My coffee had gone cold as the church planter mourned that his church felt stagnant. Worse than not growing—a thick malaise had settled over the congregation.
The first three years were exciting; the community was intrigued by a new church plant, genuinely curious about what it was all about. But everything had plateaued. Leaders grew complacent. Sundays—even with strong preaching—felt cold and passionless. The church’s reason for existing had shrunk to feeding and caring for the Christians who already called it home. The church planter couldn’t see how it was still transforming the community.
An older mentor at the table cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to hear that. Let me ask you—what is one risky, hard thing the Lord is inviting your church to do that you’re hesitant to do?”
The planter scratched his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never been asked that before.”
The older man shrugged. “Every pastor should be ready to answer that question. If he can’t, he needs to spend some time praying and fasting until he can. Comfort and complacency are incredibly dangerous.”
I’ve sat in enough of these conversations to know that wise, healthy risks are vital to the life of the church. Without them, the church atrophies. Its reason for existing collapses into self-care and, after a few years, into self-preservation. Risky and hard things keep gospel blood flowing through the body.
Pastor, you cannot afford to coast. You cannot afford autopilot. You owe it to Jesus and to your church to make the most of opportunities in your city—which means that alongside preaching, teaching, praying, and developing leaders, you need to prioritize seeking new avenues for ministry. Be a gospel entrepreneur.
Church-planting networks have long understood that entrepreneurial aptitude is essential for planters. But what about established churches—do their pastors need to be entrepreneurial too?
What Is a Gospel Entrepreneur?
There’s still hesitancy around saying pastors need entrepreneurial aptitude. Maybe it’s because we picture someone who constantly starts new things he can’t sustain—a person with a billion ideas who follows through on none of them. If this is what we mean, then no, we don’t want our pastors to be entrepreneurial.
Comfort and complacency are incredibly dangerous.
But a gospel entrepreneur is something different. He doesn’t pile up harebrained ideas. He stays awake and sober-minded about the opportunities the Lord is opening in the community.
He sees the wooden frames of a new development and prays about how the gospel will reach those families once they move in. He looks at neighborhoods where existing churches can’t possibly reach everyone—and plants a church there. He saves, scrimps, and sacrifices to move a growing church plant into a more strategic location. He keeps his eyes open, his mind sharp, and his hands ready for the moment God opens a door.
Biblical Call
When this topic comes up, someone usually asks, “Where do you see the need for a pastor to be an entrepreneur in the Bible?” My answer often surprises people: Jesus’s parable of the dishonest manager.
In Luke 16:1–9, a rich man discovers his property manager has been wasting his possessions and tells him to settle accounts—he’s about to be fired. The manager realizes losing his job means either digging or begging, so he immediately goes to work cutting deals to gain favor with other wealthy employers. When his employer finds out, he commends the manager for his shrewdness. Ethical or not, it was a genius move.
At this point, we should ask, Why is Jesus telling this story? Maybe he’s about to indict people like the manager. But the manager’s dishonesty has nothing to do with Jesus’s point.
The twist is that Jesus holds up the dishonest manager as an example of what he wants his disciples to be. “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness,” Jesus says. “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light” (Luke 16:8). The parable is, if anything, a lament.
The world’s sons do a better job seizing opportunities to advance their kingdoms than we do in advancing Christ’s. The implication is sobering. The sons of light need to be as intentional and opportunistic about eternity as the world is about temporary gain. We need pastors who will prayerfully take risks, do hard things, feel the urgency, and grab opportunities.
A gospel entrepreneur stays awake and sober-minded about the opportunities the Lord is opening in the community.
Consider it this way. Walmart and Target already have plans for that empty lot next to the new development. Millions of dollars are being spent on demographic studies and marketing campaigns to grow somebody’s bottom line.
Believe it or not, there’s probably a developer with more aggressive ideas for your church building than you have. I’ve even heard a story of a dying church in a small Colorado town that was slowly pushed out of its building—a local developer sent people to join as members, just so they could vote to sell. The sons of the world know how to expand their kingdoms.
In the verses that follow the parable, Jesus connects the parable to faithfulness in little things, stewarding earthly resources well, and remembering that we serve God, not our budgets and assets. Our goal as pastors isn’t to keep our congregants happy, live off endowments, or maintain the institution’s favorite donors. Our job is to call people to pick up their crosses and follow Jesus into risky opportunities, where even if we die, people will see Jesus.
Don’t Be Risk Averse
The dishonest manager knew he had no time to be risk-averse or complacent. He had to seize every opportunity to save his own skin. Pastors and churches have no time to be risk-averse either—not for our own sake but for the gospel’s. Eternity is at stake.
Pastor, be a gospel entrepreneur. When we stand before our Lord on the last day, may it not be true that the sons of the world had a greater influence on our community than we did.
The Gospel Coalition