Let’s talk about bringing your faith into your work, or your business, as a Christian business owner. Perhaps you’re a personal brand business or at the least, your business is not a ministry. You’re not selling devotionals and Bibles, and what you do may have NOTHING to do with your faith on paper.
But, you’re a Christian and your faith is an important part of who you are and how you show up in the world. It informs the decisions you make in your business - big and small.
But that said, maybe you feel like your faith is a secret because you don’t know if it’s ok to share it as a business owner, you’re worried you’ll alienate clients/customers who disagree with you, or maybe you feel God calling you to share but you’re like “what does that practically look like when I’m a photographer? Or a designer? Or a copywriter? Or bookkeeper?” Don’t worry - that’s what we are talking about today.
If you missed last week’s episode, go back and listen because they go together! I shared four ways to bring your faith into your business there, and I am sharing four MORE ways today (that are completely different from last week). So let’s get to it!
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1. Start a prayer time with fellow believers who also own businesses
I wish I could give you this advice and say “I do this and it’s amazing!”, but I don’t do this. I wish I did, and this is one of my goals honestly for later this year when I’m not in new baby land (since I’m actually trying to take fewer meetings right now).
But if you do have the time and want to bring your faith into your business, consider starting up a prayer group with other business owners. Maybe you decide once a month or once a week, to all get on Zoom (you could even cap it at like 30 minutes!). You could let it be a time where you share prayer requests with each other and then pray together. It could even just be an accountability thing where you all get on Zoom, check in with one another, and then pray silently together but by all being there you’re keeping yourself in check to have focused prayer time for your business, your clients, your customers, for God’s insight in your life. I really feel like this would be SO powerful.
If I were doing this right now personally, I’d start with like 2-3 other friends, and keep it small to start. I don’t say this to be exclusive, but more to actually make it happen and get people committed, which tends to be easier with fewer people.
From there, find a date and time that works for everyone. Set up a recurring event/meeting that everyone puts on their calendar and commits to showing up. Have a vision in mind for the first meeting with how you want it to go and then be prepared to lead. Then maybe after the first one, you ask your friends to invite a few more people (or keep it tight-knit if that’s the vibe you want!).
But I love this idea, so let me know if you do it. YOU CAN START THIS. I want to emphasize that this is not something that you need to be at a certain point in your business. You need to be a strong leader. Don’t wait for someone else to start it for you. Go for it, you have what it takes. Share this episode if it would be helpful!
Read More: Why We Need to Share Boldly in Our Faith (and How Podcasting Can Help) With Brooke Jefferson
2. Ask yourself often: How can I show Jesus’ love for people in the way I run my business?
Aim to be an example for Christ. I talked more about this last week but I believe we’re not all called to be ministers as Christians but we are all called to ministry in our lives which includes our work. How can you show Christ’s love in the way you run your business?
I think what this looks like will vary a lot depending on your unique business, so only you can know what this could look like for you., but I would just encourage you to pray about it. Ask God for wisdom. I know if you talk to him and say “Lord I want my faith to become a part of my business in a way it hasn’t been yet… what could that look like?” you’ll get some answers.
Read More: How to Deal with a Difficult or Angry Client
3. Pray for your team
We talked about praying for your clients and customers in the last episode, and while this is similar, it is different so I wanted to separate it. But praying for your team is a huge way you can integrate your faith into your business! You have a connection with your team that is different from with clients/customers. It’s likely more intimate where you can know what’s going on in their lives.
For example, with my team (which is just contractors!), we have a Slack “check in” once per week where we all comment in a thread answering a few questions, mainly related to what we’re working on, but it ends with “What is happening in your life this week? What’s something you’re excited about? And/or what’s something you could use prayer/support in?” And not everyone is answering it like “Please pray for me about this”. In fact, my team is not exclusively Christian. But I can still pray for them and just be attuned to what’s going on in their life based on how they answer this question!
You can also more directly ask a team member in a one-on-one meeting or over email or Slack and say something like, “Hey, I'm thinking about you today. How can I pray for you?” and then actually pray for them.
Read More: 4 Encouraging Bible Verses For When Business Feels Overwhelming and Uncertain
4. Talk about your faith in God
I’m ending on the most obvious, yet also least obvious one, here. Just talk about your faith. Plain and simple. No bells and whistles. You likely have a platform in some way, your own “stage”. whether that’s a podcast, social media, an interview on someone else’s podcast, YouTube channel, email list, or your website, the list could go on. You have places in your business where people come to listen to you.
In addition to that, you have people you talk to one-on-one about things. I would encourage you to simply talk about your faith, the way you would if it wasn’t work. Of course, you’ll want to approach it in a no-pressure way, not an “I’m trying to convert you!” way.
For example, I’ve been interviewed on a lot of podcasts over the years about my business story and a variety of other things. There was a time in my journey when if it was a non-faith-based podcast, I might try to leave out parts of my story that related to God’s provisions, because it felt like “that’s not the vibe of the show, that’s not what the host wants, I don’t want to offend.”
I’ve stopped doing that. I answer questions with the truth, which sometimes involves me talking about my faith. You can do this too! And guess what? No one has ever been offended.
Another way you can talk about your faith is on your website’s About page. Sharing your faith there is a great opportunity.
There are so many ways to talk about your faith in God. Whatever you choose, I would just encourage you to do it in a way that feels organic and authentic versus forcing things. You know your own heart and your relationship with God. It used to be really trendy in Christianity to share your coffee and Bible and perfect looking quiet time. Don't feel like you need to be performative.
Read More: How to Bring Your Faith into Your Business with Jena Viviano
Sharing Your Faith in God in Your Business
Now, are these all the ways you can talk about God in your business? Absolutely not! There are so many others, but these come up for me and I hope to inspire and encourage you to try them too.
Like I said last week, ask yourself now… which ones resonate with you? Pray about which ones God could be calling you towards and DO IT. Listen to last week’s episode for FOUR more ways to share your faith in God in your business too.
Links Mentioned
Tune Into Episode 42 with Jena Viviano about Sharing Your Faith as a Business Owner
Tune Into Episode 236 with Brooke Jefferson on How We Can Share Boldly in Our Faith
Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram
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Shop Showit Website Templates (Use Code BBPODCAST for 10% off)
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