Part Two
In the previous article, I examined how the ‘forces of evil’ can keep marketplace Christians on the sidelines and out of the contest between the Kingdom and the world. In this post, I look at those few marketplace Christians who manage to see themselves as ministers to the marketplace and fully embrace that commitment. Since they attempt to be visible and impactful in the marketplace, they become subject to other sinister forces.
Harass and distract them.
For those who have embraced the ‘business is ministry’ concept and committed to having a kingdom impact through their business and career, the forces of evil resort to a much more hands-on approach – attempting to deceive and discourage us.
Here’s an example of what this looks like in real life.
A number of years ago I was filming a series of lessons for Bible school teachers.
Everything that could go wrong did. We’d arrive at the studio to film, and the cameras didn’t work. Or the lighting technician didn’t show up. Or an important bulb had burned out. There was always some glitch that prevented or delayed the filming. No filming session went the way it was supposed to.
We saw the same thing in editing. The editing equipment didn’t work, even though it was new and state-of-the-art. The software had a glitch. It was one small delay after another. What was supposed to take a couple of months took almost a year. I remember, in a fit of frustration, shouting, ‘What is going on here?”
What was going on was Satan was trying to derail the project. Today, we call that spiritual warfare. For those of us in business it means that Satan will try to thwart our business effort and discourage us to the point where we give up.
It’s a very real issue for Christian businesspeople.
Here’s another example involving the publication of The Good Book on Business, my most recent book. The Lord led me to write that book, and I had a very real sense of his guidance as I wrote it. Getting it published was another story. First, I sent it to my literary agent, with whom I had worked for 20 years. He repackaged the book and tried to sell it to mainstream publishers, who all declined, saying it was too religious for their markets. He suggested I find an agent who dealt with the religious market, as he did not.
I contacted a half a dozen Christian literary agents and was rejected because I was not a pastor with a big church following. My book didn’t have the potential for enough easy sales.
So, after almost a year of pursuing a trade publisher, I decided to self-publish. I found a suitable self-publishing company and got the book ready for them. While the book was going through the publishing process, we created a marketing plan to sell it. At last, the book was published. We were happy with it, and were about to begin marketing it, when the publisher announced that they were going out of business and would no longer support any of their titles.
We put everything on hold and set about publishing it through Amazon. The process turned out to take twice as long as we had hoped, as we experienced glitches at every step in the process. Finally, two years later than planned, we got the book out and began marketing.
I attribute all the glitches and the difficulties to harassment by the spiritual forces of evil. Satan did not want this book published, and relentlessly tried to derail it.
Those are examples from my life, but they are hardly unique. Almost every Christian businessperson has a similar story of some effort being supernaturally hindered.
Satan is real, and the Bible indicates that he wants to destroy us and our works. He and his minions have the ability to intervene in circumstances and plant thoughts and ideas into our heads and in those around us in order to derail our efforts, discourage us, and eventually defeat us.
“Dogs don’t bark at tombstones.“ I remember that expression booming from the lips of an old southern preacher years ago. His point was this. If you are just taking up space on the planet, like a tombstone, you won’t attract Satan and all the other detractors. But, if you are trying to have an impact, you’ll draw the attention of the forces of evil.
In our terms, if you believe that your business or your career is just about making money and has no potential to impact the kingdom, you probably won’t be bothered. Satan already has you where he wants you – distracted by money and impotent in the Kingdom.
If, however, you believe that your business and career can be a force in the Kingdom, and you are attempting to transform it into a Biblical business, you’ll attract the attention of the forces of evil.
In those circumstances, spiritual warfare is inevitable. You’ll be wise to prepare for it.
Dave Kahle has been a Bible teacher, elder, house church leader, short-term missionary and Christian executive roundtable leader. For 30 years, he has been an authority on sales and sales systems, having spoken in 47 states and eleven countries. He has authored 13 books, including The Good Book on Business. His books have been translated into eight-plus languages and are available in over 20 countries. He holds a B. of ED from the University of Toledo, and MA in Teaching from Bowling Green University.
He and Coleen split their time between Grand Rapids, Michigan and Sarasota, Florida. He is a father, foster father, adoptive father and grandfather to 14 children.
