If your church could step into the center of your community, right in the middle of the community that you were called to reach, would you be willing to do something different? Of course, God has already placed people in that position - right in the nexus of where community, culture, and commerce meet. Some of them are employees in the businesses in your community, some are managers, but some actually have their hands on the levers that make community happen- they're entrepreneurs and business owners.
Jesus saw it.
Jesus and the followers he trained had a knack for it. Once they had met the obligation of tradition and heritage to bring the Gospel to the Jews, they stepped right into the middle of human culture. They bypassed custom and even propriety to walk right into the middle of the pain and chaos of the people. When Paul engaged in the city of Ephesus, he did it by leaning into the marketplace with a team of tentmakers and then taught in a public meeting hall while the marketplace work continued. That venture reached the entire region in three years.
It's easy for churches to attempt to build an orbit of their own - programs and activities trying to make the church the center. Certainly, churches are the center of corporate worship; the places where people step aside to gather and engage God. Really large churches can build community gravity.
But entrepreneurs and business owners are already running a program that owns the hub of community - they are the ones who create the environments, make hospitality and community real. They pay the property taxes, open the gathering spots, and create loyal communities of support.
Entrepreneurs are already running a program that places them in the very center of the community you were called to reach - that program is a business.
Their program- it's sustainable, full of infrastructure, highly networked, and has the ability to grow and expand to constantly reach new people. The culture that these entrepreneurs are creating is shaping the way that people view themselves and the places where we live. Those entrepreneurs sit at the hub of the community you want to reach.
Entrepreneurs and business owners have social networks that are twice as big as those who work a regular job - their influence is simply much larger. They represent more than 40% of the GDP and their presence can increase the local economy by as much as 2X to 3X.
And here are some of the ways they are shaping your community:
Intentionally engaging entrepreneurs as mission leaders
Churches that want to reach the community in which they are planted understand that the most missional kind of program is already in place, and it is found among entrepreneurs and business owners who understand that they are missionaries in the marketplace. They live at the center of the very people that we want to reach.
Engaging entrepreneurs allows churches to equip a missional force in the center of the community they were called to reach.
The job of activating and discipling those hub owners is what churches that want to reach their community prioritize. They realize that those entrepreneurs have been given "talents" by the Lord for the purpose of more than revenue (revenue is good). They have been strategically placed to disciple as they go about their business. But they have to catch that vision and be trained for it somewhere - how about your church? Founder's Table is designed to help you get started. ->Check out the grant.