God in the MarketplaceSample

Foundations of Marketplace Ministers: Deepening Intimacy with Christ

Having established that every believer is a minister whether they are called to serve God in the church or the marketplace we can now move onto some key foundation principles that I have found empower the children of God to flourish in their walk with God and their marketplace assignments.

I believe that everything starts with a pattern of “Deepening intimacy with Christ”. As we read in today's passage, the apostle Paul makes a powerful statement in his letter to the Philippian church about his posture towards God. He declares that everything else in his life as far as achievements, success etc is incomparable to the excellency of knowing Christ. This is such an important reminder to us that at the end of it all, what matters most at the core of who we are is that we have come to know Christ.

Paul continues and says that he was still yearning to know more of the ministry and person of Christ in his experiential reality. This is truly a master principle of spiritual vibrancy and true fulfillment, no matter how much we might by the grace of God be able to achieve in our service to Christ through our lives and marketplace ministries, the primary desire of our lives needs to be anchored in our ongoing intimacy and love walk with Christ.

Our lives can get busy and there are many wonderful ways that we can actively serve the kingdom in the marketplace, however all of this must be done in the power of the Holy Spirit from a position of knowing God and realizing that we are known and loved by Him.

How does intimacy with Christ remain a center feature of our lives in our day to day realities?

We make time, even going so far as locking our time with God into our calendars, blocking out time to be intentional about prayer, reading and or listening to the word, worshiping and sitting still before God and allowing His presence to recalibrate our hearts.

I meet many believers in my consultancy enterprise to the marketplace who tell me about how being busy in their jobs or enterprises causes them to struggle to have time to spend with God in this intentional space. I challenge them lovingly to reconsider their priorities and understand that everything they do must come out of this connection.

I understand that as marketplace Christians our lives are nuanced with many variables that might not be in play for people who are employed as church ministers, yet as we have been saying throughout this series, we are no less ministers in our callings. Meaning it is as important for us to remain spiritually vibrant and intimate with the Lord as it is those who minister at the pulpit on Sundays.

Reflection

• How will you make room in your schedule to connect in a deepening way with Christ in a consistent manner?