SNS 110: Saturday Night Special – 7 Signs of a Kingdom Business

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Welcome to tonight's Saturday night, special episode, 110.

[00:00:06] Matt Ham: Hey, I'm Matt Ham, author of redefined rich, and I challenge you to live richly by listening to the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.

[00:00:16] Scott Maderer: not all missional businesses are kingdom based businesses and that's not necessarily a bad thing. There is a place for serving a mission. And then there is a place for having a business that builds the kingdom. Obviously I think all missional based businesses should move towards being kingdom business.

[00:00:36] But at the end of the day, you may not start there. Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling and the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:57] We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in [00:01:00] others and develop your influence so that you can. The word.

[00:01:06] And tonight Saturday night special. I talk with you about what a kingdom business is. I share seven questions or areas to focus on to identify if you have a kingdom business. And I also share why not all missional businesses are. Businesses now one area that a lot of folks need some help with is around the area of productivity.

[00:01:30] Getting not just more things done, but actually getting the right things done can be really tough. I've got a course called productivity for your passion. That's designed to help you do this and then to hold you accountable and walk with you so that you can tailor productivity, not just to be getting more done, but actually getting the right things done.

[00:01:56] What's more, we take the approach of looking at your [00:02:00] personality and how you actually look at things in the world and tailor the productivity system to your personnel. Cause the truth is a lot of the systems that are out there are written really well for somebody with a particular personality type.

[00:02:14] But if you have a different approach to things, they just don't work, but there's tools and techniques and approaches that you can take that will work for anyone. And we help you do that and productivity for your passion. Check it out over@inspiredstewardship.com slash law. These last few weeks, James and I have been talking a lot about being a kingdom entrepreneur or having a kingdom business.

[00:02:40] And today, tonight I wanted to go a little deeper into that idea of what is a kingdom business. So one of the definitions I found. Was actually by gateway church from action school of business. And it says a kingdom business as an enterprise directed by the holy [00:03:00] spirit and managed by a godly leader that uses its time, talent, and money to meet the spiritual and or physical needs of the community around them to advance God's purpose.

[00:03:11] So that sounds a little simple as a definition, but the truth is you can look at that and you can break it down even further and break that definition apart and think about it from, what are the parts that make it up. So in this case you can end up with six or seven different pieces when you break it apart.

[00:03:36] And so first off an enterprise directed by the holy. And managed by a godly leader that uses its time, talent, and money to meet the spiritual and our physical needs of the community around them to advance God's purpose. So if you think about that means there's a calling from the creator. There's a personal and vital [00:04:00] connection to Jesus.

[00:04:01] There's the reflection of God's character. There's a life-giving culture. There's why stewardship of resources, there's measurable fruit. And then there's, disciple-making all of these are components that sort of make that definition. And so you can think about answering the following questions. Have I received affirmation that this business matches God's calling on my life second as the leader of this company, am I growing in my love for God?

[00:04:33] And for people, third, are we as a company reflecting a balance of God's holiness, justice, and love, and our words and actions. Next do my employees feel valued, accountable, empowered, and able to pursue their calling. And next does my company invest, spend and give as if all of its capital belongs to God.

[00:04:56] And next is the world clearly better because of [00:05:00] the existence of this company in is our impact grows. And last does my company help move people along on their spiritual journey? And when you think about all of those things you can begin to identify is the pursuit that you're in, whether you're the owner, whether it's a solar preneur type situation are whether you're working in a job, is it serving the.

[00:05:26] These questions really help you identify that, because think about it. Is it a calling from the creator? Do you have an all absorbing desire for the work? Do you have the right giftings to succeed? Do you see fruitfulness coming out of it? Both for yourself and for others and do other people give you affirmation that you are doing what you're supposed to be?

[00:05:49] Do you have a personal and vital connection to Jesus? Is the company getting in the way of your relationship with God and with Christ, or is it building [00:06:00] that, is there a reflection of God's characters, both in words and actions as both a corporate and identity, and as the individuals that make it up, are you serving in a way that reflects love, reflects holiness reflects justice?

[00:06:18] Into the world. And if you are, that's wonderful. If you're not, what are you doing to change that? Does this company have a life giving culture is the culture, the unspoken and unwritten rules for working together. One that builds people up again, both within the business and outside of the business.

[00:06:41] Is there wise stewardship of resources. It doesn't feel like people are being wasteful of the resources or is it one of these things where people are spending what they need and using what they need to grow? Not just to make more money for the company, but to actually grow the [00:07:00] outreach of the company.

[00:07:01] And does that show up in measurable fruit? Do you see the fruits of the spirit being played out in the company? And lastly, does it include some action that leads others towards growing in their spiritual relationship? Again, both for your employees and for us? Recognized by the way, if you don't answer all seven of these questions, yes.

[00:07:27] That doesn't necessarily mean it's not a missional based business that doesn't make it a bad business. It just means it doesn't fulfill this particular definition of being a kingdom business. Plus it's something that you can change. You can adapt how your business is acting. Not all missional businesses are kingdom based businesses and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[00:07:51] There is a place for serving a mission and then there's a place for having a business that builds the kingdom. Obviously I think all missional based [00:08:00] businesses should move towards being kingdom businesses. But at the end of the day, you may not start. And if you're an employee, you may not have all of these questions answered yes.

[00:08:12] For you on any particular day and time. But again, over time, you should be able to move towards seeing more of those questions answered. Yes. If you're really in the place where you're able to live out your calling. Thanks for listening.

[00:08:28] Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/.

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