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Business Management and Disciple Making: Tips for Refocusing
Written by: Rick Greene
When Jesus commissioned His disciples, He didn’t commission only the pastors, evangelists, and such. He commissioned all the disciples in every walk of the kingdom life.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 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 follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
We see this also in the early church.
Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:17
So, if we all are commissioned to make disciples, how then do we do this outside of a traditional ministry context? And how do we use our gifts and resources to make disciples?
As a business manager, I’ve become passionate over the last 12 years about seeing the workplace become a platform for disciple making.
At its worst, business can be focused exclusively on profit, executed poorly, or both. At its best, business can be a profound and sustainable platform for mission, that engages the community around it. After years of building a kingdom-oriented business,
these are my top 7 tips to get refocused on the mission:
- Plant the seeds of discipleship at the core of your business so that it exists to not only financially support ministries but actively make Spirit-transformed followers of Christ in your business.
- Foster an environment where the Spirit Is able to move freely and impact both your staff and your patrons.
- Ask God “What do You want to do here?”. Start with hearing the Holy Spirit, not your own agenda or ideas. Businesses have requirements and restrictions that traditional ministries don’t have, and that’s not a bad thing. But the real question we have to ask is, is God in control? Are we operating according to His vision and mission? Or is He a secondary partner?
- Don’t look at your staff as a means to an end but “the” means to “the” end.
- Keep disciple making central to your organization’s mission. If I own a business and I donate money to a ministry that focuses on making disciples, but my business isn’t focused on making disciples, what does that say about me and my business? Am I really “making disciples” like Jesus called me to?
- Don’t simply use a business to make money to financially support ministry. I believe businesses should support ministries but with pure hearts. Specifically, if I financially support ministries but I acquire the money to do so through worldly business tactics, strategies and goals that are not honoring to God, am I really “making disciples” by “donating” money to ministries that do? Am I not taking the easy road and passing off my responsibility on to others?
- Redefine how you calculate success. The Great Commission is about people, not fiscal success. I could build an empire successfully acquiring the world, and yet lose my own soul. When we stand before Christ and we offer Him the success of our lives, what will we hand him? Success is measured in transformed lives, not buildings, bank accounts, possessions, or pleasures.
The real question is, what is the “end” we are working toward? Is it the Great Commission that Christ gave His Church? Do we see our businesses as environments to impact our communities or do we see them as supporting ourselves and our lifestyles? Christ wants to use us to bring transformation all around us, to bring light into the darkness.
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The Keystone Project is a global missions network of churches and leaders committed to the fulfillment of the Great Commission in this generation.