The Business as a Ministry: Maximizing Kingdom Impact

As CEOs, business owners, and executives, it can be easy to view stewardship as simply tithing on the profits of the business. We think, “Tithing is a good thing and most businesses do not even come close to doing that.” That may be true—and tithing is a great place to start. However, for businesses truly living out the Business as a Ministry (BaaM) vision, tithing is not a great place to stop. We are stewards of the whole business, not just the financial parts. When we expand our thinking beyond tithing and typical corporate social responsibility, we will find creative ways to leverage all aspects of our BaaM efforts. After all, God does not just want our money—He wants us to rethink how we do business.

The Assets, Levers, and Potential Kingdom Impact of a Business

We have all likely heard the term “stewardship,” commonly used in reference to our financial decision-making. Biblical stewardship, however, is a matter of identity—who we are, Whose we are, and the implications of that worldview. We can give nothing to God because He owns everything (1 Corinthians 10:26). As business owners, He has entrusted us to steward all of the assets in His businesses to maximize Kingdom impact. 

The typical small business owner has the opportunity to impact more than 5,000 people every year, including employees, families, vendors, customers, and industry peers. In addition, that same business owner stewards multiple assets, including cash, equities, real estate, facilities, equipment, people, relationships, and operations.  When leveraged intentionally, these assets become powerful engines to unleash exponential cycles of corporate generosity. 

When we delegate a task to an employee, we expect the task to be completed as instructed and the result to fulfill our desired outcome. Similarly, if our businesses belong to God, then we are managers with delegated authority, accountable to Him to define success. Our performance will be uniquely assessed (Romans 14:12) against our execution, motives, and the kind of treasures we accumulated.

Recently, C12 CEO Mike Sharrow created a video for the National Christian Foundation, one of C12’s Strategic Alliances. Watch this video to expand your thinking about the assets, levers, and potential Kingdom impact of a typical small business.