And how entrepreneurs are helping them.
We can spin a lot of wheels trying to get programs to work in our church - and then we have to sustain them. For lots of churches, they don't get past filling the basics - what it takes to run Sunday mornings, kids, and youth. But what about the communities that we are called to reach? How do we get beyond sustaining the essentials to create momentum, and step into the ability to multiply that David Ferguson of Exponential and others are calling us to?
There is a growing recognition that momentum and the capacity to expand the Gospel beyond our church services requires something that hasn't yet been unleashed. We know that the Gospel has power, but that advancing it requires human vehicles.
There is a group of people who are already in the body of Christ that have yet to be unleashed. They are people who are wired for go, but we've assigned them to parking lot duty and occasional giving challenges.
Entrepreneurs are wired for go, and their momentum-building muscles have already been tested in the marketplace.
As pastors look around at the cultural and church landscape, they are observing that getting intentional about engaging and unleashing entrepreneurs is a kingdom priority. Here are some voices you may recognize:
"How can one hour in our sanctuary truly impact 40-plus hours in the marketplace?"A church that stays within its four walls isn't really a church at all, and that pastors don't need a whole new program to engage business leaders — "all we're suggesting is that you walk with entrepreneurs on their journey" and treat them as allies rather than a side project.
Mark Batterson, National Community Church, DC
Empowering entrepreneurial believers is now the single most crucial strategy for reaching communities, planting churches, and renewing existing ones — defining "entrepreneur" broadly as anyone who sees a need and takes responsibility for meeting it, not just business founders.
Exponential.org
"Everyone has a boss, not everyone has a pastor"
RightNow Media president Brian Mosley
"Entrepreneurs aren't just business leaders; they're problem solvers who can see opportunities where others see obstacles, and create value where others see scarcity."
Barna / MEDA
They carry a weight we don't understand
The truth is that entrepreneurs and business owners are carrying things that most people don't understand. To the regular challenges of life, they add the challenges of starting, sustaining and supporting others, in the context of regulatory, competition, business climate, financial, and staffing headaches. They sit at the hub of the communities we want to reach. The personal impacts on relationships and mental health are well documented.
They do need their pastor to understand.
If they are going to be unleashed for both revenue and mission, they need equipping and support. They need their pastor to both see the kind of talents and skills that God has given them, and treat them as marketplace missionaries. They have to be more than walking wallets.
All of this begs the question: How do we put this work? At Founder's Table, we talk with pastors every week who have decided they need to do something to engage with entrepreneurs and business owners. That desire and the heart behind it are the first step. They have recognized the marketplace missionaries in their midst, but also the lack of intentional discipleship that has been offered to them.
The next step is not a big lift- it simply means starting to have some conversations. Genuine interest and a framing of the Gospel that sees the marketplace as the primary mission field goes a long way. We also provide a full kit of resources to pastors, and a grant for those that want to get serious.
And here's the fun part
Once you begin to activate entrepreneurs, they help move the process forward. They are used to taking what they learn and passing it on, and they have all the tools to reach more entrepreneurs. It's truly a multiplication strategy: unlock the people wired for "go", and they will unlock others. That's the advice- start the conversations, and let them have ownership early - once you do, it's an engine that will run on its own gas.
We've got resources and support for churches that want to act on this.