Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Before you start a business (or plant a church)

You know how trends go.  Things get popular, it gets blown out of proportion and we all believe we can do anything.  Usually, getting swept up in trends has no more negative effect than making us look a little silly. 

But what if there were more at stake?  What if mistakenly jumping on this bandwagon could tear your family down or set your back a decade or two, financially?

When did it become so trendy to be an entrepeneur?  It seems like everyone you know is starting their own business.  Or in my world, planting a church.  And everyone is sure they will succeed, even though statistics say the opposite. 

I'm not against entrepeneurs.  I'm defintley not against church-planting.  But, before you bet the farm, have a plan in case it doesn't go exactly how you envision it.  Part of that plan is knowing who you really are.  Part of that plan is basing it in reality.  Part of that plan is gathering wise counsel from a variety of sources BEFORE you begin. 

There's a whole lot more spinning in my head here, but that's enough for now.  Let me know what you think.

2 comments:

jordan said...

This sounds like the classic debate between faith and wisdom - and I think in tandem with what you've said, it's a case by case scenario. Sometimes, God is present in what seems to a be a foolish decision to me. Other times, those decisions are made with the exact motive you've stated here - hype. It's one of those grey areas that I hate.

What do you think?

Jason Fitch said...

I think that many times (most times) a leap of faith looks foolish to those on the outside. My point here is that simply taking a leap of faith without a pan IS foolish. I moved my family across the country on faith. Nothing wrong with that. What was wrong is that I had no plan, in case that church I planted couldn't support us financially. No plan! I'm still dumbfounded how I could be so irresponsible to my family. If I had it to do over, I would do the same things (move, plant a church, etc), but I would have done it much differently. It is possible to take dramatic steps of faith and still act responsibly. What do you think, Jordan?