BIZNISTRY: Transforming Lives through Enterprise

The typical marketplace Christian also has a “congregation”—consisting of colleagues, customers, suppliers, and the surrounding community—larger and more diverse than the average local church. Envision, then, what an impact working Christians could have if they embraced their role as missionaries to the marketplace.

Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler, was asked what advice he would give to the younger generation coming up the corporate ladder. He said he would tell them when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.

“Biznistry can’t be simply about releasing profits. It’s got to be about bringing glory and honor to Jesus in all we do, and seeking him for direction.”

There is nothing “secular” about work in the Bible. The Hebrew verb avad is used in the Old Testament for both “work” and “worship.” It is related to our word vocation, which even today is defined first in the Oxford English Dictionary as “the action on the part of God, calling a person to exercise some special function, especially for a spiritual

contemporary Christianity views the marketplace as little more than a venue for generating ministry funds for the local church. This is a tragedy that has separated most of the Christian community from most of the ministry opportunity! When Jesus commands, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel,” he makes no exception for the workplace. Accor

Chuck Proudfit,

lifting thousands of people out of poverty with a “hand up” rather than a “handout,” representing another form of marketplace ministry.

A business plan is essential, but it cannot predict changes and challenges that lie ahead. SSE Director Pete West tells new entrepreneurs to “expect seven problems. You won’t know what they are until you start. If you expect difficulty, it will be easier to deal with it when it comes. You can’t be discouraged by problems; you have to get through th

This model not only shortened the learning curve for staff in the first stores they opened, but also provided a handbook to equip franchises throughout the country with practical guidelines for success. Biznistries choose operating strategies that will provide the maximum amount of profit for contribution to their targeted causes. Our New2You thrif