Christian Business Builder

In Proverbs 22:4 the Bible states, “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.” This passage allows us to understand a basic truth about us, our lives, and our businesses.

The basic truth is that if we, as believers, want to enjoy these three most basic elements of life, we can only find them in a life of humlity and fear of the Lord.

Humility is an interesting concept and one not often associated with the hard charging world of Network Marketing. Yet, God clearly teaches here that, for the Christian, it is the way to riches, honour, and life. So, how do we engage in an industry like network marketing and at the same time live a life of humility before God and man?

1. We realize that our business is a calling from God and not just a money making venture.
2. We accept God’s leadership in our business and build it at his pace and according to his will.
3. We take on the role of Servant Leader. Realizing that this kind of leadership takes more time, energy and often times more resources than the traditional upline might be willing to invest.
4. We recognize that our business is relational and that as such our testimony for Christ is more important than our company “pin level.”
5. We desire to retain everyone we personally bring into our business model. If they depart, we want them to know we have done all we could to help them succeed. (No more, “some will, some won’t, so what, NEXT!)

The  fear of the Lord is the other key to riches, honour, and life. This fear refers to a reverence for the Lord. This reverence should be seen in all the aspects of your business model.

No “half-truths”, no bending the rules, no looking the other way. When we reverence the Lord all that we do is done to his honour and his glory. As we humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God, he will exhalt us in due time.

So … how are you growing your business? Is it growing with humility and the fear of the Lord or are we just building like everyone else? If you really want to distinguish yourself from the pack, build God’s way and he will bless!

When we consider the whole concept business ownership and prosperity, the Bible must be our principle guide. The biggest problem I see among God’s people is that we like the passages that deal with having lots of money and prestiege, but we are not so sure about the passages that deal with how we are to get and/or handle the success and prosperity.

I cannot find anywhere in Scripture where God is opposed to either success or prosperity. However, there are warnings upon warnings about success and prosperity becoming the gods of our lives. If we are going to build a successful business based on the truths of God’s word, we must understand what God says regarding these things.

Psalm 1 is a single passage that deals with all the aspects necessary to produce both success and prosperity. In this short Psalm we see several things:

• Be careful who you take your advice from.  Psa 1:1  “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” There are lots of “gurus” in the Network Marketing arena, but because they built a big business does not in and of itself make them the people you should listen to about building a Christian business.
• Realize that your wisdom and knowledge needs to come from your understanding of the word of God. Psa 1:2  “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” No one knows more about how God wants you to build your business. No one will give you better advice than him. He may use people to help you learn the tactics, but the basics all come from his word!

• Know that if you let God be the your primary teacher and mentor, that he promises you success and prosperity. Psa 1:3  “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” God can confidently make this promise because if you are meditating in his word and making it your primary source of business wisdom, you will always build your business in a way that is pleasing to him. You will also see success and prosperity through God’s eyes not those in the world.

God does not give anyone who is a Christian carte blanc, but he does tell us that we can be successful when we understand his word and follow him in all things. So … will you let God have that place in your business?

Before I get into the details of what the Bible says about success in business, I need to start by talking about why God’s people should even be concerned with owning a business in the first place.

Let’s consider a few things:

1. Man was created to glorify God. Mankind is the capstone on God’s creation. Man was given the distinction of being the only creation of God that represented his likeness and his image. Everything that we do then in life should be to reflect that likeness and image in the world. By doing so God receives glory and conversely by failing to do so takes away from God’s glory - 1Co 6:20  ”For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
2. As we seek to glorify God in our lives, we are to be a witness of God’s grace - Act 1:8  ”But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
3. Success in business gives us a platform from which to speak with authority to those who would hear - Ecc 12:11  ”The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.” (Note: not every believer is directed of God to own his/her own business, however this website is for those who are so all my comments will be directed as such.)
4. We should never consider money alone as the marker for success - Paslm 1 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” The believer who is guaranteed success and prosperity is the one whose life is directed by time spent in meditative consideration of God and his word. Any gain apart from that is just the result of human enterprise.
5. Serving our team is what makes success multiply - Mat 20:28  ”Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

When people think about their businesses, more often than not, they don’t also think about the Bible as a principle source of knowledge. Over the years as I have worked to build my business, I have bought and read may books written by the hot authors of the day. Many of them did have insight into things that help with the technical aspects of business. However, until recently I didn’t really consider the volumes of wisdom available to Christians from the greatest book ever written on any subject, The Bible.

The Bible doesn’t have the latest email marketing techniques, or the “magic bullet” for sponsoring, or even the best way to choose a company (although I’m not a convinced about this one). What it does have though is God’s view of life for all people. What life is all about, how to be successful in this life, and how to pass on that success to succeeding generations.

Over the course of the next couple weeks I am going to be posting some principles from God’s word that I believe should motivate serious believers with regard to the development of their network marketing business. I hope that you will be blessed and challenged by these principles (as I have been in studying and thinking them through on my own).

Please feel free to comment and add your wisdom to the conversation!

Look for more throughout the next couple weeks.

Christian business builder is my mission. It is a website/blog that is designed to accomplish one thing:

To change the world I live in and build the kingdom of God!

To this end, I am working harder than ever before but with a whole new focus. I have come to believe that God’s people need to focus their attention more than ever on the kingdom of God and their role in it. This will require that the things that this world has to offer will have to take a back seat to the things of God’s kingdom.

This in no way means that we cannot enjoy the world we live in but rather that as we enjoy our world we do so in order to exalt God and his kingdom. God’s people need to see their lives as a witness of God’s glory. When that becomes our priority, everything we do takes on a much greater “kingdom” orientation.

So … enjoy this site. Come back often and don’t forget to comment. Don’t forget to invite your friends!