There has been a lot of talking over the past year or so regarding the role of the entrepreneur with the emerging church, and i have to confess that I'm quite uncomfortable with it. I'm not sure why and I'm not convinced that I'm right, but i do think that there needs to be a debate and a discussion about this. It seems that the role of the missional entrepreneur has been developed and promoted by missional entrepreneurs who, arguably, have a vested interest. This post is not directed at anyone but written to stimulate debate, many of my friends are missional entrepreneurs and i affirm them in their vocation.
Firstly, i think that it is excellent that we have some entrepreneurs, however i have reservations about setting the vocation of the entrepreneur with the prophet or the poet. I have at times being called a prophetic voice, and in all honesty i confess that it massages my ego. This is a personal failing of mine - i acknowledge it, seek forgiveness and move on. The prophets of the OT were reluctant prophets because they knew that it would make them unpopular within their religious communities, our Entrepreneurs are not unpopular but praised and paid by the institution...
Mark Berry, in his excellent article here gives this quote from two business leaders:
'In a chaotic world, people cry out for individuals who can provide meaning for their… lives.' - Ridderstrale and Nordstrom. My reservation is that the role of the Christian leader is not to be the individual to provide meaning, but to point to Christ who provides ultimate meaning. The danger with this kind of personality based leadership is that it is open to abuse. The entrepreneur needs to be aware of this tension, they need to be constantly be pointing away from themselves and to the person of Christ.
Finally i think that it is right that we have a culture of experimentation within church, try new things be creative and be innovative. But also remember that we are dealing with people; many vulnerable, broken wounded people who are not there to be experimented on. Some people will love the ride, others will be broken by it. The entrepreneur has a pastoral responsibility to care for those that they engage with, or else the short term entrepreneur creates long term pastoral casualties.
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