Faith & entrepreneurship
This theologian shows how the bible has more to say about entrepreneurship than you think.
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We asked the Rev Ed Olsworth-Peter, the Director of Innovation and Development at St Mellitus College, to speak at Stronger 2022 on the subject ‘What the Bible Says about Entrepreneurship’. He didn’t disappoint.
We’re excited to share the recording of the whole talk and practical tips in due course, but in the mean-time I thought it could be helpful to draw out a couple of the points Ed raised, which I thought were stunning.
Etymology of the word ‘entrepreneur’
To kick off, Ed skilfully unpacked the meaning of the word ‘Entrepreneur’ for us. He shared how:
The English word ‘Entrepreneur’ can be defined, ‘enterprise’
The Latin word for entrepreneur can mean ‘to take’, ‘to apprehend, or ‘to grasp’
The French word derived from the Latin word for entrepreneur means to ‘take hold of’, or ‘take action’ or ‘undertake’.
This was fascinating, partly because I knew an undertaker in my parish in London who was very enterprising and entrepreneurial! When I think of a classic entrepreneur, I think of that undertaker.
However, what was more interesting was the way Ed proceeded to reflect on the biblical idea of ‘taking hold of’ something for God’s Kingdom.
Faith and action
He pointed us to James 2.14 which says ‘faith without deeds is dead’. Time and again throughout the pages of Scripture we see faith is lived out through action. A living faith is evidenced through action. We’re to ‘take action’.
“‘...because the root of the word ‘entrepreneur’ is about taking action, we could see this as a biblical mandate for all Christians’”
Jesus uses a parable in Matthew 7 about two builders. One wise, and the other, foolish. The wise builder we’re told, is the one who heard Jesus’ words and put them into practise (Matt 7.24). Again, the idea is that we are to take action in response to the news of God’s Kingdom drawing near.
Ed points out that because the root of the word ‘entrepreneur’ is about taking action, we could see this as a biblical mandate for all Christians. In the truest sense of the word, our faith is entrepreneurial - it requires us to take action.
To ‘lay hold’
Developing the idea a bit further, Ed uses the story of Jacob wrestling with God to illustrate more of this biblical idea of entrepreneurship.
As Jacob wrestles with God in Genesis 32, he says, ‘I will not let go until you bless me’. It’s such an incredible account isn’t it? Jacob has come to the end of the road and realises the need for God’s blessing in his life. He will not let God go.
Ed links this to Philippians 3.12 where Paul says ‘I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me’. He comments:
‘…in that sense, it’s the same again (as Jacob)….as people of God, as Christians, we are laying hold of, we are apprehending all that we can. Not to capture him and imprison him, but to embody him and to live with him and in him’.
From a personal point of view, I am reminded again of the place of prayer, both in discipleship but also entrepreneurship. God calls us to pray. He invites us to intercede, and the mystery is that our prayers can establish more of his Kingdom on earth as in heaven (Matt 6.10).
I think of the history of revivals in generations past. They often started with a group of faithful men and women not taking ‘no’ for an answer. Seeking to lay hold of God. Seeking more of His Kingdom in their time, in their context. God shows up by the power of his Holy Spirit and breaks through in new and exciting ways. Not new programmes and initiatives, but God sovereignly making a way for more of his Kingdom to advance.
And it strikes me that any entrepreneurial activity needs to be undergirded in prayer. We can have great programmes and ideas, but unless we make space to lay hold of God as we move forward and ask for his blessing and his power, then it will just be a lot of activity. It will simply be dry bones (Ezekiel 37). I’m also reminded of the verse: ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, the builder labour in vain’ (Psalm 127.1)
Key ‘takehomes’
As I listened to Ed, I thought these were some things we can take away with us:
-Entrepreneur means: enterprise, but also ‘take action’, ‘to apprehend’, ‘to lay hold’
-Notice where the Lord is inviting you to take faithful action with the things in front of you
-Prayer is essential in the new things that God wants to do in you and through you
-Laying hold of God’s purposes and even God himself in prayer, is part your work as an entrepreneur
