Am I a businessman, or am I something beyond that? That’s a question I tussled with since I started this company. Un-Associated isn’t a nonprofit organization, it’s a company that will make a lot of money some day. We are a for-profit company that does a lot of things you would typically envision a nonprofit to do. With the type of work we do, I’ve had to juggle with the concept of capitalism and service all at once. Let’s just say that sometimes it seems like those two things are like polar opposites, and for a while I thought that I needed to be only one of these in order to succeed: a businessman or a servant of God.
You see, I thought a businessman was all about the money – creating capital. You do what’s best for business. You budget, you plan, you invest, and pretty much do anything and everything to make sure the company is making money so you can be a successful businessman. This was my idea. So that gave way to the hours upon hours I spent studying how and when to sell merchandise, or how to get more traffic on our website, or how to post at the perfect time to get the most engagement – the whole shabang. A businessman needed to study the numbers at all times, and always needed to focus on getting them up – money, views, ratings – that’s all that mattered.
However, something about being that ate me up inside after a while. There were those moments when I got so caught up in the numbers that I would forget why I was doing this in the first place. There were those moments when the numbers didn’t go up and I would feel the failure and disappointment kidnap my joy. It ate away at me. And then I’d feel guilty because I knew that I wasn’t being a good servant of God. I was being a businessman fueled by money and attention, not the vision God gave me to serve others.
So then my reaction to all that would be to become the servant of God. I would stop chasing after company success and prosperity and focus only on service. All service, no money, no structure…. just serving and moving on faith here. I would think there wasn’t a need in a long term plan because “God got me”. I would think that God would take this company to the next level when He wanted to and all I had to do was be obedient – move when He tells me to move. Move ONLY when He tells me to move. Catch where I’m going with this? This mindset didn’t sit well with me either.
I was waiting on God to do the things He already gave me the power, tools, strength and wisdom to do. When all I did was focus on service and put the title of businessman on the back-burner, I became passive with everything I did. I was scared to do anything because I was scared to move without a thunderous voice from God telling me what to do.
It’s safe to say that my definitions of what both a businessman and servant of God were, were completely off track. There was some truth to what I was believing, but it was mixed in with misunderstanding.
Be both. That was what I got. That was the answer God gave me. I needed to be both. I needed to understand that being a businessman didn’t mean I had to be fueled by capitalism, and being a servant of God didn’t mean I had to be passive. Being a businessman IS my service. God made me a businessman that would serve Him in the ways He needed me to serve. Period. I can’t be fueled by money and numbers. It’s about being faithful more than it is about being fruitful. I should be doing the best I can everyday to create top tier content and products, but for the Kingdom, not the coin. A businessman is what’s needed to make a business better: better production, better merchandise, better site design, better social media management, better time management, better business plan, etc. I needed to be a businessman to run God’s business. I needed to realize that I was made to be a businessman and give glory to God with every decision I made and action I took. That is what a servant of God does, serves and gives glory to God in the ways God has intended for him to.
Being a servant of God looks a little different for everyone because He’s given us all different gifts and purpose. Find out how that looks for you. The important thing is to enquire with Him and do everything with the mindset of giving Him the glory.
