Solopreneurship: Culture's Counterfeit for Kingdom Business

I don't mean to hit home so brutally, but here we go: solopreneurship is not God's design for our work.

There, I said it.

Now, I get the realities of business. We can't all have a team. In fact, *many* of us have to run our entrepreneurial pursuits without official partners or employees. Because... well, money. 

So let's see what the Bible says about it (the most dangerous sentence we can ask...).

What the Bible says about Work and Community

1. Genesis tells us that work and worship are one in the same.

Genesis 2:15:

^"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

The word used in Genesis 2:15 for “work” is actually a Hebrew word “Abad.” Abad means work AND worship. It means both things.

It’s the same word Moses used to tell Pharaoh to let his people go out to the desert and worship their God. It’s the same word God used to describe how the tribe of Levi would serve in the temple.

Anytime we talk about the theology of work, we have to start here.

Otherwise the remainder of the conversation is stuck in some great divide that means paid work is just business, and full-time ministry is worship.

And that's just not Biblical.

We were made to Abad. There is no delineation here between what counts as "work-y work" and "a side hustle" and "just a hobby" and "lay ministry" and "full-time ministry."

It's all work and it's all worship and it's all sacred and it's all what we're made to do.

So if every kind of work is sacred, let's see what else the Bible has to say.

2. John tells us that God exists in community.

Among many other passages about our Triune God is the Gospel of John. As he opens (in that deeply intellectual way John likes to write), John 1:1-4 states:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind."

Yahweh, the one true God, exists in community. He is not alone.

And even more amazing, the way in which He exists is an eternal exchange of love. I'm not usually one to quote the Catechism, but this one is worth it: "By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange" (Catechism, 221).

I know this is over-argued in our Christian communities right now. So I won't belabor the point. But, we were made for community (Genesis 2:18, Romans 12:4-5, Hebrews 10:24-25).

We are image bearers of our Creator, and if He exists in community we certainly must as well.

So, if all work is worship, and our very identity is grounded in loving community, then what else do we need to consider?

3. We are adopted into the family of Christ.

Remember how all work is sacred? (Have I said it enough times yet?)

We have to remember that our whole lives... the entire thing... from the time we wake up to the time we go to sleep, to the influence we have in our homes and at our breakfast tables and in our board rooms and on the soccer fields... every facet of our life is one big story of who we are in Christ and what that means for how we live.

We cannot divide ourselves and our church into sections and force each to live behind invisible boundaries.

So that means the *many* chapters we have in the New Testament written to the church are actually written to benefit us. You. Me. To benefit our families. To instruct our businesses. To equip our faith communities. To guide our lives.

You are the church. And everywhere you go you are part of the church, whether or not you see another believer in sight.

And when you do see another Christian, then they're part of your family!

John 1:12-13

"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God."

Because of Jesus, we get to call Yahweh by the name of Father! (Romans 8:15-17) We are adopted into the family of God (Ephesian 1:5) and therefore are part of His family. We get to live into a heritage of faith and a royal family.

Why would adoption into our Creator's family even be part of our story if we were not built to operate inside of community? What's the point of God's design for adoption if not to have brothers and sisters who will lift up our arms and help us do the good, hard things?

Solopreneurs need community. On purpose.

For those of us that are working in isolation, we have a responsibility to get outside of our bubbles and begin working in community.

And bringing on a partner or a team member is just one of countless ways to make that happen. It's probably not even the most practical.

As catalytic people, I know it can be hard to invite people in. It's vulnerable. Sometimes even triggering.

But we truly cannot do this important work God has for us alone. We need advisors, friendships, peers, mentors, and mentees. People we're inviting into our story and people who are inviting us into theirs.

And most of all, people who will pray with us, seek God's best for our work, and help us lift our eyes up to the bigger things He's asking us to participate in.

Maybe one of these questions will spark a conversation with God:

• Who are you leaning on (other than a spouse) in your business efforts?

• How are you finding community that is *not* designed for networking (you know, the kind where you're hoping to get new business)?

• Do you have other business owners in your community that you are on mission with? (Not earning revenue with, but on mission with.)

• Where is the Lord asking you to be vulnerable?