Spiritreneur is coiled from two words, Spirited and Entrepreneur. Webster’s Dictionary defines spirit briefly as “the soul or heart, as the seat of feelings” and entrepreneur as “a person who organizes and manages an enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.” Thus, spiritreneurs are those who fully integrate their soul in a workplace enterprise.
Laurie Beth Jones, the bestselling author of “Jesus, CEO,” shows you how to find soul satisfaction in your work. Jones shows that there is no contradiction between earning a comfortable living even as you use your job to promote your most profound spiritual and personal beliefs. Jones describes persons who are able to combine their business life with their spiritual life as Spiritreneurs.
The idea of the “spiritreneur”—a person whose highest gifts are successfully used in the workplace to promote their deepest spiritual and personal beliefs, is tremendously relevant in today’s society. If you want to know whether or not you are a spiritreneur, just ask yourself two questions. “Would I be doing this work even if I weren’t getting paid?” and “Am I doing this work as unto the Lord?” If your answer to both of these questions is yes, you are on your way to “spiritreneurship.”
According to Jones, “Work and Spiritual Lives Are Not Separate. The business world has the potential to offer not only material gifts, but also essential spiritual gifts such as dignity, acknowledgement, prosperity, integrity, service, challenge, and a sense of community.”
Spiritreneurism is used to describe the work of Jesus. There are many arguments that Jesus, apart from ministry, was a successful businessman. “Spiritreneurism” describes doing business the right way, the Jesus way. Laurie Beth Jones in his book “Jesus, CEO” outlined three characteristics or strengths that Jesus had that made him such an effective leader. These characteristics include:
- The Strength of Self Mastery
- The Strength of Action
- The Strength of Relationship
Jesus was gifted, and disciplined in each of these three areas — in order to become effective leaders today, we too need to become disciplined and learned in these spheres.
Under self-mastery, she mentioned the importance of identifying one’s mission and sticking to it. Jesus knew he was on earth to fulfil the Father’s will. He mentioned that several times. Spiritreneurs are people who identify and focus on their mission. Under action, Jones shows the need to have a plan to bring about the fulfilment of a vision. This involves putting together a team and working together towards a common goal. Under relationships, she stressed the need to focus on the potentials of people, be open-minded to their ideas, treat them equally and elevate them.
Lauren Beth Jones, in his book, outlines what she termed “the Four Phases of the Spiritreneur.”
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Phase One
The Launch, which is when, like Moses, you find yourself being called by God to do something great, and you know it.
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Phase Two
The Lurch is when, like Moses, you march into Pharaoh with your divine plan and say boldly, “Let my people go,” only to have the Pharaoh look up at you and say, “No!”
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Phase Three
The Lessons, which is when you have made it out of Egypt and that job you hated, you have endured and survived the midnight cash flow crunches and raids from creditors bearing down on you like chariots, and you find yourself with a group of complaining, ungrateful staffers, mumbling about what’s on the menu. It is in Phase Three that you learn the importance of little things.
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Phase Four
The Love is when you finally feel the sun on your wings and you are soaring effortlessly, doing exactly what you were created to do and knowing it. God is flowing through you on a daily basis, and fulfilment is your middle name.
THESE ARE SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF SPIRITRENEURS
1. Spiritreneurs Must Be Expansive Thinkers
We know that we don’t follow; we lead. We don’t report the news; we make the news. We are often thinking in ways that the rest don’t, regarding industry trends, how we treat people, what we decide is important, and who we ally with and who we don’t. We are willing to be the first to try something or buck a standard. We think more largely and broadly.
2. Spiritreneurs Need to Be Willing to Branch Out
We are called not to settle for a little piece of land. The Divine constantly urges us to lift up our eyes and see all the possibilities on the horizon and beyond. We are to shake the dust and ashes from our feet and minds and expand our vision, influence, and contribution. Integrated business people know there is always more than the eye can see.
3. Spiritreneurs Know that Authority Is Assumed and Not Conferred
What is the cost of timidity? What are the rewards of being bold? What would you do if you were 10 times bolder? Go out and do it.
4. Spiritreneurs Take Action with Boldness When We Dare to Question and Change the Unit of Measurement
As we saw in Lesson Two, spiritreneurs must define their own success. When we do this, we quite often challenge popular notions of how success is measured. What do you see around you as units of measurement? Money, looks, gross national product, status, brand names? One hour with the television will give you a remarkably clear picture of our cultural units of measurement. We break ranks when we dare to declare that there may be other ways to measure worth, achievement, and victory.
5. Spiritreneurs Must Be Turn-Around Specialists
Even if the popular trend is going one way, we must be equipped by our mission and our call to change the tide if we believe it should be another. Is the call for increased dividends really healthy at this point? Are the hiring and firing practices of the trade fair and ethical? Are people being given the best treatment and service? Turn-around specialists don’t operate by cookbook techniques. We survey situations and trust in the One who called us in the first place to provide the insight and direction, whatever that might be.
I call myself a spiritreneur because I have, over the years, tried to do business the Jesus way, that is not letting business be a divide in both my spiritual life and faith. I have also, over the years, seen business as an opportunity to help the world, the vulnerable and the needy. Doing business must not always be about money. It is my passion to use my skills and gifts to make a difference.
References
- Becoming an entrepreneur » Manila Bulletin News. https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/10/becoming-an-entrepreneur/
- Jesus, Entrepreneur by Laurie Beth Jones …. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/88474/jesus-entrepreneur-by-laurie-beth-jones-author-of-jesus-ceo/9780609808788
- LESSON 1:: The Path to Professional and Spiritual Harmony …. https://jesusspiritreneur.wordpress.com/lesson-1-the-path-to-professional-and-spiritual-harmony/
- What Would You Do If You Were 10% More Courageous …. https://nataliealexia.com/what-would-you-do-if-you-were-10-more-courageous/
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