Some of what Gerber says about the customer and a business’s development and function simply won’t work, because it is going to conflict with parts of our theology. However, he stresses legitimate ideas about systems, order and uniformity that are of value. Some of the businesses that succeeded have these things down, so that employees know what is expected of them for things to work well.

Okay, let’s handle the first objection: “The church is not a business.” I agree, 100%. For over 50 years, I have been against the idea advanced by some that the church should operate as a business. And it has been very discouraging in recent years to encounter seminary graduates with the mentality that they are like CEOs, and all the officers of the church are to support whatever ideas they advance. I could give other examples, but my point in this article is to help you see that there are some business ideas and practices that can positively assist churches as they seek to be faithful to Jesus Christ, our Head.

I grew up working in family-owned businesses, working for my father and grandfather, and I loved it. Over the years as a minister, besides reading books of theology and related to the ministry, I have read a lot of books on business and other areas, such as the self-improvement or self-help movement. Much of what I’ve studied has not been Biblical, but some of it here and there can be quite profitable.

When I retired from active ministry 10 years ago, I entered into full time business with my wife, selling real estate. God blessed us with much success, and today I continue to study and also write to encourage and assist others in their work and life, based on a Christian worldview.

In what follows, I am going to share some material with you from a couple of classic business books, and then offer some practical suggestions you might want to consider.

I am not presenting these books as Christian or written to assist churches; they are business books that have aspects which you can practically and profitably apply at your church and in ministry.

The E-Myth Revisited, Michael E. Gerber (HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1995, 270 pages). Gerber analyzes why most small businesses fail, and what to do about it.

Example 1 – Some years ago, while still in the ministry, my wife and I were on a train to a business conference in Philadelphia. I was reading this book, and something Gerber pointed out almost made me start singing the doxology out loud.

Gerber pointed out that in small businesses there are usually three personalities: The technician; this is who created the product or service. He knows all the technical things about it but does not have the necessary expertise or personality to run a company or grow it. Then there’s the manager; he can manage the company, and maybe things like staff, sales, product inventory, accounting, etc. Finally, there’s the entrepreneur personality. He’s in charge of growing the company, expansion, risk taking, etc. Everyone probably has some degree of each of these personalities but one personality and giftedness will dominate.

You can imagine problems arising, such as, the technician being afraid of the entrepreneur’s ideas, and the entrepreneur thinking the technician is out of touch with the need for growth and change. The manager may be uncomfortable with the entrepreneur’s proposals but also frustrated with the technician’s reservations.

The truth is that all three personalities are valuable. They each need each other, but they just need to appreciate each other’s gifts and work on respecting each other, rather than seeing each other in negative ways as reckless, unreasonable, passive, or irresponsible.

My doxology moment on the train was that these personalities explained everything about all the deacons and elders in our church. They each had unique personalities and strengths.

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