Gospel Entrepreneurship

You may have noticed the change in emphasis in the tag line at the top of my blog. I have - as you can see - chosen to describe myself as a gospel entrepreneur (in the making). It's a term I haven't heard before, which is partly why I am using it. I think it also has some value to it too.

You may have heard of or even know a social entrepreneur. For those still in doubt, this is someone who makes it their business to use business for good ends. Somebody who delivers services often given by charities through entrepreneurial means, rather than by writing off for donations. The results are often broadly the same as those of the third sector, although they should also be self-sustaining. Therein lies the genius of social entrepreneurialism.

However, I don't think it goes quite far enough. I don't think social entrepreneurialism yet embodies the fullness of the gospel call. I think that taking care of the poor is wonderful and is right at the heart of the gospel, but there is more too. Jesus quotes Isaiah in Luke 4. 17-19...

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

I want to find ways to do all of this stuff using all the tools in the box, including enteprise, but not exclusively enterprise. I believe that what Jesus said of Himself here is true of me and you too. So, I want to make it my aim to fulfill it all and to be as artistic and creative as I can along the way. I haven't attained any of it yet, but I really want to.

If we start doing more and more of this stuff in new ways, we will truly "rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated...renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations." (Isaiah 61.4)

Nothing else is a big enough aim for the God filled life. God Himself is the end, everything else simply the means.