Session 2 - God Owns My Business
Summary
TLDRIn this session of 'Faith Driven Entrepreneur,' the concept of stewardship over ownership in business is explored. The video emphasizes that all resources belong to God, and entrepreneurs are merely stewards. It features Bertie Laurence, CEO of WASTEPLAN, who shares his journey of integrating faith into business, aiming for zero waste to landfill and using profits to support education and alleviate poverty in South Africa. The session challenges viewers to consider their businesses as God's and to use their success for His purposes, promoting a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity.
Takeaways
- 😇 The concept of stewardship versus ownership is central to the Christian entrepreneur's perspective on business, emphasizing that all resources are gifts from God to be managed for His purposes.
- 🌿 Entrepreneurs are likened to stewards in God's kitchen, using the ingredients He provided to create, but not owning the ingredients themselves.
- 🛠️ The struggle with surrendering ownership to God is real, especially for those who have put in significant effort and risk to build their businesses.
- 💡 The idea that everything belongs to God challenges the traditional notion of personal ownership and success, prompting a shift in how entrepreneurs view their achievements.
- 🌱 A business owner's intentional act of giving shares to God symbolizes the ultimate surrender of ownership and a commitment to use business for divine purposes.
- 🌟 The story of WASTEPLAN in South Africa illustrates how a business can be a vehicle for environmental stewardship and social impact, aligning with Christian values.
- 📈 The pursuit of zero waste to landfill is a tangible goal for businesses to reduce environmental impact and align with a higher purpose.
- 🏫 NICA CAPITAL's mission to alleviate poverty through education in South Africa shows how business profits can be redirected to address social injustices and improve lives.
- 💼 The transformation of a business from a for-profit model to one that includes a non-profit structure can redefine the purpose and legacy of the company.
- 🌱 The principle of abundance in Christianity encourages entrepreneurs to see potential for wealth creation and sharing, rather than scarcity and competition.
Q & A
What is the main theme of the 'Faith Driven Entrepreneur' series?
-The main theme of the 'Faith Driven Entrepreneur' series is exploring how the principles of the Gospel can shape an entrepreneur's approach to creating, leading, and stewarding their business in a way that aligns with their faith.
How does the concept of stewardship apply to entrepreneurship according to the transcript?
-In the context of entrepreneurship, stewardship is viewed as the understanding that all resources, including business ideas and assets, are gifts from God. Entrepreneurs are seen as stewards who manage and cultivate these resources for God's purposes, rather than owners who possess them for personal gain.
What is the significance of the Garden of Eden story in the discussion of business stewardship?
-The Garden of Eden story is used to illustrate the concept of stewardship over ownership. Adam was not the creator of the garden but its steward, tasked with cultivating it. This analogy is applied to entrepreneurs, suggesting they should view their businesses as entrusted to them by God for cultivation and service rather than as personal possessions.
What challenges does an entrepreneur face when trying to integrate faith into their business practices?
-Entrepreneurs may face the challenge of reconciling their personal sense of ownership and accomplishment with the belief that all they have is a gift from God. This can create a tension between the desire to claim personal success and the need to acknowledge and submit to a higher purpose.
How does the idea of 'God owning the business' change the entrepreneur's perspective on business growth and success?
-The idea that 'God owns the business' shifts the entrepreneur's perspective from personal achievement to divine purpose. Success and growth are seen as opportunities to serve God's kingdom, with the entrepreneur acting as a steward to maximize the impact of the business for spiritual and social good.
What is the role of the non-profit entity NICA CAPITAL in the story shared by Bertie Laurence?
-NICA CAPITAL is a non-profit entity that was created to legally represent God as a shareholder in the business. It owns 51 percent of the business, ensuring that the company's profits are used to finance the Kingdom of Jesus and alleviate poverty through education, particularly in South Africa.
What is the 'Adopt a School Project' mentioned in the transcript?
-The 'Adopt a School Project' is an initiative where NICA CAPITAL participates in five schools, focusing on teacher development and mentorship programs to improve the quality of education and support the holistic development of children, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds.
How does the concept of abundance in the script relate to the entrepreneur's approach to business?
-The concept of abundance suggests that there is enough for everyone and encourages entrepreneurs to operate with a mindset of generosity and innovation. It challenges the scarcity mentality and promotes the idea that by investing and giving away resources, entrepreneurs can create more value and contribute to a society of abundance.
What is the significance of the biblical references to the idea of stewardship in the transcript?
-Biblical references, such as those from Deuteronomy and Colossians, emphasize that everything belongs to God, reinforcing the concept of stewardship. These references guide entrepreneurs to view their resources and talents as gifts to be used for God's purposes, rather than personal ownership.
How does the transcript suggest entrepreneurs should approach the use of their financial success?
-The transcript suggests that entrepreneurs should view their financial success as a means to increase their potential for impact in God's kingdom. They are encouraged to use their resources to sow into the kingdom, not just to build their own kingdoms, and to understand that God multiplies resources to increase the standard of giving, not just living.
Outlines
💡 Stewardship in Entrepreneurship
The first paragraph introduces the concept of stewardship in the context of entrepreneurship. It discusses how business owners should view their ventures as a gift from God, rather than solely their own creation. The analogy of Adam in the Garden of Eden is used to illustrate the idea of being a steward rather than an owner. The speaker encourages entrepreneurs to embrace the role of stewards, managing what God has given them, and to use their businesses to reflect God's ownership and purpose.
📈 From Struggle to Surrender: A Business Transformed
Paragraph two tells the story of Bertie Laurence, CEO of WASTEPLAN, who sought to include God as a shareholder in his business. Despite the legal challenges, Laurence's intention was to give a portion of the company to God. The narrative then shifts to discuss the waste management industry in South Africa and WASTEPLAN's innovative approach to reducing waste and increasing recycling. The company's goal is to achieve zero waste to landfill, and it has been successful in significantly reducing waste for its clients. The paragraph concludes with a discussion of the economic benefits of recycling and how WASTEPLAN helps clients unlock the value of waste materials.
🛐 A Divine Shift in Business Ownership
In the third paragraph, the narrative continues with the story of a business owner who, after a period of making poor decisions, realized the need for divine intervention in his company. The owner surrendered control to God and established a non-profit entity called NIKA CAPITAL, which now owns a majority stake in the business. The focus of NIKA CAPITAL is to alleviate poverty through education, particularly in South Africa where the legacy of apartheid has left many without adequate education. The paragraph highlights the company's efforts in early childhood development and its involvement in the 'Adopt a School Project,' aiming to make a generational impact.
🌱 Cultivating Stewardship: A Personal Journey
Paragraph four features a personal account of an individual whose life was significantly impacted by WASTEPLAN. Starting as a sorter, this person was able to rise through the ranks due to their dedication and the company's faith in them. The story illustrates the potential for upward mobility and the transformative power of employment opportunities. The paragraph also discusses the broader themes of reconciliation and healing, as well as the concept of obedience to God's request for shares in the business, symbolizing the transition from being an owner to being a steward of God's resources.
🌟 Embracing Abundance: The Steward's Perspective
The final paragraph delves into the biblical principles of abundance and stewardship. It contrasts the scarcity mindset with the abundance mindset, encouraging entrepreneurs to view their resources and successes as gifts from God meant to be used for His purposes. The speaker challenges the notion of ownership, emphasizing that everything belongs to God, and we are merely stewards. The paragraph concludes with a call to action, prompting entrepreneurs to consider their role as stewards and to use their businesses, talents, and resources to serve God's kingdom, reflecting on the reasons behind their success and how they can align it with divine intentions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Stewardship
💡Entrepreneur
💡Ownership
💡Divine Providence
💡Abundance
💡Scarcity
💡Tithing
💡Cultivate
💡Empowerment
💡Reconciliation
💡Generational Impact
Highlights
The concept of stewardship versus ownership in entrepreneurship is introduced, emphasizing that all we have is a gift from God.
Entrepreneurs are likened to cooks in God's kitchen, using the ingredients He provided to create.
The story of Adam in the Garden of Eden is used as an analogy for the stewardship of businesses.
A tension exists between the desire for personal ownership and the understanding that all belongs to God.
The importance of surrendering ownership to God for the growth and success of a business is discussed.
Bertie Laurence, CEO of WASTEPLAN, shares his journey to include God as a shareholder in his business.
WASTEPLAN's innovative approach to waste management aims for zero waste to landfill.
The company's success in waste reduction and the economic value of recyclables are highlighted.
The story of Stephen Kganelo, from sorter to senior contract manager, showcases a pathway out of poverty.
NICA CAPITAL is established as a non-profit entity to represent God's ownership in the business.
The mission of NICA CAPITAL is to alleviate poverty through education, particularly in South Africa's black communities.
The Adopt a School Project and teacher development programs are mentioned as part of NICA CAPITAL's social involvement.
The concept of abundance in entrepreneurship is explored, contrasting the scarcity mentality.
The idea that God multiplies resources to increase our giving, not just our living standards, is presented.
The session concludes with a call to see businesses as God's and to steward them according to His purposes.
Transcripts
(soft music)
FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR HOW THE GOSPEL SHAPES OUR CALL TO CREATE
SESSION 2 GOD OWNS MY BUSINESS
Welcome back to the Faith Driven Entrepreneur.
Stewardship of a paycheck can feel
much different than something that you've created.
After all you had the vision right?
You took the risk,
but everything we've been given is a gift to be stored in.
As we lean into that reality,
we're gonna be free to create
and do great business and lead our people,
and also know God more fully.
We can talk about that more here.
We're working with God's goods,
we're the cooks in His kitchen.
That's the honest, humbling truth.
Even in perhaps, especially
if you started your own business,
you're creating out of the ingredients God created first.
We see this in the Garden of Eden, right?
Adam didn't create the garden.
He cultivated it instead of own it.
He steward it.
And that's what entrepreneurs can do with our businesses as well.
But if we're being honest,
there's a part of us that wants to push back.
It's my business after all, I came up with the idea.
I did the hard work.
I raised all the funding.
I hired all the people.
What does God have to do with what I've created?
Truthfully there's a great, healthy tension here.
If your company is growing year after year,
thanks to your ability to bootstrap
and your consistent hard work and effort is hard
to surrender ownership event to anyone.
It's never easy to look at our company's businesses
and ideas and say that they're not ours,
that they're God's.
But if God is who He says He is,
then everything already belongs to him anyway.
So will we struggle to possess and hoard
that which we've been given to protect and cultivate,
or will we fight the daily battle to submit ourselves
to the role of steward and surrender our businesses
to the God who already owns it all.
Let's start exploring this topic by watching this powerful story, talking
about stewardship and ownership
about how God worked in this life.
(soft music)
I went to work during 2013 trying to create the place for God to be a shareholder in
our business.
But it's very difficult to put God Almighty on
the share register, and, you know, the government register office will ask
questions. But my intention was to give shares to Him. How crazy is it?
My name is Bertie Laurence.
I'm the CEO of WASTEPLAN.
So the waste industry in South Africa is used to just collect and dump.
Sending everything to landfill.
That's the modus operandi.
But if I look at how we as men pollute the Earth, I don't think our Father is happy
with it. It also costs you money to dump it.
And that cost increases every year.
So our job is to help the client put a separation system in place.
We come and see if we can make a change and
we can decrease the number of bills that you send to landfill.
I'm Stephen Kganelo. I'm a senior contract manager for WASTEPLAN.
We separate the organics from everything else.
All the rest, which is really packaging, is all your
typical recyclables that all have an economic value.
And for all the ways that we get from you there is every bit that you can get.
With the goal of achieving zero waste to landfill.
Most clients that have no programs in place will have 80 percent to landfill.
And then we'll do the basic things the low
hanging fruit and quickly get somewhat to 50 percent. But zero
waste to landfill is an absolute focus for us, and some of our
clients have taken this serious and they
are on five, six, seven percent to landfill
right now. Let me give you an idea of volumes.
We employ a 1600 spread over 400 locations
in seven different cities and we manage
about 150 thousand tons
of waste a year and the value of
recyclables have increased over time.
We help the client unlock the value of
this appreciating asset, and as we unlock
that, we earn more money and we also pay a
rebate to the clients.
Over time is as in the client in
partnership, do well with diverting waste
away from landfill. So these costs come
down and we make profits.
I had a very intentional desire to build a
business that gives glory to God through
the way that I execute my decisions, but
at some stage more or less in 2011 I
started making bad decisions and
one big decision just goes the company to
start lose a lot of money.
All of a sudden.
And the company didn't have enough money to
last six months, you know, to
sustain those losses and more or less 12
months later, we were still losing money.
So I found myself in a place before God
where I realized that I was making bad
decisions. I didn't quite know what drove
those bad decisions, but I realized that I
wasn't as great as I thought I am.
And I found myself in a moment of
surrendering to God, where I said to him,
I'm not willing to attempt business
anymore without Him.
Very shortly after that, I felt good, just
gently whispered in my spirit that He now
wants control. And I confessed that to my
friend John and I said, God wants me to
give Him control of the company, and John
just kept on holding me accountable to
that. So we had to create a locally
recognized legal entity, and this
non-profit company's name is Nica, the
Zulu word for gift.
My name is John Jones.
I'm the chairman of NIKA CAPITAL.
In the last couple of years, we've seen a
number of companies transfer a portion of
their shareholding in the company, the
equity, into a non-profit structure.
And through a dividend flow the non-profit
is capitalized to do the program stated in
its mission of output.
And in the Founding documents of this company.
We particularly wrote that this company
exists to finance the Kingdom of Jesus and
to be a legal platform to represent God Almighty as a shareholder.
So NICA CAPITAL owns 51 percent of the business.
My family trust 49 percent.
The penny really dropped at that point that
now ownership is legally handed over to
another structure to Stewart, all purpose
for the national focus of NICA, and that is
to alleviate poverty through education.
The Lord has called us to make a
difference as NICA CAPITAL in the hearts
and minds of children who don't have the
same resources and the same benefits that
we have had through generations of being
more fortunate then some of these children.
In South Africa, we have a legacy of
apartheid, so many black people have no education.
If they have an education, it's a poor education. Education
is one of the most important weapons in a country.
And that standard to which black education
is neglected is something very difficult to put in words.
(foreign language singing)
The small children are the future of this country.
So it's very important that we give those
children a right path from the early age.
Kids that experience trauma in the
developing years develop an inability to
learn. So by the time they get to grade
one, they're already behind.
In every grade, they fall further and further behind.
We did a bit of research to find out where
the children of our own staff go, elected
two or three preschools and we trained
teachers to help kids develop emotionally.
A year later, we interviewed the parents
and we found that the kids were more in
tune with learning how to read and write
and get ready for grade one.
Now we would like to roll it out into all
the regions where we work.
NICA CAPITAL is also participating in five
schools through Adopt a School Project.
We have a teacher development program and
then also a mentorship program, so it's all
very real standing with one foot in the
business as a capitalist, but on the other
side being very, very much socially involved.
We need to keep on praying that this company grows.
Because we are giving back to the black communities.
And, you know, it makes you feel gratefull.
You know, WASTEPLAN has played a
huge role in my life.
When I was 16 life was difficult for me,
but the Lord that we pray works in mysterious ways.
WASTEPLAN employed me had faith in me, and
I fell in love with sorting.
And then I was given an opportunity to one
of the biggest clients.
And after three months, I made a huge
difference on that side.
We only sent two percent to the landfill.
That's how I was recognized.
It's actually possible to come from a
sorter and even become a director.
That is essentially a pathway out of poverty.
I applied for senior contract manager, and I'm still
the senior contract manager and
I'm still enjoying what I'm doing.
The Lord wants to bring reconciliation, He
wants to bring this healing to the land,
and we're trying to make generational
impact as a contributor to black empowerment.
What I did was an act of obedience.
God asked for shares in the business.
I gave him shares and now the owner of
this business is God, and He wants to help
people out of poverty and correct the wrongs of the past.
And it starts with faith.
(encouraging music)
Last session we started in the garden.
So let's stay there for a moment
because there's something that we gotta recognize
before we move on,
Adam didn't create the garden.
Remember he cultivated it.
That means instead of owning the garden,
he stewarded it.
You say, well, what's the difference in those?
When an owner says, "It belongs to me,."
An owner says,
"I earned this.
I bought it.
It was my resources that got it.
It was my strength.
So I can do what I want with it."
A steward by contrast says,
"Well, no, it belongs to God.
I mean, sure.
I'm working at it.
And I get to enjoy some of the fruits of my labor,
but my guests and my talents and my time and my resources
they're given to me by God for a purpose that He has.
So I want to know what God wants me to do with those things.
There's lots of dimensions of spiritual maturity
that occur gradually, but this change, the change
between being an owner and being a steward is something
that happens all at once.
You suddenly realize that you're not an owner of anything
that you have, your time, your talent, your treasures,
all of that ultimately is given to you by God.
When you make this shift,
you're gonna stop asking questions like, well,
how much of this do I have to give
to God to stay on His good side?
And you're gonna start asking questions
like, well, why did God give me any of this?
Why did he give me this enterprise?
And why did he give me this scale? Why did he give me this idea?
It's all His, what does He want with it?
He owns a hundred percent of it.
Not just a fraction of it.
Many Christians think, think like owners,
they think that their religious obligation is,
to pay God his basically His tax
off their lives and their earnings.
So that looks like, well,
let's give God 10% of my money.
And 90% of it is it belongs to me.
That's, thinking in terms of an owner who has to pay a tax,
or maybe you're thinking I gotta go to church once a week
and I gotta be engaged in religion.
In that way, that's a tax on your time
You see a steward thinks differently.
A steward says, "All of it,
a 100% of it is yours.
The breadth of my body is yours.
The talents are yours.
How do you want me to use these talents for you?"
So you've got to ask yourself
if you're going to think like a steward,
"Why did God bless me as He did?
Why? What is the reason that I can discern
He gave me this talents.
I'd say many of us understand this,
but, we try to resist it.
In fact, it reminds me of the, preacher
who was speaking to a farmer in his community,
a farmer who had just produced
this beautiful field of crops.
And the preacher says to the farmer,
"Hey, God gave you this beautiful field
and you should give him the glory for."
to which the farmer replies
"Well, you should have seen that this place
when it only belong to God,
as in, I did all this and all these crops,
I get the credit for."
We might not be that brazen in response to God,
but we do think it's my business.
I came up with the idea.
I did the hard work.
I raised all the funding.
I hired all the people.
So what does God have to do with what I have created?
And yeah, if your company has grown year after year,
thanks to a lot of hard work and late nights
by you and some effort and some ingenuity.
Yeah it's hard to surrender ownership of that to anybody.
It's never easy to look at our company or our business
or an idea and say that it's not mine really?
That, it's God's.
But, but here's the thing.
If God really is who He says He is,
then everything already belongs to Him anyway.
The skills, the health, the opportunity,
it's all from God.
In Deuteronomy 10 Moses said to the children of Israel,
"To the Lord, your God belongs the heavens.
Even the highest heavens the earth and everything in it."
Paul would agree in the book of Colossians.
He would say that all things, including our, the breath
and our bodies and the talents and our brains,
they're all from Jesus.
They're given for his purposes.
And ultimately it's his strength that sustains them all,
even as we use them and they exist for his purposes
and see if God owns it all.
That means that we are stewards.
And the most important question we have to ask is
what He wants from the things that He has given us.
He tells us in second Corinthians
that when he gives us financial success, for example,
the part of the reason that He does that is
to increase our potential for impact in His kingdom.
In second Corinthians nine,
Paul says to the Corinthian believers,
"God will enrich you in every way
to increase your seed for sowing."
Why does God increase us and give us success?
It is to increase our seed for sowing.
Hey, what that means is
that God has a lot more to give
but who's He gonna give it to, right?
Is he gonna, I went to the farmer who hoards it,
or is he going to give it to the farmer
who increases the amount of his sowing?
God wants to multiply and bless His people.
You will find that from cover to cover in the Bible,
but he does so under the assumption
that his people will use the increase
that he gives them to sow more into his kingdom,
not just build more of their own kingdoms,
God multiplies our resources
to increase our standard of giving,
not just our standard of living.
When you understand this,
you will see in fact that when you don't use your time
and your treasure and your talents for God's purposes,
you're actually stealing you're embezzling,
God's resources and His money and His opportunity.
Think about how upset you would be
if you made a huge donation to feed the children
for example, and then found
out that 90% of your donation went to the CEO
so that he could upgrade his house or buy some new cars
and the money that you gave didn't go
to feeding the children.
You would rightly be outraged because that guy was stealing.
What wasn't meant for him,
but was actually given for a different purpose.
In the same way when we don't use our talents
and our opportunities and our resources
for the purposes, God gave them to us for them.
We're stealing from God.
Listen, our enterprises, your enterprise
may not all be nonprofits.
In fact we need a lot more for profit businesses,
but all of us should have that posture
that what we have built is really
what God has built through us.
It's from God and 100% of it ultimately needs to be for God.
God has made a donation to our business,
and He expects us to steward it the way that He intents.
He wants you to, you use His donations for His purposes.
If you sit on them or you use them for your own luxuries,
it's like in his mind,
you're embezzling money or stealing from Him.
We are stewards of God's resources.
We are not owners of our own.
I wanna end this session by talking about one other scriptural principle
that impacts this idea.
And that is a principle of abundance.
You see, God did not create a world of scarcity.
He created a world of potential abundance.
This is a bedrock principle of entrepreneurship.
There is not a limited amount
of resources out there to fight over
there's new money.
There's increased wealth,
there's new ideas
to come up with and new money to be made.
You see, there are two ways to look at the world.
If we live in a world of scarcity,
then we think we have to hang onto and hoard what we have
the other way of looking at the world is
to live in a world of abundance,
where to the blessing of God,
there is literally more than enough for everybody,
the whole Bible screams abundance.
Just think for a moment about the Garden of Eden.
If you think about the dimensions of the Garden of Eden,
if you just go through Genesis
and track out, how big it tells you, it is,
it was more like Yellowstone national park for two people.
And that is abundance.
That is so much that is there for them.
When Israel wandered in the wilderness every morning,
God covered the ground was so much manna,
like little rich crackers dropped down from heaven
so much that everybody had as much as they wanted.
He said, literally to them, "Eat all you want,
and don't worry about tomorrow.
Tomorrow I'll just cover the ground again with more."
That's abundance,
God created the world with abundance.
He intends to us to think in abundant ways.
when we engage in, business and ideas,
sinful man in his fear always thinks in terms of scarcity, that there's not going to be enough.
So I better hoard.
So in the story of the manna, for example,
Israel tried in fear to stockpile the manna.
Well, God gave us all this abundance today,
but there's no telling what's going to happen tomorrow.
I better hoard and hang on to everything.
When they did that, the manna went bad
from start to finish in the Bible,
God instructs His people to look at the world
through the lens of abundance.
He created a world with a potential
for plenty to go around.
And there's always more to create.
When we look at our possessions and our talents,
that way, holding them with an open and a generous hand.
The world flourishes economists will tell
you that the scarcity mentality
in a country leads to poverty.
But when we realize that we serve a God of abundance
and we open up our hands,
well, that gives God a chance to multiply and produce a sized society of abundance,
where there's more than enough for everyone.
So sow what you have your talents,
your resources in faith, invest widely,
take strategic risks for the kingdom of God
and give a lot away and watch God multiply it.
In the New Testament,
Jesus consistently praises the stewards
who give it away,
who invest it widely creating more value for everybody.
And the end result is that there's much more for everyone.
So let me end the session with a question to you.
How do you see your business, your talent and your dreams?
Do you see these things as being owned by you
or being owned by God of which you were just the steward?
And if so, have you asked God why he gave you this success?
Why he gave you that idea?
And if you begun to serve his purposes in it?
I hope you find it refreshing to understand
that financial success provides us opportunities
to do things for God.
But yet also realize that a God
who used five loaves and two fish
actually doesn't need our money
or our influence less we boast.
He wants our heart
and too often money has a hold on our hearts.
So given it,
or feeling an undue anxiety
that He needs us in our success can lead
to a lot of disappointment.
We look forward to joining you next time.
In the meantime, please do check out Faith Driven Entrepreneur,
where we've got a daily blog
and a weekly podcast and a monthly newsletter.
And we'd love to interact with you.
We'd love to hear more about what you're struggling
with on your entrepreneurial journey.
How can we equip and empower
and encourage you as you get out there
and create and wrestle with things like money.
We look forward to seeing you next time. Thanks for joining us.
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