New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

A simple definition of entrepreneurship is: "creating value through the utilization and control of resources that you do not own", which is essentially a biblical definition of stewardship where God owns everything and we are merely the stewards tasked with making the most of those resources.  The Christian entrepreneur chooses to exchange the security of employment (and limited reward, limited schedule, limited choice and potentially unequal yoking) for the risk of new ventures (and unlimited reward, more freedom of schedule, more freedom of choice and more control over yoking).   The stewardship of Christian entrepreneurship is not an easy one, however.  It requires much prayer, careful planning, adherence to biblical principles, attention to detail, acceptance of risk, patience, and stress.  We should always seek to be in a position of having the greatest freedom in order to follow God's will, but this will often mean sacrifice -- financial and personal -- in order to attain this position.  There will be many times that you will yearn for the pots of meat of Egypt rather than face the wilderness, but God has so ordered the world that those goals most worth pursuing and attaining usually come at great cost and sacrifice, all part of His purpose to sanctify us, so that our faith will increase to prepare us for increased responsibility and gratefulness for any resultant blessings.

There are manifold freedoms and blessings from God to be found and enjoyed in an entrepreneurial approach to life.  The first is freedom of choice -- the freedom to make decisions based upon biblical priorities without having some options (often the best ones) placed off limits because of dependence upon an employer.  Limitations can come in the form of time commitments, relationships, ethical dilemmas, and others.  Paul addresses this issue when discussing freedom in Christ in 1 Cor 7:23, "You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men."  We should always seek to be in a position of having the greatest freedom of action in order to be able to follow God's will.  This will often mean sacrifice (financially, personally, etc.) in order to attain this position, but God will reward us based upon our faithfulness to Him. 

Secondly, by setting out as an independent provider for his family, the Christian entrepreneur gains an array of choices regarding lifestyle that were most likely unavailable before.  These choices include scheduling options, the ability to be personally involved in educating his children, the opportunity for his wife and children to contribute to his work, and the ability to choose the people that he has professional relationships with, consistent with the biblical concept of yoking ("Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers." 2 Cor 6:14)  Furthermore, not only do these options become available, but the entrepreneur can make wise decisions about how to order his household and time commitments to attain a balance in life and work.

Finally, there is an enormous synergy among these activities that that are possible as a result of combining biblical decision-making with biblical family lifestyle.  A man's work can contribute to his children's education and his children can contribute to his business.  A man's wife can directly be his helper in his business and he can directly love and care for his wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.  A family working together provides ample opportunities for walk-along, talk-along discipleship of children and for ministry as the family reveals to the world God's design for the family.  These types of self-reinforcing relationships are rarely possible for the man who is a wage slave, but a new world of possibilities becomes available to the Christian entrepreneur who chooses to be free and trust in God's provision.