident about your reputation at work, you can take time off for a short or long term missions outreach, Bible school, taking Gospel literature to a local prison or beginning a Bible study in your home. If you are an entrepreneur pray about planting a business where it will benefit a missions outreach in another country. If you have a marketable skill (like computer programming) you can look for a job in a company that will send you to a nation otherwise closed to the Gospel. As an employee, seek to lead your co-workers to Jesus on your own time, not the company’s, unless someone with sufficient authority asks you to preach to or testify at a company gathering. It is important to discern the difference between earthly and heavenly pursuits and to "render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things which are God’s."

The Business of the Kingdom

If the business of the world is about making money, the business of God’s kingdom is making disciples of Jesus. This call is described in the Great Commission. Jesus said,

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20)

All that Jesus said and did in His ministry was focused on the training of His disciples. Although the long term plan of His ministry was to bring about the salvation of the whole world, Jesus focused His attention on a few faithful men. Writer E. M. Bounds has rightly said that "men were His method." The production of men set apart for the service of God is the business of God’s kingdom. Oswald Chambers said, "God has only one intended destiny for mankind--holiness. His only goal is to produce saints."

The glory of the Lord is shown in the fruitful lives of His disciples. In the business world a company may have beautiful office buildings, powerful factories and a smoothly operating financial system, but if these functions do not result in production, the company will soon have to shut its doors. The business of the kingdom is the production of discipled lives. God wants men and women in every generation of every tribe and tongue who have been spiritually transformed and whose daily lives shine with His holiness, His likeness and image.

Many people call the seventeenth chapter of John’s gospel the "high priestly prayer" of Jesus and so it is, but I prefer to see it as our Lord’s final performance report to His father. In this great prayer before He was taken into custody and ultimately to the cross, Jesus prayed for Himself, for His disciples and for all believers. He said to the Father, "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do." (John 17:4)

What was the accomplished work that Jesus referred to? Salvation was accomplished later, at the cross so the work mentioned in this prayer must be the changed lives of His disciples who had been given to Jesus by the Father. Read the chapter carefully. Jesus reported almost exclusively about His own disciples to God in this great prayer:

I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word. Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee; for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me. (John 17:6-8)

In this passage, Jesus did not pray about the multitudes that followed Him, the finances of His ministry, the miracles of healing or the feeding of the five thousand. His prayer was about His disciples. Then Jesus prayed for us--and all believers who are to follow in the steps of His disciples:

I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. ( John 17:20-21)

The Body of the Lord is like a fabric of interdependent lives woven closely together. We are incomplete without each other and God desires us to function together as a coordinated whole. Some believers are called to spend most of their time in business in order to help support others who are being released for ministry. Some of God’s family are called to raise up businesses that create wealth solely for the purpose of providing employment and income for other believers. Cross-cultural "business planters" and "tent-makers" are creating a modern model for launching and sustaining outreaches that do not rely on wealthy home congregations. Businesses that tithe on their revenue can support ministries of various kinds. In ways like these, one person’s gifting can be used to serve another person’s calling. This is the result of God’s overall responsible management and the economy of His kingdom.

The Narrow Way

On either side of the narrow way of righteous business lies a trap based on wrong thinking about money. The first trap is the failure to achieve business success (and then camouflaging that failure by calling it "ministry"). The second is to pursue business success at the expense of Biblical principles and personal spiritual growth. Often, the root of both mistakes is the sin of covetousness. On the one hand, denial of covetousness and failure to deal with it as sin can prevent the believer from breaking fleshly bondage to greed. Freedom from greed protects a believing business person from "walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the path of sinners or sitting in the seat of the scornful" (Psalm 1). The blessing of the Lord will be the result. A blessed business person is not striving in the flesh, making costly mistakes and breaking valuable relationships. He or she may therefore prosper in business through simple perseverance and faithfulness. On the other hand, deliberately yielding to the spirit of greed destroys the believer’s conscience, witness and ultimately effectiveness in the marketplace.

Covetousness must be removed from the scene for the believer to succeed both in business and as a witness to his or her culture. The only answer is identification with the cross of Jesus where through deep moral struggle we die to ourselves and rise again to new life in God’s image. The cross means the death of selfishness as a motive for success in business. The price the believer pays for this kind of success is much higher than the price paid by worldly people. The believer gives up his entire life to Jesus before even beginning work. Unbelievers render a percentage of their income to "Caesar" in the form of taxes, almost nothing to God and they keep the rest. The believer also pays taxes, but the rest goes to God and he keeps nothing except whatever God gives back to him for personal support and expanded service.

If God were not a loving, kind and benevolent Sovereign this would be the cruelest kind of slavery. But because of His gracious character and His incredible love, this narrow way leads to success in business and personal fulfillment as well. How many clever and gifted businessmen of the world have "gained the whole world and forfeited their soul?" In their hour of judgment they will end up rendering everything to God that they tried to selfishly keep for themselves, but it will not be enough and it will be too late. This is not to be the inheritance of the believer in business.

Because of the narrowness of the way demanded by God, business for the believer cannot be merely a profession but must be part of God’s divine intention. The Lord has specific purposes and a life plan for every one of His children. Those who are called to business can expect His grace to always be sufficient for every struggle, storm or crisis, but they must make their calling sure. It is important to periodically (though not continually) seek the Lord to confirm His call to business bearing in mind that after eighteen years (of success) in the carpenter’s shop, one day Jesus left and never returned to that work.

If the cross of Jesus is allowed to do its cleansing work in the believing businessman his conscience may be made clean to work wholeheartedly in the creation of wealth from the dust of unrighteous mammon.

To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. (Titus 1:15)

It is the crucial power of the cleansing blood of Jesus that through holiness releases the energies, gifts and talents hidden and latent in the life of the believer.

Business with Missions

Especially today, believing business people have a key role to play in the spread of the Gospel throughout the world. The traditional method of fully supported missionaries who leave the field periodically to raise funds from "home" churches will not meet the needs of today’s harvest. The church in the non-Western world is exploding with growth but in most places there are not enough funds in the church to support those who are called to missions. Waiting until indigenous, non-Western churches are wealthy enough to fully support missions will mean losing a generation or more. The only answer is to equip "business planters" to work in tandem with church planters, creating income in the very places where they are sent.

Business opportunities abound in many areas where the Gospel has not yet made a permanent penetration. In addition to providing income for missionaries and local believers a "planted" business demonstrates commitment and concern for the local people in a way often more easily understood than sermons. Jesus’ work in the carpenter’s shop brought Him close to the ordinary people to whom He would later preach. The apostle Paul maintained contact with the people of the local economy while sewing tents commercially. Paul supported his own church planting ministry explaining that while he had a right to be supported by the local congregation, he did not exercise it, choosing instead to serve the church without burden.

A network of believing businessmen in a a geographic region or widely dispersed people group (like the overseas Chinese) can cooperate to share information, opportunities and contacts. Such a network of responsible leaders reduces duplicated effort and can greatly multiply the effectiveness of each participating individual or group. Regional conferences build the strength of the network through the growth of new, trustworthy, personal relationships and the impartation of vision for world evangelization.

In some areas considered "closed" to the Gospel, traditional forms of evangelism will simply not work. Missions in the form of business may be the only practical way to develop contact with the local population and groups of indigenous believers. Practically, it is only those who have already been called by God to business who will be able to fully take advantage of these opportunities. It is an important priority in God’s kingdom to identify and mobilize such persons for the worldwide harvest in our day.

Practical Considerations

I offer the following points to help guide believers toward success in their business and ministry callings.

1. Integrity of Heart

Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, Than he who is crooked though he be rich. (Proverbs 28:6)

Believers are people of truth. We should never fear that speaking the truth in love will cause us to fail. The opposite is true. I have found that we often do need wisdom regarding how and when to speak the truth, but God will never forsake the righteous in heart. He is a shield of protection for the one whose life is committed to the Word of God. Integrity however, is more than simple honesty in business. It is more than "doing the thing right." Integrity is "doing the right thing." Integrity means keeping our commitments whether it is a matter between us and God like tithing or in relationship with our fellow human beings. This extends from the contracts we sign to being organized enough to return telephone calls and being on time for our appointments.

Integrity entails a life style of prayer that undergirds all business and ministry activities. In our inward, personal life with the Lord that is carried forward in prayer, we learn to stand before Him in honesty. He sends us forth from the holy meeting place of prayer made whole by His presence in our hearts, ready for whatever kind of work our call entails. Through prayer and the Word of God we receive wisdom, grace and moral understanding to deal with tough decisions, to navigate through human complexities and to avoid moral compromise. Through prayer we receive courage from the Spirit to act on what God has shown us is the right path for our lives.

2. Focus and Singleness of Mind

Apart from being a great king and prototype of the Messiah, King David was the world’s all time most successful songwriter. What was his secret? He wrote,

One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to meditate in His temple. (Psalms 27:4)

David had a heart after God’s own heart and it was focused on just one thing.

Along with being a great apostle to the Gentiles and writer of many inspired New Testament epistles, Paul was one of history’s most effective cross-cultural communicators. What was the secret of this spiritually gifted man? He said,

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Both Paul and David had hearts and minds that were focused clearly on their goals. They were single-minded in their pursuit of God’s best. Most of us can only do one good thing well at a time and if we desire to succeed, we must practice the art of concentrating our gifts, abilities and attention on the target God has set before us.

Practically speaking, what do I mean by focus?

A. Define your goals with realism and clarity in the light of your calling.

As believers we are not trying to amass wealth here on earth. We are actually trying hard to minimize our time in secular work while maximizing freedom for ministry. Jesus said,

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. (Matthew 6:19-20)

B. Discover your God-given talents and stay within your circle of expertise.

This is called "Sticking to the knitting." Find your niche in the market and seek to fill it through hard work and excellence. Exercise discipline to turn down (or refer) inappropriate opportunities (the gift of saying "no"). No one can do everything well. May God show us the one thing, or few things we do best.

C. Develop persistence.

Go back to the same sources again and again as long as they continue to yield (Isaac redug the wells of his father Abraham). Don’t lose interest or give up too soon. Learn to hit the same old boring home run over and over again.

Focus is being single-minded about the task God has placed at hand. Single-mindedness, however, does not need to imply extreme rigidity. For the human eye to focus on a moving object, it must adjust itself continually. A wrestler uses the flexibility of his muscles to lock himself around his opponent and win the match. Being double-minded means allowing uncertainty about your goal to break your concentration. Our goals are established by God in us through prayer and His Word. We exercise faith to achieve those God-given goals.

But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8)

3. The Will to Win

If you are in business you must have the will to succeed. The apostle Paul compared the life of faith to running a race (Hebrews 12:1). We are in a competition, not against others but against sin, the flesh and the devil. Paul said,

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12 KJV)

Many people would like to end the verse after the words "we wrestle not." I sometimes tell the story of a believer who wanted to play compassionate, caring tennis. He didn’t want to make his opponent run or stretch or get tired, so he deliberately lost every game and wound up loosing every playing partner too. His partners lost respect for him and no longer wanted to play.

Jesus told the following well-known parable of the talents.

And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground; see, you have what is yours." But his master answered and said to him, "You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. (Matthew 25:24-29)

If you are called by God to business, you have been called to compete in the marketplace fairly, with courage and endurance. We must demonstrate our faith through good work and not be like the fearing and mistrustful slave with one talent. It is God’s will that we be like the slave with ten talents who had an abundance. When your customer or your employer makes money with you on the team, they win and you win. Business is like a game and it is competitive by nature. Furthermore, the Lord can be like a "hard man." He knows our capabilities and demands top performance. Being a witness in the marketplace means working hard, trusting God and letting your light shine. Play fair, but strive for excellence and play to win. When you have won and helped a few others win, tell them about Jesus. They will listen to you because what you have won is their respect.

4. Building Business Relationships

Business is a an integral part of human life and it flows through networks of relationships. Effective businessmen are always looking for promising people even if they are not immediately useful from a business standpoint. When I worked as an international sales manager, I once arrived in a country without a single contact. I prayed in my hotel room and felt led to call the commercial officer of a nearby embassy. That person recommended a local businessman with a small company in a closely related field. I met the man and he impressed me as an unusually bright and effective person. In the end, I signed him to be my company’s agent even though his company was not exactly in the best position to help mine. He had about twenty five employees when I met him, but the next time I visited him, he had two hundred and soon that figure was over two thousand. One day I heard on the news that he had been appointed to a cabinet level position by his nation’s prime minister, without any previous government experience! His company is now one of the largest and most powerful in its field. God knows that people make businesses succeed or fail. He will lead us to effective and appropriate people if we follow His guidance.

I have been asked if it makes sense to try to work with friends. In my experience, good friendships sometimes develop as a result of good business, but rarely does the reverse happen. In fact, trying to do business simply on the basis of friendship can be one way to destroy or badly damage long-standing and valuable relationships. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but profitable business results from providing consistent value to customers through legitimate and ethical means. Trust between those doing business in the context of Biblical morality, international law and accepted business practices is a practical requirement. Friendship is a great benefit but not a necessary factor.

Should believers ever be in partnership with non-believers? There are many types of partnership, but I don’t think equally shared ownership will work out in the long run. The Bible warns against it. I know a believer who once sold his business in order to more fully pursue his call to be a pastor. He sold the business to a non-believer that he knew would run it in an effective and ethical way. In order to make a smooth transition to the new owner, he was obligated to keep an interest in the business for a period of time. However, in order not to be "unequally yoked," he sold 80% and kept 20%. This permitted him to have a limited, ongoing participation in the business while allowing the new owner to exercise full control.

According to the Bible, God created humans in His own image and gave us dominion over the world. Sin wrecked this arrangement through rebellion and selfishness, but God provided a means of redemption through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. God’s original intention for humankind still endures. People are still responsible for every material resource on the planet. Right relationship with God means the difference between heaven and hell. This relationship always has first priority! However, right relationships with the right people means success in business. God’s Word gives wisdom in choosing people and in building the kind of relationships that will lead us to success.

5. The Priority of Prayer

Business for the believer is not merely a profession but a calling which needs to be initially established in prayer. God’s calling forms the foundation of faith needed to receive from the Lord guidance and the blessing of success. A believer called into business has a great advantage because he or she need not wrestle with tough decisions alone--the Lord is there. His name, Immanuel means "God is with us." Business people are continually confronted with situations that are ethically gray areas. Yielding to moral compromise is easy. In addition, there is often great pressure exerted by others to compromise for the sake of the group. Through prayer, believers can receive wisdom and deliverance. Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon are two biblical examples of men who by prayer and perseverance overcame evil with integrity and rose to God-ordained positions of wealth and influence. A wise man once said, "There are two types of people in this world. One kind pushes his way through life and the other prays his way through." Which kind are you? A praying person is someone abandoned to the will of God and consciously yielding to God’s plans on a daily basis. In my opinion, this attitude and the practice of prayer are absolutely essential business tools for the believing business person.

In Summary

Business in the world and ministry for the Lord represent two completely separate realms. One is earthly and the other heavenly. Like Jesus, each believer is called to function in both realms while maintaining his or her essential wholeness in honesty before God. This wholeness is another way of defining integrity. The good news of the gospel is that by the power of Jesus’ cross working in our lives, believers can function in both business and ministry without being compromised, fragmented or financial failures.

For the believer in business, the altar of the cross provides a pathway for a lifestyle defined by integrity, holiness and the practice of prayer. While the business of the world is about making money through providing value to customers, it can be a valid vehicle for ministry and is often an excellent training ground for developing character and management or leadership skills. In contrast, the business of the kingdom is the spiritual production and reproduction of disciples. This was and is still the focal point of Jesus’ life and ministry. A tension will always exist between work for material gain and labor for "heavenly treasure," but the power of Jesus’ sacrificial cross connects these two worlds. For individual believers, finding the right personal balance of business and ministry is a matter of prayer and determined obedience to the Lord who calls us all to Himself.

God’s strategic plan is the salvation and discipling of every nation. Believers in business have a unique opportunity to participate in the advancement of God’s kingdom throughout the world. The business community is responsible before God for the creation and allocation of worldly wealth. It is a priority in the kingdom of God to mobilize and encourage believing businessmen to participate wholeheartedly in the completion of the Great Commission.

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Peter Tsukahira is a third generation Asian-American, now a citizen of Israel. He became a believer in 1973 and pursued a dual-track career in ministry and in the computer and communications industry for over twenty years. Now he is a pastor of an indigenous Messianic community meeting on historic Mount Carmel.

All correspondence regarding this pamphlet may be directed to:

Peter Tsukahira

P.O. Box 7231, Haifa 31073, ISRAEL.

Tel./fax: Int’l. +972-4-834-4385.

E-mail: 100264.327@compuserve.com 

© 1997 Carmel Communications

All scripture quotations unless otherwise marked are taken from the New American Standard Bible

Copyright © by the Lockman Foundation.

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