This week TIME asked whether the Gen Z "religious revival" everyone keeps talking about is actually real. The answer came back murkier than the headlines: pastors report packed baptisms and stadium-sized youth conferences, but Pew finds no clear evidence of a nationwide resurgence, and researchers point out that religiosity has mostly stopped declining rather than surged. One exception stood out — Gallup found more young men saying faith matters to them.
It's an interesting question. I'd argue it isn't the most fruitful one.
The more useful question is how we make sure it becomes real. And honestly, I'm not sure a religious revival is what we want in the first place. Religion isn't the goal. What I'd want is a relational one — one that starts with Jesus.
So what does the Church need to do to make sure that happens?
Here's the thing. We are the Church. Business owners included. It isn't just what happens on Sundays. Which means the question lands a lot closer to home than we'd like: what's my role in it? What can I do to make sure my business actively participates in the Great Commission at a moment when a younger generation seems genuinely interested?
Because I fundamentally believe that whether your day job happens inside the four walls of a church or the four walls of a business, every one of us is called to the same commission — preach the gospel and make disciples.
I get asked a fair amount what a Christian business owner can actually do inside his company to witness to his people without running afoul of HR. I won't get into the details here, but I'll tell you this: it is significantly more than you've been made to believe. You have to approach it the right way. But there are things you can do that may seem overt and are well within the bounds. That warrants more careful attention and specifics than I can give it today, so I'll come back to it in a future post.
That said, I'd say a lot of us would be better served starting with the basics. Or maybe that's not the right way to put it — starting with a better perspective.
To me, the first place to approach the Great Commission is shining our light in a way that actually glorifies God. Many of us would do well to adjust how we conduct ourselves in the marketplace, so that what we're shining isn't representing Christ in a negative light.
There's a line I've always loved, usually credited to Francis of Assisi: "Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words." Turns out he never said it — it shows up nowhere in his writings. What he actually wrote, in his Rule, was that the brothers should "preach by their deeds." I love the sentiment either way, but I'd put it a little differently, and I think a little more accurately:
You preach the gospel at all times, whether you use words or not.
So the question isn't whether you're preaching. The question is what gospel you're preaching. What is your life communicating to the world around you? Do we conduct ourselves in a way that wouldn't embarrass the commission?
Are the words coming out of our mouths words that build up, edify, and reflect the kingdom of God? And I don't just mean do we cuss. I mean when things go sideways — as they will — are the words we use, and the tone we use them in, bringing order and training and health to the organization? Or are we ripping people's heads off, attacking and belittling them, because we're upset and overworked and out of time?
I wish I could tell you that in my years as a young business owner, when the stakes were high and my team's mistakes were higher, nothing was ever said that went after somebody's intellect, their judgment, or their worth to humanity. I can neither confirm nor deny. But I'm less than proud of the way I handled some of those situations.
Could it be that we have a "church" problem not because the culture is in shambles — in many ways it is, and I concede that doesn't help — but because we haven't shown the world a better option? A more desirable one. One that looks dramatically different from what everyone else is offering.
I'm not saying we'll never need to discipline, correct, even fire someone. I'm not saying we never hold our position while we do business. What I am saying is that how we do these things — how we negotiate, how we train, how we correct — is as important as the thing we're actually doing.
Nobody gets into a relationship with Jesus because a poll said interest was up. They get there because somebody near them made Him look worth knowing.
People are watching. Turn them to Jesus.
Is the light we're shining glorifying Him?
In Christ,
Chad