Synergy: the Role of Business Leaders in the Work of the Kingdom

Material taken from a podcast with John Lee and myself for UNITE WNY

God is advancing His Kingdom in our world, and He wants to include everyone in that work.  Specifically, God has an important job for business leaders to do.  That job includes the work of all Christians to worship, fellowship, witness, and sacrifice with humility and integrity.  But there is also a specific call on business leaders to bring their unique skills and assets to bear on the world and the church with Kingdom goals in mind.

We are calling business leaders to two specific tasks.  First, develop strong bonds of partnership and friendship with one or more individuals from the ministry world; partner with a pastor.  Second, bring the ingenuity and the efficiency of the business world into ministry settings.

Business leaders excel at the ingenuity, and the focus, that brings efficiency.  The demands of the marketplace require business leaders to have skills, resources, networks, and paradigms, that squeeze as much reward as possible out of as little investment as possible.  Business leaders regularly focus with the precision of a laser on the missional objectives of their activity.  This focus provides clarity that works in concert with ingenuity, creativity, and flat-out grit to bring about this efficiency.

Ministry leaders, while often possessing that same grit, often lack ingenuity, missional focus, and efficiency.  This often leads to mission failure.  That mission failure sometimes looks like the disintegration of organizations and institutions.  That mission failure also sometimes looks like the maintenance of organizations and institutions at the expense of their mission.

The solution to this mission failure is often sitting in pews staring blankly at the pastor every Sunday.  Pastors may have a strategy for getting business leaders to contribute financially to the church, but rarely have a strategy for empowering business leaders to use their skills to advance the Kingdom.  This must change.  The information and skills in the minds of most business leaders are key assets to furthering the work of God.