Ever wonder if business and the Bible have anything to do with each other? Is your point of view: separation or integration when it comes to Scripture and your career? We may even prefer to call it our vocation. I’ve got a unique perspective. For 25 years I was a full-time pastor. So, I’m a Bible-guy. I had a radical, “Come to Macedonia” moment that convinced me to resign my pastorate and begin a new adventure with God. In early 2020 I launched an LLC. So, today I’m running a full-time solopreneur business called Teleion, LLC in Fargo, ND.

That means I’m co-vocational because my business is a part of my plan to launch a network of multiplying micro-churches:

• It’s the funding source for my ministry

• It’s a bridge to new relationships in my community

• It’s another way to let my light shine before others

• It’s a way to help other business leaders create a better world to live in, work in, and worship in

When I hear a business idea, I naturally run it through a filter: Is this idea consistent with, or contradictory to, what the Bible teaches? And when I read the Bible, or hear someone talk about the Bible, I also naturally run that through a filter: Does this concept fit with my business and the businesses of others?

The Creo Collective is all about innovation and catalyzing new expressions of the church. About equipping everyday people to be pioneers for what God’s doing right now. I’m convinced that means there will need to be an ever-growing number of co-vocational and bi-vocational men and women who learn how to navigate these new waters to reach the growing number of people who are disinterested in and skeptical of any church they know. We do this so they can experience new kinds of communities of faith. Incarnational servants who meet them where they are so they can come to know the life-transforming love of Jesus for themselves.

I’m excited to begin posting content on business and the Bible every Tuesday! [That’s why I’m calling it Co-Vo Tuesdays.] My goal is to be a helpful resource to the other Co-Vo and Bi-Vo gals and guys out there.

Here’s how my contribution to the Creo Collective Blog will work. I’ve decided to read a brand-new, best-selling business book called Business Made Simple by Donald Miller. It is made up of 60 daily readings about how to grow a business. I will share a quote from each day in the book. I encourage you to think about how you can use that idea to grow your business.

Then I will reflect on how, or if, the business idea is consistent with what the Bible teaches. Ready? Let’s get started!

In the Introduction to Business Made Simple, Donald Miller talks about success. I’ve noticed in Christian circles this can be a taboo subject. It sounds like the prosperity gospel. It smacks of a narrow and worldly perspective. But if a business isn’t successful, what is it? I don’t think I’ve met a business man or women who doesn’t want to be successful: meet payroll, cover the overhead, pay the bills, make a profit, and still be in business 6 months from now. If you’re not that, your not in business very long!

So, the Introduction to the book talks about: How can you become successful?

Here’s the author’s answer, “If you want to succeed in work, love, friendship, and life, give the people around you a great return on whatever it is they invest in you.” He elaborates on this idea of giving and the connection between it and success in business—and in all of life.  

For those of you who wonder whether being successful in business and being someone who takes the Bible seriously mesh. I think you’ll love the posts I’ll be doing here on Co-Vo Tuesdays!

 So, does “If you want to succeed in work, love, friendship, and life, give the people around you a great return on whatever it is they invest in you” square with the Bible? My answer is, “Yes, it does.” In fact, it sounds a lot like what Jesus said in Luke’s Gospel.

“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

In the Bible it’s generally true--not always—but generally true that generosity and giving of yourself for the benefit of others ends up being a key contributor to your success. 

• Work hard for others, and eventually you’ll find success in business.

• Love others deeply and sacrificially, and eventually you’ll find success in love.

• Be a loyal and honest friend, and eventually you’ll find success in friendship.

• The key is to focus on giving, rather than receiving. To paraphrase Jesus: “There’s more happiness in giving than getting.”

To all my Bi-Vo and Co-Vo brothers and sisters, let’s go innovate, experiment, pioneer, and make a kingdom difference through our businesses! Let’s get intentional about integrating our lives in the business world with our expressions of living out the gospel: as individuals and in our fresh expressions of the church in our communities! Let’s encourage each other to be spiritual entrepreneurs!

Glen Stevens is a former pastor turned spiritual entrepreneur. In 2020 he started a coaching business called Teleion, LLC. Through Teleion he helps ambitious business leaders who put a high value on faith and relationships to flourish by growing their companies and integrating their faith. This positions those leaders to make our world a better place to live, work, and worship for everyone. Simultaneously, Glen is launching a multiplying network of micro-churches that truly love people who are disinterested in and skeptical of any church they know of so they can experience the life-transforming love of Jesus.

Glen and his wife, Jill, live in Fargo, ND. They have four adult children. His business website is www.teleioncoaching.com