Do you think some children are born to be entrepreneurs? Do you think some kids are just destined to be employees? As parents, we tend to shape and mold our children to follow the path that we are most comfortable with taking ourselves. Entrepreneur vs. employee: what is your goal for your Christian child?
Wide is the path that our culture has created for employees, and narrow is the path for entrepreneurs. I believe that as Christian parents we are called to produce more entrepreneurs who make an impact for the Kingdom of God. Christians will find that the entrepreneurial life will preserve more freedom to raise a godly family and navigate the shifting waves of our culture.
Entrepreneur vs. Employee: Entrepreneurs are focused on changing the world, not just doing their job.
Do you ask your children what jobs they think they might want to do when they grow up? Or, do you ask your child what problem they might want to solve? The questions you ask shape whether your child will think like an entrepreneur vs. an employee.
75% of Christian kids grow up
& walk away from Jesus!
There is HOPE!
Unlock research-backed
SIMPLE practices
you NEED to
focus on now!
Join my newsletter & get
this 24-page ebook for free!
The world defines success as a good career, a healthy salary, a big house, and a family. We push our kids to go to college and get a “good job” so they can get all these other things. As Christians, we know that you can have all those things and still have an empty life.
Furthermore, should that be the goal for Christians? We are not living for ourselves, but for Christ. Our goal in this life is not the accumulation of things. Rather, as Christians, our goal is to glorify God and to build his Kingdom.
Each of us is gifted with unique gifts, skills, and perspectives that bestowed upon us to use in making a difference in the world. Those of the world, identify these unique characteristics to find a career that is satisfying and that will make good money.
Do Christian parents want their children to be poor? Absolutely not. They want their children to be able to provide for their families and bless those in need around them. However, it isn’t the quest for status and prestige that should guide our vocation but rather the driving need to serve others and bless them with our gifts.
Entrepreneur vs Employee: Entrepreneurs can build Kingdom Businesses.
My family lives not too far away from Asbury University. Asbury is a Christian school not just in name but in deed as well. A business degree from Asbury is not your average business degree, because they are focused on not just equipping their students to be strong business leaders but to build Kingdom businesses. My definition of Kingdom business is that they don’t just make money, but they are designed to serve others and to do so in a way that builds the kingdom of God.
Finding a job at such a business is challenging because not a lot of business operate with this mindset. The entrepreneur vs. employee mindset determines if you are following someone else’s vision or have the ability to plot your own path. Our world needs Christian entrepreneurs who start Kingdom-minded businesses that transform work culture and the role of companies in their communities.
The old model of missionary life who one of living in near poverty and writing to other Christians for support. The new model of missions is shifting to self-supporting missions that create a product and raise food. It is a revival of the self-sustaining model that monasteries and convents have used for hundreds of years.
Christian entrepreneurs have an opportunity to be missionaries and ambassadors of Christ sent into the world to serve. Do they get paid? Yes, and they deserve to be paid. Ironically, we value that which we pay for much more than something we receive for free. Doors in foreign lands that might be closed to a pastor or traditional ministry, open for a business that is looking to bring a valuable product or service.
[mailerlite_form form_id=3]
Entrepreneur vs. Employee: Entrepreneurs think outside of the box.
Christian parents need to raise children who are critical thinkers. We live in a world where it seems that logic has gone out the window and people only want to listen to the messages that make them feel better about themselves.
Employees identify the problems, but it is the entrepreneurs that solve the problems. In today’s world, there are so many problems. Sadly, so many people have lost hope in their government and business leaders. Those who do not have Christ, have no one left to place their hope in, other than themselves.
When God decided to send the great flood to kill all of mankind except Noah and his family, it was because the people of earth were corrupt and full of violence. Corruption is rampant in our world today as well. Christian entrepreneurs have the opportunity to shine like lights on a hill in how they treat their employees, their customers, and their communities.
Entrepreneur vs. Employee: Entrepreneurs can embrace a family business model
We are not just preparing our children for a job or a vocation, but rather a life. What kind of lifestyle do we want for our children and our grandchildren? The pattern of this world is that everyone rises and rushes off. Dad and Mom go to their jobs. The children go to school or to daycare. At the end of the day, everyone rushes home. Sports, dance, and other kinds of practices and meetings fill the evening. Dinner is likely eaten in a hurry between activities. The family finally falls into bed, and the cycle is repeated again in the morning.
Is this what we want? What kind of life is this? Where is there room for talking about God and faith? Where is the space to build those family bonds and relationships?
The Bible is all about the family. The family is the main unit that comes up again and again. Parents have the most powerful influence on sharing the gospel with their children – but only if they have the time to really do that and to shape their faith!
The entrepreneur vs. employee mindset has a significant impact on what our daily lives look like. Employees work according to the schedule of their boss. The Entrepreneur has a chance to construct a life that includes their family. They can build a life that has united family goals rather than a compartmentalized life with everyone in different places during the day.
Paired with homeschooling, the family has the flexibility to learn, travel, and serve in ways that are so much more freeing than families tied to work and school.
Entrepreneur vs. Employee: Entrepreneurs have the opportunity for more Independence & Freedom
Increasingly employers are penalizing their employees for their speech and conduct outside of work hours. Christians that employed in a secular job but that preach a biblical sermon in their church on a controversial topic have been disciplined or fired. Employees have to monitor what they say on Facebook. Which do think is going to have more free speech in comparing entrepreneurs vs. employees?
All Christians are called to share their faith with gentleness and respect as we are taught in 1 Peter 3:15. We are also called to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. No one came to faith in Jesus or had their heart opened because of a Facebook post. Indeed, it has been and will always be that hearts are changing in real conversations, relationships, and prayer.
Entrepreneurism allows Christians greater freedom to express themselves when needed and to adjust their business model to meet needs that other secular businesses might ignore. Being an employee is almost like being in debt to another person. They own the tools of our labor, and we feel beholden to them.
Do you want the freedom of a one-income family? Would you like the freedom to have one spouse be able to homeschool or stay home with the children? Even well-paying jobs usually have income ceilings. Entrepreneurs have more risk, but they have no income ceilings. Entrepreneurs have an opportunity to build a business that can support their families, provide flexibility, and future opportunities.
What is your mindset? Job? Vocation? Or Problem-Solver
Quit asking your child what they want to do when they grow up. Quit asking them what kind of job they think they might want to do. Equip your child to recognize the entrepreneur vs. employee mindset.
Instead, help them identify some of the unique skills, gifts, and passions that God has placed in them. Engage them in serving their world so that they see first-hand people in need.
Give them the opportunity for God to speak into their hearts about the problems that He is calling them to solve. Help them to think creatively and entrepreneurially about how they might start solving those problems right now. Entrepreneurs don’t have to wait!
Keep reading on this subject! Prepare your Homeschooler to be an Entrepreneur
