Ministry Vs. Business as a Christian Creative

Ministry Vs. Business as a Christian Creative

We talked about what a business is in last week’s blog.  If you missed it, click to read Creative Hobby Vs. Creative Business.

This week, let’s see what the difference is between ministry and business. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “ministry” can simply be defined as “the period of service or office of a minister”. A minister is defined simply as an “agent”. Sometimes we over-spiritualize the term “ministry”. But based on a literal definition of the word, any person or agent who is serving their community is technically participating in ministry.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, in his book Thou Shall Prosper, said, “Deep within traditional Jewish culture lies the conviction that the only real way to achieve wealth is to attend diligently to the needs of others and to conduct oneself in an honorable and trustworthy fashion.” Creative friends, doesn’t that sound just like ministry?  “…attend diligently to the needs of others and to conduct oneself in an honorable and trustworthy fashion.” That was practically my ministry creed no matter which non-profit I was employed with or where I was volunteering at the time. I was in ministry BECAUSE I was serving. Well, can you guess the context of Rabbi Lapin’s quote when he wrote it? It was written about BUSINESS in chapter 1 entitled “The Dignity and Morality of Business”. Selah. (Pause and think about that.)

I grew up with business owners all around me. To this day, my dad and all of his siblings own businesses. I always said that I never wanted to be a business owner. Mainly because it looked hard and sounded like a lot of work. Lol! After high school, I went to a Bible school where I was trained in Christian life studies with an emphasis in church leadership. In fact, I have 21 years of experience in church leadership. If there is anyone who would have to spend years of retraining their mind so that they could simply wrap their brain around the idea of business being their ministry, it’s me. Some of you may know that my husband (and I) just transitioned out of ordained full-time ministry at our local church just a month ago. The Lord had to renew my mind to believe that, though we are no longer employed as ordained ministers in our local church, we are still in ministry as creative business owners. Our clients, target market, social network followers, fans, patrons, fellow indie artists, and everyone we serve in our music industry world is our mission field. Going into full-time business didn’t take us out of ministry. Our mission field just expanded exponentially!

So my business is my ministry. Newsflash, your creative business is your ministry too! Serving your client is serving in your mission field. Biblical business practice is living out the gospel in a corrupt world system. Your business should be a light in a world of greedy business owners and shady industry professionals.

Creative friends, if you are feeling torn between doing ministry and doing business because you know that what you create has a truth attached to it that can change lives, be encouraged. That is actually the inherent goodness of business coming out of you. Attending diligently to the needs of your clients and dealing honorably in your business transactions is the ministry. Our community does nothing but benefit from creatives who do business in this way.

Like the Apostle Paul said in Colossians 4, I say to you, “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.” How are you using your talents to serve (minister) to your community through your creative business? Tell me in the comments below.