Christian Business Builder

As we have been looking to scriptures for the step by step plan to business success for the Christian business builder, we have considered four steps to this point.

First, Proverbs 3:5 teaches us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. No one can better bring success to you and strengthen the value that you bring this world through your business than the Lord. When we who are Christians trust in the Lord, we cannot be stopped.

The second step is to abandon our own understanding. When we focus our business on the things that we can understand, calculate, and decide our tendency is to take our eyes off the Lord and his direction for our life and business.

The third step is to not only trust the Lord but also to acknowledge him in all your ways. In this step we move further down the path of departing from what is traditionally considered as “business sense.” However, if you want real success as a Christian, you have to acknowledge God in all things.

The last article spoke to the fourth step which is to let God direct your paths. He alone knows what’s best for you, so if you want what’s best in your life and business, you need to let God direct your paths.

Tonight the fifth step is found in verse 7, were Solomon warns us to, “Be not wise in thine own eyes, …” What exactly does that mean? Well, the wisdom spoken of here means, “intelligent, skillful, artful.” So, God’s word tells us not to view ourselves as intelligent, skillful, or artful “in thine own eyes.”

In simple words, we need to avoid the prideful view or our skills. We need to see them as a gift of the Lord and honor him in using our skills in the building of our business. We have been trained in the world of business to “brand ourselves” as an expert in our chosen field. We can certainly do that as long as we are quick to acknowledge God’s role in making us and expert. It is when we begin to think that we are “all that and a bag of chips” that God cannot work in our life or business.

Our success in business is always going to be greater when we recognize the source of our intellect, skill, and artfulness. He wants to bless our efforts and will do so when we serve him and our customers in humility rather than prize.

Talk more later ….

When attempting to build a Christian business, the first and most striking question that must be answered is, “What is a Christian Business?”

There are three basic truths that must be understood in order to answer this question. Today I am going to present these basic truths in a broad and general way. Over the next week I will get more specific as to the how these basic truths answer the question, “What is a Christian Business?”

My goal here is to present something that makes us all think. Just because we are Christians and just because we own businesses doesn’t make our businesses “Christian.” My goal is not to denigrate anyone, but to make us all think. Too often we, as Christians, following the “it works” method of business building rather than thinking (and praying!!) about whether or not Christians should follow after such business methods.

So … here are the three basic truths every Christian who wants to own and operate a “Christian Business” needs to understand:

1. To be a Christian business owner, you must first be sure that you are a Christian. Tragically in our world today, many people carry the banner of Christianity and when asked when and how they became a Christian don’t have an answer. Others still have an answer that isn’t consistent with Biblical teachings. This is not the forum to discuss or debate the different nuances of theology, but it is safe to say that being a Christian is necessary to having a Christian business.

2. To be a Christian business owner, you must develop a biblical world-view. Most businesses (even those whose owners are Christian) operate from a fleshly world-view. All that their businesses are about is “success” and “success” by definition is always about making more money, having more things, and “living the dream.” God doesn’t ever say that his people should all be poor and without means, but he does give great amounts of insight as to how their blessings of success are to be used.

3. To be a Christian business owner you must live a life of benevolent service. God is glorified when his people serve others ahead of themselves (just like he did by going to the cross). We are called to be stewards of those things he gives us (and that includes our businesses). Until we see our mission as one in which we help others even ahead of ourselves, we will never really know what it means to have a “Christian” business.

WOW!!! I must be nuts to think like this! But, before you just write me off as  kooky, take time to consider and pray about what you read. Going into a new year is a great time to move forward in both your faith as well as your business.

Talk soon ….

The Jesus Model - Part 4

In this post we are going to look at the fourth principle that we see in the life and ministry of Jesus. This fourth principle is that: Jesus lived in an environment of prayer.

In Matthew 14:22-25 Jesus had spent a day laboring in a dessert place. He had taught and then fed a large crowd of people and when he sent them away, he headed into the mountain alone for a time of prayer with his Father. It was after this time alone with God the Father that he taught the disciples the lesson of faith by walking to them on the water.

Jesus prayed before he named the twelve, he prayed to the Father for blessings on his disciples and those who would get saved throughout the ages to come, and he prayed for God’s will to be done in the garden before he went to the cross.

How about us? Do we bath our businesses in prayer? Do we seek God’s guidance in who we bring on to our teams? Do we pray about the needs and direction of our businesses? Is prayer a principle element of our business growth?

I know for me it has not always been so. I got into network marketing without much prayer and worked to grow my business through the counsel of my upline leaders. (Again without much time with the Lord.) When I was the most successful I was praying much more and when I struggled I was “doing everything I was told to do” by my upline.

This principle ought to cause us all to think a bit, and maybe even to reevaluate our current business practices. Without clear guidence from the Lord we are just really throwing darts in the dark.

Following the principles of  The Jesus Model will always place us in the best place possible to give God the greatest glory in our bodies and our spirits, which are his!

Just my thoughts ….

In this post we are going to be looking at the second principle in The Jesus Model.

The second principle is:
Jesus presented himself in service to God the Father.

What this means to our business practices is that we need to build our businesses as a part of our service to God the Father.

When Jesus prayed to God the Father in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-45) he said, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

In that statement Jesus presented himself in the ultimate way in service to God the Father. Remember that God was going to pour out his wrath on Christ while he hung on the cross. He was also going to forsake God the Son while he became sin for us who knew no sin.

Knowing all of what lay before him, Jesus still presented himself for service.

God had not asked the same level of service from anyone before nor has he since. That being so, he still wants us to be living sacrifices for him in this world (Romans 12:1-2).

This level of service is not just about us being “spiritual.” It is about our overall testimony in life. This includes our business model and philosophy.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Again to the Corinthians Paul says, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

Our business is a part of our relationship with the Lord. Since it is, we need to yield it to him and follow after him as he leads. Just like Jesus was willing to follow God’s lead even if it meant he would suffer greatly for his service, we should be willing to “look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12)

When the great God of the universe is in full charge of all our lives (our business included) and we serve him with his glory in mind, he will provide us with the wisdom and understanding necessary to be successful.

Does your business function as a method of your service to the Lord?

Just a thought ….

Dave

Jesus Model - Part One
Building a Business with Purpose
Hebrews 12:1-2

While considering the coming of the new year, I was struck by the need to evaluate again the business that I believe that God has burdened me to start. I began this evaluation by looking at the different business models that I could find both on and offline.

However, it seemed that the more I looked at what was out there and what other people were doing, I was drawn to the conclusion that I was not right for any of the models I had discovered. So, I began to prayerfully consider what God wanted me to do. After all, if he had really called me to build a successful business then he would surely have a model in mind for my doing it.

I was looking through some sermon outlines that I had prepared over the years and came across one entitled, “The Jesus Model.” When I read through the outline, it was as God himself was shouting from the portal of heaven, “This is how you should build your business!”

As I read through the outline again and studied the key texts, He was right (like that’s any big suprise!) This meant that I would have to start over (remember my “Hard Rest” post) and that I would have to build a whole new team. However, I now have a plan in mind and a direction to travel. What a wonderful feeling.

In these articles I would like to share the basics of that plan with you. Not so that you would necessarily join me (I am leaving the “who” of my team up to God!) Rather, I hope that, as you plan your 2009, the basics of this plan spark as much hope, excitement, and confidence in you as it has in me. May God bless us all as we work to honor him in this very important aspect of our lives and service to Him.

The first aspect of the Jesus Model is seen in the fact that Jesus lived every day of his life in a purposeful way. What I mean by this is that Jesus saw each day of his life as an expression of his relationship with God the Father.

In John 4:31 - 38 Jesus teaches his disciples a great lesson:

“In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. “

Notice the phrase: “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” First of all we need to understand the old english word meat. It literally means that which sustains life.

Jesus was telling his disciples (who were trying to get him to eat) that his life was not sustained by what he had to eat but rather by two more important things: 1. To do the will of he who had sent him, and 2. To finish his God’s (the one who sent him) work.

The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about, because their minds were almost always on temporal things. They nearly always saw things through the eyes of their flesh rather than from an eternal view.

Christian network marketers can be the same way. We listen to the conference calls and the annual convention speaches and get all fired up about what a successful business can do for us. We often times forget to consider why God has us in the business in the first place. What does God want to accomplish by our being in network marketing to begin with?

When we don’t approach our business as an expression of our relationship with God the Father, we are opening ourselves up (like the disciples did here) to only seeing things from a temporal view.

God would have us understand three things if our businesses are really going to have an eternal perspective and are going to be built with purpose:

1. Everything we do in life should be about God the Father. This relationship with the Father is what sustained Jesus’ life and ministry.

2. Every attempt we make to build and grow our business should also have an eternal purpose. This is why it is important who we sponsor and why we sponsor them.

3. Every moment we spend in our business will testify of our relationship with God the Father. People who work with us will either see a wonderful relationship between us and the Father or they will see that what we may speak and what we do indicate a disconnect between us and God the Father.

So … how are you going to build this year? Who are you going to build with? How are you going to conduct yourself in the world of your business? With purpose? As a witness of your relationship with God the Father (through Jesus Christ)? Will Eternity matter as you build this year?

Just a thought …. we’ll talk again soon!

Dave

As we look forward to the coming of a new year, what are you planning for your business?

I have been watching (and commenting) on a forum discussion. The discussion is about who should be recruited and how many at one time.

Unfortunately the majority of the responses are about Network Marketing being a numbers game and that we should recruit as many as possible (as long as they have a pulse) and then let the leaders just rise to the top.

There have been many though that have responded by saying that care should be taken in recruiting the right people at the right time. (My opinion by the way.)

I think that God’s word makes our treatment of others more important than our ability to make money. We are commanded to love those that God loves. When recruiting people we ought to love our prospective team members with the love of God.

Contrary to the popular notion that “anyone can build this business,”  the truth is that only 10-12% will make it 10 years and only 25% will be around in 5 years. What that means is that many will be recruited with virtually no chance to be successful.

Another misrepresentation that is often perpetrated on the potential recruit is that there are no real skills or talents that you need to be successful in this industry. So, we bring people in who think that just because they got in that they are supposed to be making money. The truth is that, like any business owner knows, you have to either have or develop a set of unique skills that are necessary for business success.

I think that there are five basics that you have to know in order to be successful in Network Marketing:

1. You need to understand the basics of money.

2. You need to understand the principles of leadership.

3. You need to understand the basics of marketing.

4. You need to understand what it means to be an entrepreneur.

5. You need to continue to improve in the area of personal growth.

If you do not sense that a prospective team member can learn and grow in these areas, you should not recruit them.

In an upcoming video I am going to deal with the difference between building a team and recruiting a group. In this video I will be talking about the fact that a team mentality results in success for all whereas a group mentality results in success for the leaders.

I believe that as we look to the new year and the success we are praying for, that we remember that we and our teams will be best served if we make money by building people rather than by “playing the numbers game!”

Just my thought ….

One of the most difficult things that can plague a Network Marketer is when people you know and love don’t believe in your vision of business success. As a matter of fact, I personally believe that this lack of belief is the number one killer of success in our industry.

When you run into this in your own business, what do you do?

First of all, remember that they people in Jesus’ own hometown didn’t believe in him either. In Matthew 13, Jesus found himself being questioned by those in his own country.

And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?  And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.  (Matthew 13:54-58)

If Jesus could be doubted with all that he had to offer, then I should expect that there will be people who know me and love me who will do the same thing!

Next, we need to understand that Jesus didn’t stay and try to prove his point to those who did not believe. Instead he continued to present his message to those who would hear. By the way, he didn’t speak badly (or think badly) about the unbelievers, he just left them to their own choices.

Finally you need to remember who you are here to please. When God created you, he created you to be a testimony of his love, his grace, and his power. Since you have been burdened (by the Holy Spirit I hope) to show God’s love, grace, and power through your business, you need to make that your priority.

If in doing what God has called you to, people don’t believe, your obligation to God’s will should take precedence. God’s word says that if you will humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God that he would exalt you IN DUE TIME!

Then when you have been given your platform by God, you need to look for ways to bless those who didn’t believe. If you can find ways to genuinely bless your current non-believers, they will come back to you. You can then be a testimony to them as well.

Don’t let those who don’t believe steal God’s will from your life!

Just my thoughts ….

Proverbs 6:6-11

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

Have you ever wondered what this ant thought of the sluggard as he looked at him from the anthill?

He must have thought about the waste of potential that the sluggard was born with.

Maybe he worried about the sluggard’s family with winter fast approaching.

He could have been considering all that he could teach the sluggard if he would just take time to listen.

Mostly though, I think the ant was sad. You see, it is sad to think that anyone created by the Author of all that was, is and ever will be would settle in life for what can come to him by just existing. God placed within the ant a desire to do the best he could within the wisdom, power, and resources made available to her.

So, for her to peer out of her anthill and see someone with much greater potential than hers just sitting on the sidelines of life with no amtitions to be all that God made them to be must have indeed been a sad thing.

You might be wondering what such a story as this has to do with Network Marketing as a Christian business builder? Well, in this story, three things come to my mind:

1. If I believe God wants me in this industry, am I serving him to the best of my ability?
2. Am I learning all that I can so that I can be the best coach and mentor that my team can have?
3. Am I inspiring others to take up the cause so that we can multiply our efforts and change our world?

The ant in this story was just doing what came naturally. She was preparing for the winter which would surely come. Are we, who believe that God has given us the desire to build strong and successful network marketing groups, following in the footsteps of the ant or are we just waiting for whatever happens our way?

Just a thought!

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!

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.”