Ten Commandments for the Christian Entrepreneur

The Christian Entrepreneur: Dream, Plan, Execute, Grow by Brock Shinen (Bethany House Publishers, 2020 224pp, $19.99 US)

By April Yamasaki

The subtitle of Brock Shinen’s new book makes being a Christian entrepreneur sound easy: “Dream, Plan, Execute, Grow.” But of course there’s nothing automatic about these four steps to building a thriving business. They may sound easy, but they take risk, deliberate action, hard work — and there is no guarantee of success.

To assist Christian entrepre- neurs in working through these four basic steps, Shinen offers reallife examples, practical exercises, and helpful questions, all drawn from his experience as a lawyer and business adviser. He writes clearly, with both a positive attitude and a realistic appraisal of the challenges.

The book begins with evaluating a potential business idea, then follows with creating a business plan, engaging with customers, dealing with legal issues, addressing growing pains, and other business realities. Whether you envision a for-profit business offering, a non-profit service, or working as a creative solopreneur, this book is a helpful guide for getting started and evaluating your progress.

In addition to these business fundamentals, the book addresses what it means to be a Christian entrepreneur, what it means to do business “in a way that has God’s fingerprints all over it.”

Shinen writes: “When you’re a Christian entrepreneur, your ‘Christian’ value system permeates every professional decision you make. It becomes impossible to separate the secular from the sacred because the secular becomes sacred through God’s presence in your professional activities.”

“It’s sort of like expecting food coloring and water to stay separate once you pour them both into a glass. Unlike what oil does in water — stays separate — food coloring permeates water. This is our faith in business, our Christianity in the marketplace.”

Shinen’s “Ten ‘Command- ments’ for the Christian Entre- preneur” are a good example of this combination of the secular and the sacred. These appear as an epilogue to the book, but they’re much more than an optional commentary. Instead, they pull together some of the key ideas from the book and offer a fitting conclusion.

For Shinen, the first commandment is “Seek God first in all you do.” In other words, give God your dream, look to God as you plan, execute, and grow. For the Christian entrepreneur, this spiritual grounding is foundational.

Then Shinen follows this with a second commandment: “Prepare to fail (and be okay with it).” And a third commandment: “Take care of yourself.”

These are perhaps less obviously “sacred” than the first commandment and more “secular,” but Shinen relates both to God’s call in our lives. Instead of being undone by failure, the Christian entrepreneur learns from failure and remains focused on the mission. To practice healthy selfcare, the Christian entrepreneur finds rest and renewal in God.

Other commandments touch on developing expertise, learning to communicate more effectively, setting goals, taking responsibility, understanding finances, being willing to innovate, and finding validation not in the world, but in your relationship with God.

These 10 commandments are my favorite part of the book. The author even includes a bonus 11th commandment, but I won’t spoil the surprise by including it here. If you’re curious, read The Christian Entrepreneur and discover the 11th commandment for yourself. I appreciate the book’s approach to being a good businessperson while also being a person of faith.

I read it for this review and now plan to work through it to strengthen my own entrepreneurial ministry efforts. .

April Yamasaki is resident author with a liturgical worship community and often speaks in other churches and venues. She blogs regularly at AprilYamasaki.com, WhenYouWorkfortheChurch.com, and is the author of Four Gifts, Sacred Pauses, and other books on Christian living.