This summer I started two businesses as a brand partner in health-related networking marketing opportunities. I was previously coming from a perspective that I would never be part of such a cheesy crowd! The conflicting emotion is that Make America Healthy Again is very prophetic right now and I want to be part of that crowd; part of sharing new technology that liberates the health industry from corruption. So, I’m asking the Lord about how to redeem an approach to business that could be very positive with a Kingdom foundation.

No Cheese Plz – There is a universal disdain for the iconic pressure of a used car salesman. I did buy a car last year from a Gen Z salesman. It was a totally pleasant experience much to my surprise. When I think about the organic discipleship potential in the network marketing business model, it feels like it could easily be infused with Kingdom purpose and be equally pleasant. It could be an opportunity to combine a profitable business with adding value to clients while discipling the marketers to get it spiritually correct and Life-Giving. Imagine a sales experience with an impartation from Heaven! Instead of baiting people with all they will get, let’s pull the curtain back on the purpose they carry, and the value they can impart… that leads to an abundant, healthy life.

Roots – The secular and Christian entrepreneurial business ethic is focused on 1) working hard, 2) making money, and 3) achieving financial independence to have what I want. Christian businesses have verses to go with each step, but they can still have an uninspiring religious feel that is more prescriptive and driven instead of inspiring and led. The letter, the rules, and principles kill, but His spirit and purpose give life (2Cor 3:6).

My Story – Sue and I had a near-bankruptcy experience in 2012. I’ve been digging our way out of a financial hole since, feeling like an abandoned orphan to some degree. A few days ago, I said this, “Lord, I’m ashamed that I don’t really have a credible plan. I’m not really a credible businessperson, my barns are not full, my future is not secure.” His response surprised me:

John, that’s the point – you don’t have a plan to be independent from me.
I have the plan, accompany me and I will make you _________ (MT 4:19).
I’m delighted to show you My strategy (Jn 5:20), follow the Lamb and the Wind wherever they go (Jn 3:8, Rev 14:4).

We all go through life experiences that leave us with disconnected hearts, in a wilderness. We have a Father who restores our soul in His Council (Ps 23). He brings us back like prodigals. Even when we don’t deserve it and didn’t earn it, He restores us with joy. It feels good to be a son, safe, welcomed, loved, sons who hear His voice, and have a providential place on His team (Jn 14:2-3).

The Big Picture Transition – There is a much larger Kingdom transition from serfdom to sonship going on in our culture. Religion (the orphan spirit) is really a fig leaf; a pretense of self-effort that tries to think in a way that aligns our subconscious with the universe to manipulate God or the cosmos to attract what we want. The reason pitches feel cheesy is because you can feel the manipulation, the self-effort. It’s an experience void of purpose, namely your purpose.

At the heart of all the cheesy maneuvering is a belief that if you work hard enough you can have whatever you want and become whatever you wish. That really is the devil’s promise when you reread Jesus’s three wilderness temptations in Mt 4. Jesus’ offer is more along the lines of take up your cross and follow me and I will transform you and add all these things (Mt 6:33).

From Orphan to Son – Orphans believe they are independent and provide for themselves. It goes with the whole entrepreneurial philosophy; the self-preservation bait of becoming a self-made-man and your-dream-can-come true. Jesus took this option off the table:

Jn 5:19 – the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing;
for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.
20)   For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing;
and the Father will show Him greater works than these,
so that you will be amazed. (see Jn 5:30, Jn 15:4-8)

• Step #1 – Acknowledge your limitations. You can’t sell anything is actually true!
• Step #2 – Allow Father to show you what He’s doing and do it with Him. Be His Son.

The Jailbreak – The irony is that if I lay down my self-effort and flow with what Father is doing, several things happen that feel like a jailbreak from serfdom to sonship:

#1).  I become my genuine self and don’t have to put on the religious act or wear the fig leaves. Becoming His son or daughter is very liberating!

#2).  As a son, I am given my Father’s Power, Authority, Anointing, and Love for people. I create a totally different impression and first impression. It’s not cheesy, I’m adding value!

#3).  Father co-labors with me and my business. He really does add all these things when I put His Kingdom and His righteousness first (Mt 6:33). My Father and I are on the same page. I’m flowing with purpose that is much bigger than “me” – a higher cause is the root of my passion instead of personal prosperity. It flows from my Father and I’m flowing with it.

#4).  I’m off the serfish treadmill of discipline and accountability. As a son I see and share Father’s heart. I’m passionate and pre-wired to co-labor with Him. Intrinsic motivation is internal not external.

My Identity has gone through: 1) self-serving orphan, 2) the discipline and drought of business and religion, to 3) the joy and freedom and fruit of doing what my Father is doing as a son.

Two of John’s Council sessions inspired this blog. We share them because they have much more content on this topic, and they are helpful examples of how you can go to Father’s Council yourself.

• 2024-10-20 Council – Freeing the Religious Spirit
• 2024-10-24 Council – From Independence to Co-laboring

Our Offer – We help Kingdom Businesses find and fulfill their unique purpose while producing value and cash flow. We integrate Father’s Courts, Council, Purpose and Passion for Business leaders in a 1-on-1 format. Axiom – Have fun, create value, love people, and build the Kingdom!

• Get on our mailing list with a free copy of Intentional Reformation or the Lead Your Tribe Field Guide.
• Get on John’s calendar for a Zoom conversation.
  1. We start with a Purpose Profile to get your Kingdom purpose in writing.
  2. Have DIY options and a fleet of coaches with different specialties to choose from.
  3. We’re partnering with Larry Nault at BuildingaKingdomCompany.com.

Cutting Room Floor

One of the common abuses in the self-help industry is the quoting Pro 23:6-7 out of context. The misquote is, As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. This phrase is used to justify training your mind to get what you want. It gets combined with the law of attraction, positive thinking, and affirmations in a witch’s brew of deception and control over serfs. Wealth is not determined solely by how we think. We don’t manipulate the universe to get what we want. It’s a patented lie from the enemy exactly analogous to the temptations the devil used on Jesus, unsuccessfully.

Pro 23:6 – Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies,
7)  for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

• God does grant the desires of our heart (Ps 37:4), when we are aligned with His heart
• We can ask whatsoever (originates in Father’s heart) in Jesus’ Name (Jn 14:13, 15:7, 16, 16:23)

Another commonly misquoted verse is that God gives us the power to produce wealth and get rich,

Duet 8:17 – You may say to yourself,
“My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”
18)   But remember the LORD your God,
for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, (Chayil H2428 – valor, to be valiant)
and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

The KJV translates chayil as “wealth” 10 times in 243 uses. Other translations include “army” (56 times), “man of valor” (37 times), “host” (29 times), “forces” (14 times), “valiant” (13 times), “strength” (12 times), “riches” (11 times), “power” (9 times), “substance” (8 times), and “might” (6 times).

The real intent is that God gives the ability to produce value and make a difference in our culture (greater works). Money is part of that equation, but not the first part or the main part. The real message in this verse is that God is our provider, the source of our anointing.  My favorite verse that points to God’s Council for sons translates Chayilas strength:

Ps 84:5 – Blessed is the person whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the roads to Zion!
6)  Passing through the Valley of Baca they make it a spring;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
7)  They go from strength (Chayil) to strength (Chayil),
Every one of them appears before God in Zion.