Bootstrapping the Work of God

by Royce P. Bell
Anybody who knows me well, knows that one of my favorite uninspired writers is Guy Kawasaki, author of The Art of the Start and former Macintosh evangelist (as in Apple Computers). It is a wonderful little book that is literally filled with great ideas about starting an enterprise. Matter of fact, Mr. Kawasaki even used a couple of my ideas in putting together his book (the truth!). Recently, I was doing some research on how principles of business might relate to the local church and I ran across (again) Kawasakis website (www.guykawasaki.com). On the front page was the link to his blog; clicking on that, I arrived at a wonderful little article that gives 11 rules for bootstrapping any business. Great information. Just in case you are already lost, bootstrapping (as quoted from the above-referenced article) ...comes from the German legend of Baron Mnchhausen pulling himself out of the sea by pulling on his own bootstraps. If you are interested in knowing a bit more about that arcane reference, you might want to look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping. Sometimes we hear people say the church should run like a business. It is true that the local church must adhere to common and accepted accounting practices, and that we must deal with people in an honest and forthright way, but it is a fallacy to make the church a business, governed by business principles and adhering to business disciplines. I wont use all of Kawasakis rules, but there are some thingsrules--we can learn from business. We can learn an order of proprietorship Every business is owned by someone. Someone is manager; someone is boss. Even so, we would do well to remember that the church is not ours: it belongs to Christ. It is He Who said, upon hearing Peters confession of faith, ...upon this rock I will build my church (Matthew 16:18) The scriptures attribute ownership to God, including the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is, for example, the kingdom of God; that is, it is the realm of His dominion. He, or specifically Christ, stands preeminent. In fact, so clear is the extent of this Dominion, that Paul boldly stated his allegiance to ...the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name... (Ephesians 3:14-15). And, consider this, from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: Or do you not know... that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price... You belong to someone other than yourself, in spite of what you may think to the contrary. Perhaps the clearest statement of proprietorship in the Divine economy is Pauls reflection on a spiritual hierarchy, of which you and I are also a part. In 1 Corinthians 11:3, he wrote, But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Some folks dont like to hear it, but Somebody is Boss and that Somebody is God! We can learn the necessity of sufficient capitalization Just in case you dont understand the terminology, here is the definition of capitalization, as given at www.dictionary.com: The amounts and types of long-term financing used by a firm, including common stock, preferred stock, retained earnings, and long-term debt. The total par value or stated value of no-par capital stock issues (source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved). Now, I probably need to translate that into words that relate to the church, so Ill take a stab at it: We may consider the capitalization of the church, the kingdom of God, in several ways, exactly as a business is capitalized by several different types of stock and earnings. Flatly stated, our strongest source of capitalization comes from our relationship with God; He is the sum and substance of whatever valuation we may have. Indeed, immediately following Pauls earlier cited identification of every family in Heaven and on Earth, he wrote:

..that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us (ibid., vss 16-20) Note three things: (1) it is according to the riches of His glory that we are inwardly strengthened with power through His Spirit, (2) it is only by the indwelling Christ through faith that we can truly come to know the surpassing love of Christ and filled with all the fullness of God, and (3) it is only God Who, working through His power in us, does with exceeding abundance far more than we can ask or even think. We can learn the importance of accountability No business can long exist without accountability in its administration, manufacturing, marketing, and ultimately in its revenue. It is not merely that a business sustains legal obligations according to its business nature (whether a corporation, partnership or sole-proprietorship), but there are also considerations of insuring a constant revenue stream that permits the business to do what it was created to do. Somebody has to control the outgo (expenditure) and income (revenue). There is a sense in which every employee has accountability, even as it is true that every Christian has the responsibility for whatever is spiritually committed to his stewardship. In that respect, the Bible flatly states that it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). Furthermore, every one of us will give an account before Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). As respects the local church, God has expressly defined where primary accountability: it resides in those who are charged with its oversight, the elders (or bishops) of the church. That is why we, as members, are charged to be in submission to their oversight (Hebrews 13:17); God expects that His will should be respected and He has called every Christian into submission to that will. We can learn the motivation of profit From the perspective of business, profit is defined as being The return received on a business undertaking after all operating expenses have been met (www.dictionary.com). This return is derived from three primary sources. Note how each of these sources is reflected in the nature of eternal salvation: 1. Profit may be the return received on an investment after all charges have been paid. What person can say that the small investment he has made in the service of God has not returned far more than the investment has earned? Indeed, Gods salvation is a matter of grace; it can never be a matter of debt, for all have sinned (cf. Romans 4:4, where works is related to mans dependence on flawless performance of legal obligations). So much return has been promised to the faithful, that Jesus has said So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done (Luke 17:10). If a business could make the return on its investment that the child of God has on his, it not only would never need to advertise, but there would not be enough vaults in the world to hold its cash reserves! 2. Profit may be the rate of increase in the net worth of a business enterprise in a given accounting period. As the churchwhich is, remember, just saved peopleadvances in maturity, its value increases. We increase, not only in our ability to serve the Lord (as an employee might serve an employer), but also in our service to one another. Yet, some of us never seem to advance beyond the bare minimum of valuation; we are like the unfaithful steward who buried his single talent. While one brought back his five talents with five more, and another returned with his

invested two and two more in profit, the man with but one talent was so afraid that he buried his talent and let it return to the master with no profit, whatsoever (Matthew 25:14-30). Others of us, who by reason of years of service ought to be teachers of righteousness have becomewe have actually regressedas those who can tolerate only the milk of newborns, rather than the meat of the mature (Hebrews 5:12ff). Interestingly, the writers point is one that might offend some: For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. You might think you are mature, but if all you can tolerate is milk, then you are, quite simply, a baby. What is your rate of return? 3. Profit may be the amount received for a commodity or service in excess of the original cost. When the Lord made the supreme sacrifice for you and me, though that finished the redemptive plan as it related to Christ in the Eternal purpose of God, it was done so that we might be bringing many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). It is not merely a matter of numbers, but it is all about the worththe value, if you willof the human soul. Of what value is that soul, if it took the sacrifice of Christ to redeem it? Surely we can see that the value of the soul is beyond comprehension or calculation. The part you and I play in the redemptive scheme cannot be underestimated. God is expecting us to bring forth fruit unto His glory. While we sometimes think that bearing fruit means making more Christians, there is a very real sense in which seeking for souls is just a by-product the spiritual fruit that is produced within ourselves. Consider, for example, the words of Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. What greater expression of love can be given, beyond the sacrifices we make for those who are in sin? What greater joy could we experience than the introduction of the gospel to those who are in such need of its provisions? What greater peace could we possibly know than to rest in the realization that we have cooperated with Gods eternal purpose and the sacrifice of His Son in saving sinners? What patience is more important than that which suffers long with those who struggle against sin and what greater kindness could we show than that which feels the sinners need? What goodness or faithfulness or gentleness is more expressive than that which results in sons of God who may be brought to glory? What better way to show our self-control and submission to the Divine will than that which forgoes our own interest and seeks the interest of another and accomplishes Gods desire that all men should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)? Conclusion If you are not worth more to God than you were yesterday, or last week, or last month, or last year, you should seriously consider whether you are a bottom line profit or loss in Gods business of salvation. And, if you are honest with God and yourself, you might just discover that all He has invested in you has produced little more than just empty words and empty labor. Dont you think its time you changed that?