SECULAR BUSINESS AND THE CHURCH: TAKING ON THE MOUNTIAN OF THE MARKETPLACE by Dr. Bill Bolin

GREEK VS. HEBREW MINDSET AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE MARKETPLACE

 An area of concern that we need to address is the push toward abandoning the Greek Mindset for the Hebrew Mindset. I think it is dangerous if not foolish to believe that we can impose a transition away from the mentality that wrote the rulebook for all the platforms we are advocating taking dominion over culturally. The Greek mindset was in place during the time of Christ. The New Testament was written under the auspice of the Greek mentality. We can build businesses that operate on a different platform, but in doing so, we will be out of sync with the other companies and business people that use the standardized rulebook. That is the problem of the modern Amish communities. The business mindset that the Amish utilize would be synonymous with a Hebrew mindset. It is doable but is it advisable is the question that needs to be asked. If we do not play within the established rules, we will lose the battle and become ineffective in influence.

Somehow, we need to ease the tensions that now exist between the Mountain of Faith and the Mountain of Business, as there is a palatable tension that exists between the two over the issue of money. The poverty mentality that dominates many people in church leadership makes business people uncomfortable to be around This is especially true when there is a significant disparity between them and their spiritual guidance in lifestyle and earnings. When there is a considerable inequality, it can be uncomfortable in dining experiences or vacationing and travel. It can also be difficult in accommodations and living quarters. When there is a massive gap, it is almost impossible to find people of means wanting to associate with clergy out of a place of shame based on the inequity. This problem is further exacerbated when the clergy is not inclined toward viewing the world of business as valuable and the position of labor as a valid calling for the financing of the Kingdom that the pulpit should be advancing.

TENSIONS BETWEEN THE TWO WORLDS

As much as I understand the push to normalize the differences between the spheres of business and religion by identifying them as the same entity with different nomenclatures, they are not the same structurally. Describing the church as “nuclear” and the workplace as the “extended” works if it is used in a limited manner for descriptive purposes and academically, but it lacks practical application. The very nature of Lance Wallnau’s Seven Mountain Mandate or Bill Bright and Loren Cunningham’s Seven Spheres of influence teaching tells that Wallnau’s teaching is based on tells us that viewing the two spheres as the same is inherently wrong, as they are two separate spheres with two different operating manuals. The embracing of a BAM mindset with all its assumptions and embracing The Seven Mountain Mandate seems to be out of sorts, as they have differences that are acute.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe that the church and the marketplace need to co-exist and that there needs to be peace, respect and understanding between the leaders in the respective spheres of influence. Using the terminology extended church is viable, as it identifies believers who are within the nuclear church as those who labor in the other areas of influence. Granting the fields of equality in worship is not an option, however. The rules are different. The personnel is different. The outcomes are different. In the church, the objective is to disciple people and impact the ethnic groups that make up humanity. In the business realm, the goal is to make money, not to make disciples, at least as a primary objective.

C. Peter’s Wagner’s distinction between the Nuclear Church and the Extended Church are workable terms, as he attempted to distinguish between the gathered ecclesia and the ecclesia within the marketplace. As we all know, there is a distinction between the church environment and the marketplace, whether that market is in government, business, education, medicine, engineering or any other expression of secular work. As Wagner pointed out, there are different rule books (Chapter 6).[1]

Dr. Bill Bolin


[1] ___ Wagner, The Church in The Marketplace

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