Business is a Means, Not an End

As a young business man in my early twenties, I wanted to conquer the world. Not because the world needed conquering, but because my ego needed feeding. I took pride in everything from the number of employees I had to my production rank at my broker dealer. The real trophies in life were the cars I drove, where I traveled on vacation, and the clothes I wore. I was eaten up with my own success. I relished the opportunity to interview my former boss for a job in my firm. I took pleasure in the demise of my competitors. I played an endless game of one-upmanship with my colleagues. My pride was so in charge of my life that I brooded over every slight and was filled with jealousy if my friends did well. I had to be on top, and yet I felt I was an imposter and that my success was just luck. Everything superficial in life seemed so important back then. What I’d give to relive those days. I’d change everything.

Pride is an Evil Taskmaster

I lived for business. I worked 7 days a week and thought I was having a blast. Business was the most fun thing I could imagine. I needed to make more and more money to satisfy my ego. There was never enough. I started making business decisions just for how it would make me look. Open another office? Sure, everyone will think I am a success. Hire more employees? Great, I will look important. Launch a new division? Terrific, I’ll play the mover and shaker. It didn’t end until I had nearly run the business into the ground. Pride is like a drug addiction. You feed it and feed it, but it refuses to be satisfied. It eventually destroys everything you have, and you never see it coming.

A New Pair of Glasses

On April 6, 1991, my world was turn upside down. I became a Christian. Suddenly, building the business wasn’t my first priority. Running the business ethically became my objective. As time moved along, I was less and less concerned with fame and fortune, and more and more concerned with doing something worthwhile, something useful for God and my fellow man. Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment in the law. He replied, “Love the Lord your God…and your neighbor as yourself.” My heart began to reorient toward these two notions, the love of God and the love of others. I saw everything in a new light, God, people, business, life. I realized I had wasted a lot of time feeding my own appetites. I had been living a selfish life.

Time for a Change

I can still remember the day. I was driving into work one morning, and I picked up my cell and called the church office. Was there anyone in the hospital who needed a visit? Were any of the pastors free for a quick call? I needed an outlet to serve. I knew I had to do something more worthwhile with my life, something more eternal than just another day at the office.

All Things Work Together for Good

Not long afterward, my wife became bedridden with a severe illness and I had no choice but to sell the business and take care of her and our two small children. It never occurred to me that my wife’s illness and the sale of the business were slaps in the face from the God I had only recently committed my life to serve. On the contrary, I saw the whole ordeal as my big chance. I enrolled in seminary and finished my undergraduate degree, but switched from accounting to theology. I started a home Bible study which grew into a small community church. After four years, the money from the business sale was gone and I went back into practice. Two years later my wife recovered. All of this changed my perspective on why I was in business. The Apostle Paul was a tentmaker. He was the greatest evangelist the world has ever known, but he paid his own way by making and selling tents. He was a businessman-servant. God did not put us here to become wealthy, but to use whatever resources He has given us in His service. Now, I see business as the means to an end. What really excites me is life change. I want to live it, and I want to help facilitate it in others.

Life in Balance

I pastored the church for 12 years and stepped down to help lead an international Bible Institute that trains remote and underserved pastors in the bush and jungles of Africa, Asia, and South America. I travel about 60 days a year for the Institute, setting up new training venues, teaching theology, and building our global network of operations. I could work more and earn more, but I make plenty. It is the lonely and unsatisfied life that is devoted to self promotion and self gratification. But, if you give your life away, you will gain it back and much more.