Beginnings

Not long ago, a good friend made and observation and asked a question that captured my attention. We had been talking about some opportunities for entrepreneurship, and he said:

I grew up in the church, and I learned that Christians should have integrity, treat people well, and use their profits wisely and generously. But I feel like there is something more. Is that all there is to being a Christian in the workplace?

When he said that, I was deeply impressed that the church often says very little about the claims that the Gospel makes on us in the workplace beyond having integrity, treating people well, and being generous.

My friend had glimpsed something painfully clear: There are many people who are not Christians, nor make any pretense of being Christians, who excel in integrity, good will and generosity. So what difference does it make if you are a Christian or not?

I'm quite confident that my friend is not alone. We live in a disintegrated, and disintegrating, society. We have been told that matters of faith are distinct from, and not integrated with, matters of social engagement and welfare. What is worse is that we have believed it. We have agreed to be Christians at home and at church, and dutiful employees at the office. We have conceded that as long as our work is not immoral (like publishing child pornography), we can do it with a clear conscience.

My aim, then, is to demonstrate integrity in a disintegrated and disintegrating society by contending that the only way Christians can live under Christ as King is for our engagement in social and economic structures to be defined by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am convinced that the Good News of Jesus Christ calls us not out of the world, but into it in a way that unmasks the powers of this age, provides a foretaste of the age to come, and is the instrument of the Holy Spirit for rescuing the enemies of God.

There are a host of questions that need to be answered, and with which I will wrestle on this blog. I welcome submission of more questions, and contributions to meaningful answers to them.
Here are a few of the questions:

1. How does an entrepreneur submit to Christ as King?
2. How does gospel entrepreneurship differ from social entrepreneurship?
3. What are the aims of gospel entrepreneurs?
4. How do gospel entrepreneurs measure success?
5. Are there any business sectors off-limits to gospel entrepreneurs?
6. What is a 'Christian' business?
7. Why focus on entrepreneurship and not commerce more generally?
8. Aren't the Gospel and profit fundamentally irreconcilable?
9. What is the hope of a gospel entrepreneur?