People often think a business and a ministry can never be the same. After all, one is for-profit and the other, non-profit – but, wait, who say’s a ministry can’t function effectively and make a profit. Knowing how to turn your business into a Marketplace Ministry solves a huge problem by allowing you to make money and serve God at the same time, in the same place.
Think about the functions of a ministry. There are activities designed to draw people to Jesus Christ. There’s worship, prayer, mentoring, and people services. A large, well-organized ministry also has human resources, payroll, administration and a host of business functions that keep the ministry financially sound just like a business.
A ministry does business to function effectively. A business, which identifies as a Marketplace Ministry, does ministry to function spiritually (according to Scripture). God never meant for a follower of Christ to operate outside of Bible principles and call it, “just business.”
Ministry and business come together every time you care for someone and share your faith at work. It comes together when you help people and care about their concerns. It comes together when you give, serve, and encourage.
The word “ministry” comes from the Greek word diakoneo, meaning “to serve.” In the Bible, ministry is to serve God and people – not just to help, but to show them God’s love in action. True ministry always has a hope of drawing people into their own walk with God (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 13:1-17).
So, how to you turn your business into a Marketplace Ministry?
You bring all of your joy and love for God with you to work. You don’t leave it at the door. You don’t hide it under your desk, or slide it away. Instead, you live your faith everyday so the world can see you loving God. You’re not obnoxious. You’re not difficult. Instead, you strive to be a highly functioning, encouraging, hard-working, dedicated, reliable, trust-worthy team player, who loves God.
Here are a few more steps to Turn your Business into a Marketplace Ministry
1. First, seek to understand your spiritual gifts. This will help you understand the primary gift you bring to your marketplace ministry. Of course, you can go beyond your own spiritual gifts, but this is a great place to start. For example, at The Extra Life, the primary operating spiritual gift is encouragement. It doesn’t matter if you read a post, listen to a video or take a course – you will always be encouraged! We will infuse encouragement, energy and hope into everything we do!
To turn your business into a Marketplace Ministry consider the goals of your business. Now, ask yourself, “How can I bring the business goals and my spiritual gifts together?” For example, Our marketplace ministry is an insurance agency. Most of our clients are referrals. Why? because the gift of encouragement attracts people. Here’s how we turn the insurance business into a marketplace ministry using the gift of encouragement:
- We take time getting to know people to learn what they care about. We talk about how life is going. We keep in touch and call when a major event happens. It’s our ministry to care about each person far beyond our insurance conversation.
- We pray for our with clients.
- We help them beyond the products we offer.
- We answer questions that we don’t get paid to answer.
- We genuinely care about each person.
We care about the life and concerns of our clients. They know about our faith and expect us to care and be authentic. If they are interested, we gladly invite them to enjoy the resources on the Extra Life Marketplace Ministry website, giving them access to our Bible Study, encouraging posts, and events.
Everything we do is designed for us to excel in business and ministry.
Marketplace ministry is ministry that happens in the marketplace – outside of the church walls. We minister to others because of our love for Christ, It doesn’t matter if people believe our faith or not. Our ministry does not focus on what people do, but what Jesus Christ has already done.
When you put it together and apply it to your business, that means you evaluate all of your systems and your culture and see if it matches how Jesus would treat people.
How would he treat your employees?
How would He treat your customers?
How would He approach sales and profits?
(By the way, He cares about your business and your money.)
Seek to answer those questions and implement your new strategies into your business plan and daily activity.
As you begin to transition your business into a marketplace ministry, pray for God to reveal the way He wants it done. He will give you new ideas and concepts that make you excel in ministry and business.
Don’t forget to register on this site as we encourage each other to step forward and experience a Marketplace Ministry.
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