I’ve discovered over the past few weeks that one of my true passions is trying to live my life the way that God wants me to live it. To put it in the words of another, I want God to shine his spotlight on my life and show me areas that he wants me to change. I want my life to be perfect.
I’ve recently passed through a period of a few years where I questioned whether I wanted this, but have come to the conclusion recently that this is what’s needed and it’s how I need to live my life. I’ve questioned it, I’ve put it to the test, and I now realize that it is genuine and valid (and that there are dangers in other approaches to spirituality, but that’s a subject for another blog post — and perhaps even a different blog).
Understand, though, that “perfect” is a process, not a destination. And it’s a fragile one at that because it requires constant attention to what God is telling me. And once I adjust something in my life to meet God’s measure for me, something else will come up. I don’t anticipate being “truly perfect” at any time in this life, yet I welcome the process that will put me on that path.
Keep in mind that this is NOT about religion. Religion neuters God. It takes away the power and the spirit, leaving a burned-out shell of a God who supposedly demands that we give of our money to a rich, powerful organization (denomination) that has a history of oppression and causing strife. Religion is the focus of religion, not God. Sorry, not something for me.
While I do believe that God speaks to us through the Bible, I admit to having some healthy doubts about the authenticity of what we nowadays call “The Holy Bible”, primarily because its 66 books were chosen by a group of men over a thousand years ago — men whose purpose and agenda are unknown to me. Yet I do accept it and trust God to show me if there is error in it. I like the way that one church puts it: God’s Word was without error when it was first given to man. It’s gotten messed up along the way, but God can preserve it.
I have seen, attended, and gotten involved in some very good independent churches — churches that did not belong to a denomination. I think that this is the way to go. There’s nobody else to do the thinking for the church and it requires the leaders to think, truly seek God’s will, and, well, “lead”. They aren’t merely enforcing the dictates of some denominational headquarters, nor are they required to do something that they feel is not within God’s will. This prevents these churches from having to adopt some policy that their denomination adopted simply to “go with the times” (and also prevents the church from being “stuck” in a policy that is blatantly not what God wants for us).
One such church that I attended had a church government model that truly emphasized ministry. And the more I think about the time I spent in that church, my business, and God’s way for my life, the more intrigued I am by that model. And today I’m thinking out loud — SPECULATING! — but I want to do that here on my blog to see if it might be possible to actually run a business as a good, true church might minister to its people (and it’s the people that make a true church).
So the first point is just that: It’s the people that make up my business. Not the products, not the business plan, not the web sites and payment processors… It’s the customers, partners, suppliers, and me. That’s what matters, and anything I do should be done for their ultimate good.
Second, I’m not in this alone. That church had a board of elders that met together and decided (after much prayer) the direction the church would take — and such decisions had to be unanimous (after all, God won’t say “yes” to one elder and “no” to another; his will is His Will. It’s not going to change). What they said was “the law”; however, every member had their own “personal elder” to whom they could — and were even expected to — take their concerns on various issues. And the elders always saw their role as that of a ministering overseer, always seeking to do what was best for the church (again, the people, not the building or the organization or anything else). Any such opinions were carefully weighed before a final decision was made (of course, members like me were expected to also spend time praying and meditating before offering our opinions!).
Can this be done in a business? I think it’s wise to have advisers on various topics and perhaps it might be possible to form a group that could make decisions as to which way the business is going. It goes contrary to much of what I hear from people I know and trust. The Internet moves at the speed of thought, or so they say, and plodding along, prayerfully seeking God’s direction on every major decision, seems to go contrary to conventional wisdom. This is one I’ll have to give some thought to.
I visited one of my favorite church websites today. I downloaded some podcasts of their recent sermons, as well as PDF copies of their sermon notes. It was all free. If I wanted, I could have purchased CDs or DVDs of those sermons or even purchased MP3 downloads of them, plus there was a prominent (but tasteful) link to a page where I could donate to the ministry.
What about my content? If I am going to run a “ministry business”, I think that this would be a model to adopt. Give it all away and trust those who benefit from it to show their appreciation (or offer some type of premium service to people). Kind of turns the traditional online business model on its head, what with product download protection, expiring download links, resale rights, private label rights, legal notices…
Another nice thing that I like about this model is that the pastor had a sermon ready every Sunday (actually, TWO sermons; he also taught on Sunday night). There were also other qualified people who taught smaller groups and/or stepped into the pulpit when the pastor was sick, on vacation, or otherwise was not available.
Taking this to the business side of things, creating such content once a week would allow for some pretty productive product creations schedules… And if you take the pastor / teacher approach, the stuff is also well research, well presented, etc. And if you present it in a video format, extract the audio for an MP3, and expand your notes to create an ebook… Well, pretty soon you have a whole mess of content. This is one part of the whole thing that I definitely want to consider for my business.
Setting aside the potential drawbacks and benefits, there’s that “knowing” that says that it will work. I truly do believe that it is God who blesses our efforts and brings increase and profit. On the other hand, there has to be some effort for God to bless, so you have to do something… (but that’s a subject for another day). And since it’s a model that I’m comfortable with due to my time in various churches, it’s one that I would also feel comfortable with in my business. I also know that if this is what God has for me, I will prosper.
The whole thing kind of runs contrary to everything I’ve been taught about online business. It would rely on truly serving people, then relying on God to provide the necessary income through others. Yet the “knowing” I have is from God; I’ve tested it often in the past and have learned to rely on it.
While I haven’t made my final decision, I will soon, and even then, nothing is “final”. It would be more of a “Hey, let’s give this an honest try and see what happens”. My pending return to the States will allow me to start up my business in earnest soon and at least one upcoming opportunity will allow me to easily test this idea. I just might take the security / risk management side of my business efforts and work on applying this basic business model (which still needs some work) to it.
I’d love to hear your thoughtful comments on this. THOUGHTFUL, please. Thanks…
P.S. — I do know one thing: I do not agree that PROFIT is the sole reason for running a business. This is a fundamental departure from what many online marketers think and practice and it makes me reject many potential business models that I examine. I agree with the verse that says, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.”… (Mark 8:36)***
*** OK, that may have been taken out of context a bit, but I think that the general principle applies. On the other hand, I have no qualms with actually having a profitable business… We’ll see what happens!
