The Thing About Identity
When I stepped out of pastoral ministry and into business, people saw a pastor trying to figure out the real world.
That stung a little. Not because it was mean. But because inside, I already knew what I was doing.
The Holy Spirit was in the boardroom the same way He’d been in the sanctuary. The discernment I’d built in ministry was sharper than ever — in sales calls, in reading clients, in understanding what people actually needed versus what they said they needed.
Then something shifted. I got good. Real good. Revenue started flowing. The perception flipped.
Now people saw a successful businessman who used to be a pastor.
" Inside, it's been a progressive, steady increase — deeper relationship with God, growing anointing, sharper discernment. The outside world just keeps getting the story wrong. "
Neither version of how people see you is right. And that’s the thing about identity: the world labels you by the last role they watched you play. God labels you by the mission He gave you before you ever stepped on stage.
The Mission Didn’t Move An Inch
Here’s what I know down in my spirit:
I am still fulfilling the same calling I accepted in ministry.
The vision is the 72 — from Luke 10, where Jesus sends out 72 workers into the harvest. My goal: fund 72 full-time evangelists, year after year, reaching unreached people and persecuted Christians. That hasn’t shifted.
What changed is the mechanism.
- Before: I was on the field.
- Now: I’m building the logistics.
- Before: I was feeding people directly.
- Now: I’m building infrastructure that feeds thousands.
This isn’t a lesser calling. It’s a different assignment within the same mission.
Every single day, I flow with the Holy Spirit the same way I did from a pulpit. The intensity is greater. The stakes are higher. The discernment required is sharper. And honestly — the quiet times matter more now, not less.
What Happens When You Treat Business Like a Gift
The parable of the talents comes up constantly when I think about what I’m building.
" A man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, to another one bag — each according to his ability. "
God gives you something. He expects it to grow.
I have a strong ability to generate revenue. Marketing. Sales. Understanding how customers think and what moves them. That’s not a hobby. That’s a gift. And like every gift in that parable, it comes with a question attached: What are you actually doing with it?
The most honest version of prosperity isn’t “how much can I make so I can have what I want.” It’s “who am I becoming, and how does that serve what God asked me to build?”
Money is real. Revenue matters. I’m not romanticizing poverty. But you can’t separate the person from the payoff. Build the kind of person who creates real value. The revenue follows that person.
Here’s What This Has to Do With You
You may not have a pastoral background. But if you’re running something — a business, a trade, building toward something — there’s a version of this question in your life too.
What were you made to do? And is the work you’re doing right now serving that calling, or just paying the bills?
Those aren’t always different answers. But you need to ask with enough honesty to know which one you’re living.
Halftime by Bob Buford
For anyone navigating the shift from career success to a life of deeper significance — whether you’re religious or not, this book hits.
Check it outLuke 10:1-24 — The Sending of the 72
The passage behind the 72. Jesus explaining the harvest and what it takes to work in it.
Read it