What are the keys to fruitful participation in marketplace ministry for a local church?
• Be diligent in addressing dichotomized thinking. • Be sure that you do not make businesspeople feel like second class kingdom citizens. • Be willing to have your wineskin renewed when it comes to new initiatives that include businesspeople. Don’t assume that the old ways of committees and structures will work for businesspeople. • Avoid attaching “para-church” labels to anything that doesn’t happen within the four walls of a local church. • Don’t do the ministry for them—make businesspeople own their specific calling and responsibilities to minister in the marketplace. • If you have some people in your congregation who are being stirred up in this area, do not say “we’ll get back to you.” The world of business travels at a much, much faster pace than the decision-making patterns of local church committees, so they may hear a delay as “No, I don’t like this idea.
