Hello everyone! I wanted to post the first of a three part series on some tough question concerning faith and business. Raymond 
Abernathy shares some wonderful thoughts on this topic. Raymond, an Ordained Minister and LIFE Leadership member has first hand experience that we can all learn from and reflect on.
Here is part of a brief intro Raymond gave to his articles, for complete article go to www.life-leadership-forums.com.
God bless,
Now years later I am an Ordained Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the same Church where I grew up in the Lord. Throughout my association with Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady, we have endured monumental changes and the business has evolved drastically. With each change, I re-assess my involvement based upon my understanding of Matthew 6:30-33. Today I am confident in validity of the LIFE Leadership Company for the individual that seeks God and His righteousness first. My wife Tina and I have been blessed by the friendship of hundreds of LIFE members, blessed by the principle-based information, and blessed by the income that LIFE continue to generate for our family. I write today to help the bible believing Christian find answers to the most common concerns that many Christians share.
First, let me say that this article is written from my Christian perspective and intended for Bible believing Christians that are seeking answers to legitimate questions about LIFE. It not written to try and use the Gospel for personal gain, nor defend LIFE against its nameless and faceless critics. I cannot possibly explain why some people quit, some stay, why some excel while others fail. I can only speak to my experience, and I encourage you to live out your own experiences as well. I apologize for length of these articles, but I intend to offer comprehensive viewpoints based upon my experience in building compensated communities and sharing this business plan. I have shared our business with dozens of Bishops, Priests, Pastors, Ministers, and church Elders, hundreds of laymen in the church and I have taught and spoken in front of thousands of people across the Continent. The logic of the business makes perfect sense for those that want to study great information and grow personally, but I have found that most people have valid moral concerns that deserve transparent and straightforward biblical answers. Below I offer my viewpoints as food for thought for those looking to join the LIFE Leadership community. If you, after prayerful consideration and an open mindset, hear the voice of the good shepherd calling you, then join us as we build LIFE for the glory of God. And if not, God bless you, and pray for us as we pray for you.
Are Christians free to profit in business or from the work of the ministry?
This is one of the most polarizing and legitimate questions that I have ever encountered in regards to pursuing LIFE Leadership. Often after sharing the actual information that LIFE distributes in regards to faith, finances, parenting and marriage, many Christians instantly and accurately recognize the information and the mentorship as ministry work. How can it possibly be wrong to teach husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands? Encouraging parents to communicate with their children and spend less time in front of the television is the topic of most sermons on Sunday morning. The teaching of Malachi 3:10, which encouragesChristians to give their tithes unto the Lord, is bible study basics for most Christians. But this alignment with God’s word gave me and many other Christians pause because we are all leery of profiting from the Word of God. Countless charlatans have perverted the good news for unsavory purposes. We all have learned that just because the product being sold is the theology of the cross, this does not guarantee that the motive of the business owner is righteous nor does it guarantee that the motive is unrighteous either. So how do we come to a consensus in regards to this dilemma? The Christian must begin to seek answers from the bible in three main areas, business in general, financial profit, and finally what the bible says about profiting from the work of the ministry.
LIFE leadership is a business, and like every other business it is designed to profit from the sale of the goods and services the company provides. In Leviticus 25:14, Christians are given explicit instructions in the Bible on how to conduct business properly…
And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
In Proverbs 31:15-18, the wise man wrote in regard to the virtuous woman…
She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
Business and profit are permissible in the Bible as long as we don’t allow them to consume us and become pitfalls of sin in our lives…Jesus taught this in a parable found in Luke 12:16-21…
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. “Then he said, ‘this is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, ‘you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
This certain man allowed greed and the lust of his flesh to cause him to fall into sin, and Christ went on further to explain that so shall it be for all businesspersons that store up treasures for themselves, and not toward God and their fellow man. The general nature of the parable should cause all Christians to heed this warning, whether we build the LIFE business, climbing the corporate ladder, or inherit a fortune.
It’s clear that business and profit are Biblical when the heart is guided by proper motives, but what about profiting from the Gospel. For years we have been taught to disassociate the Church from business because Christ himself in Matthew 21:12-13, cleansed the temple of those that sold animals for sacrifice as businessmen. But upon further reading, did Christ levy an indictment against businessmen in the Church or just those businessmen that were price gouging their customers at unfair prices? There is a difference between profiting and profiteering! Proverbs 11:1 reads, “A false scale is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.” So God is not necessarily displeased with business, he his displeased with sinful businessmen.
Once I gained perspective on business according to the Bible, I began evaluating the scales by which LIFE used in pricing our products and in sharing the wealth with its members. First let’s examine the product pricing from a reasonable standpoint. Of course no business can sell everything cheaper than every other business. But I challenge anyone to evaluate our product prices against similar types of products in the market place. We are hands down one of the best value prices companies in our burgeoning industry. Similarly, the LIFE Compensation Plan and Income Disclosure Statement are as fair and transparent as I have ever seen in regard to sharing the wealth properly. I encourage the reader to study the plan, and read the entire document thoroughly in order to accurately measure your investment proportionate to your expected results. Often, in sharing the LIFE business plan, I will encounter those that register as a member, but never really study the training materials, attend a meeting, or get a proper understanding of their commitments. Jesus spoke to this natural human tendency to skip the instructions in Luke 14:28-30…
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
I encourage the Christian to study the business and gain perspective based upon your studies. Count the costs, and build the business in proportion to the size of your dreams and goals. Be prayerful, and finish the race set before you both spiritually, and earthly. Because in the end we are all created with a God given purpose. That purpose is uniquely yours and God has equipped you to finish the charge. In fulfilling your mission, you inherently bring God Glory, by being an example of a faithful servant. Christians must fight the temptation to argue and debate over the endeavors that have been assigned to another person’s hand. We must instead fight the good fight of faith assigned to our hand and be an encourager of our brothers and sisters fighting their specific fight. We have all been called to live a Holy and righteous life, but we are not all called to live the same life. Paul spoke of this individualism in Romans 12:3-5…
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
As one Body in Christ we are encouraged to exercise our gifts in order to complete the body. As Christians, Christ has liberated us from the cumbrances of this world, and with righteous humility we are free to exercise this freedom. II Corinthians 3:17 states…
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
In John 8:36, this freedom is further solidified…
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
As Christians we are called to freedom. The Christian is free to marry, have children, choose a career, and make thousands of lifestyle choices according to their specific purpose. Christians should especially be careful not to label others as materialistic or greedy based upon their lifestyle or possessions. God is our Judge, and He is not mocked. If the Christian’s motives and actions are not in line, then God will sovereignly deal with that sin. If you feel called to join LIFE Leadership, then feel free to pursue your purpose without the burdens of guilt, shame or criticism that may be levied against you. LIFE Leadership is a compensated community that strives to help everyone live the life that they have always wanted. LIFE offers a unique blend of personal development and business development to everyone that feels compelled to build the business. The individual is free to succeed, and free to fail, we are all free to join, and free to quit, we are free to make a profit and free to lose money, but one thing is sure for the Christian, we have the spirit of the Lord, and we are free indeed. May you find comfort and freedom in these words found in 3 John 1:2…
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
38 thoughts on “Are Christians free to profit in business or from the work of the ministry?”
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Bravo!! Very well written and based on truth! Thank you Raymond! When are you coming to speak in WI?
Dan, Thank you so much for taking time to share this! Hoping all folks sincere about leading others to truth exercise due diligence exploring LIFE education.
Great article Dan, thanks for sharing it!
Excellent! Beautifully said.
Raymond,
Thank you for a great article. Thank you Dan for sharing.
Thanks raymond!!!!! Excellent thoughts written for us to live by..especially enjoyed the truth and encouragement for all of Christ’s children!!!!!!! Despite the efforts to divide us…
This needs to be shared with everyone. It has been a silent struggle of mine for over a year. Dan, as a former mechanic myself, you were the first Roger Banister to me:-)
Thanks for sharing this Dan…Raymond has brilliantly provided a perspective that many of us struggle to articulate.
A very clear and unbiased explanation of truth about business, faith and how it relates to leadership. The ultimate leader in leadership was indeed, and still to this day, is Jesus Christ.
Thanks Dan for posting this. We have two highly-respected and knowledgable pastors in our personal LIFE business and they are on the very same page with Raymond’s perspective.
What a well written article!!! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Dan,
Thanks so much for sharing this excellent article from Raymond Abernathy. It is a great resource to have, especially in the cynical world we tend to live in. It is great to know you are out there vetting this info and always on the lookout for ways to help us!
Danny Kellenberger
Carpe Diem
This is excellent information; Mr. Abernathy is providing a very timely post! I am aware of so many people that have questions regarding “wrong teaching” that they have received on the topic of Christianity and money. In my opinion, Mr. Abernathy clears that up right here!
Also, his assessment regarding the price point that LIFE Leadership retails their products is also right on point. There is no better value!
Randy, that is so true about the “wrong teaching” about money. The Financial Fitness Pack that a Pastor we work with uses: clearly stated to us “God wants you to do good business and this vehicle is truth for those who (clearly) understand that.”
What makes this Pastor’s point even more valid- is that he was a former VP of Chase Bank financial…. and he left that corporate sector…after seeing what (un-informed) people do with that “wrong perspective” about money…. so that’s what makes the LIFE information so valuable. The Founders of LifeLeadership stand for what is the “right perspective” ….and have been proven time and time again. 🙂
Thank you for the great comments Randy and Steve. We live in a time where we are bombarded with information and it is hard sometimes to figure out what is truth. At LIFE Leadership we try our best to seek and share truth. Raymond is a great example of this principle.
I agree! I love this line, “Christians must fight the temptation to argue and debate over the endeavors that have been assigned to another person’s hand.” In our North American abudunce that God has provided, we’ve turned our eyes away from God’s sovereignty and turned them toward our self-righteousness. I believe because we have been given so much and struggled so little in terms of survival, the modern Christian in North America has lost perspective on the grace bestowed on us and the grace required to live amongst others.
I couldn’t agree more with this article! WOW! Way to put it pastor! Thanks for sharing this Dan!! I have run into this misguided thinking for years. My question to people that don’t like business and church mixed is why is it ok for pastors to get paid then. That’s their “business”!
I was always confused and had mixed emotions about money growing up. I wanted it. But didn’t want to be materialistic. However…..I find that the less I have the more materialistic I get and the less I help in the church. It’s the love of money that’s bad. Not money itself. Honestly, if our churches would operate like the LIFE business, we would have less problems as we are all concerned more about others than ourselves! Our churches need Life Material and the life Business!!
We need more Christ followers who own businesses of all kinds. Thank you for sharing.
Very good article! It is so important to remain humble and not judge others: to be careful to not think of yourself “more highly than you ought”
Thanks for posting this and I look forward to the rest of the series. I need to re-read this several times so that I will be able to articulate the ideas to others when I hear concerns on business and money. I am not sure why, but many seem to have issue with the LIFE business that they would never even consider if I was selling cosmetics, kitchen tools, or candles. As Terri Brady has said several times, why is it more holy to make money as an engineer (or any other profession) over owning a successful business? I choose to sell products and present the opportunity to others of a business that will, without a doubt, change lives and ultimately change our country and the world. God has created each of us for a great purpose and we will be in His will when we are seeking Him daily and living our lives to bring Him honor and glory in whatever we do.
Mr. Abernathy’s quote from Proverbs 11:1 ” “A false scale is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.” brings great truth to this issue. We must always know the motives of our hearts when conducting business and when our hearts are right – it is pleasing to Him and that is what counts. I am joyfully encouraged by the clarification of what it means to conduct business among church friends in this great article. It is our honest commerce that brings Him joy.
I know I can be confident that the products of the LIFE Business embody the qualities of Philippians 4:8 “Finally, bothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” I can only imagine sharing with everybody in every setting,these great life changing products!
GREAT STUFF!!! As I sit back, I see the finger prints of GOD all over this Life Leadership. I hear time and time again on how people are praying for God to do something, for change to make this better. HERE IS THE ANSWER TO THOSE PRAYERS!!! The tool has been given from up above, and now it is up to us to use it!!
Dan, thank you for sharing this article with us. To say it is not right for a Christian business owner to make a profit is saying business owners aren’t being good Christians if they do make a profit. It goes back to your mindset of why you make a profit and what you do with it. It is hard for the poor to help the poor. The Good Samaritan was not a poor man.
Thanks again for your guidance!
Thanks for this great post of perspective regarding business, profit and the walk as a Christian. The points shared by Mr Abernathy are right on target.
This is great information. Growing up in a Christian home, I was exposed at certain Bible studies to thinking money was evil and you were wrong to seek making a lot of it. Well, this information validifies that it is ok to seek to have riches as long as you keep it in perspective and use it wisely. Thank you for sharing.
This is a great article from Raymond. Dan, thanks for sharing!! With all the biblical references, Raymond educates all of us and corroborates the positives of the LIFE business.
Thank you to Dan and all of the leaders who put research into this. It is great to see Christians always watching their heart’s to make sure they are in the right place.
Great article; totally agree; thank you for sharing. As I read through it, this came across my mind: A religious school operates as a business; is it being unethical because it profits from teaching Biblical principles? What about Company XYZ that trains its employees to treat customers fairly, to be service oriented, and to develop their character, (all Biblical principles), knowing that the training will ultimately result in greater profits for the company; is it being unethical? Of course not!
Perhaps these questions arise from our notion of compartmentalizing our lives and separating our “business life” from our “Church life” and from our “family life”, etc., when in reality it should all be one whole. And if all of us, Pastors and non-Pastors, live our lives (business life, family life, church life, etc.) by Biblical principles, then everything we do profits, both monetarily and non-monetarily.
Thanks Raymond fort your courage to correct a common misconception in the church!
Excellent article! Very well said! Thank you for addressing the “elephant in the room” and bringing light to this topic!
Wow, I can’t stop thinking about the article that Pastor Abernathy wrote in regards to the Christian Faith & the Life Business. I love how he uses Biblical truth for solidifying the basis & principle’s of what the Life Business is founded upon. My favorite is example from Proverbs 31:
She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
The woman of virtue in Proverbs perceived that her merchandise was profitable while dressing herself with strength & making herself strong. Isn’t that just the perfect example of Life Leadership? The information is very profitable & it allows one to to clothe themselves with right thinking.
Thanks for taking the time Pastor Abernathy to write this article & thank you Dan Hawkins for posting it on your blog!
Marsha Schatz
Carpe Diem
This article is so confirming and brings me great comfort in knowing The Lord above truly has his hands on what we are sharing with our brothers and sisters here on earth.
Thank you so much Raymond Abernathy for this incredible article and thank you Dan for sharing it!
I love the character, integrity, courage and conviction of the LIFE Leadership community. There are many that would twist the words of the bible to put down and judge others. Then, use it to put themselves on a pedestal.
I have always seen the leadership here be very humble while standing for what they believe in regardless of what any naysayers might say about them. This article goes down to the foundational level, question everything. Seek out truth. If were doing something wrong, let’s fix it! That is one of the core principals of LIFE Leadership and I couldn’t be more proud of the leaders I have the honor of rubbing shoulders with.
Thank You Verry Much
Wow! Some very powerful truth written! Thanks so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge and insight.
Thanks so much for posting this Dan. I totally agree with this. I wasn’t a follower before Life Leadership but with the right environment, love for Jesus Christ and right principles I eventually found Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. This business has it right and there should be no question for the lives that are changing for the better. Thanks
Thank you so much for this post! These are questions we have wrestled with and hear regularly. I very much look forward to the rest of the series!