Several months ago my pastor lent me a book called Kingdom Business by David Befus. The author is affiliated with Latin America Missions and his intent is to explain how we can make ministries self-sustaining as they help others. His work has specifically centered around creating micro-finance programs to help individuals start businesses and improve their own lives. The idea of causing a ministry to support itself is a shocking one to many people. I understand the reason that many outreach programs are funded solely by donations. It might just be my own stubborn pride but I can not find it in myself to work this way. That may be the reason that this book was lent to me in the first place. From Kingdom Business:

In the last 50 years the church [has become] ... almost exclusively focused on a model that assumes the need for donations to finance ministry. The church in North America has taught this model to the rest of the world, and the formula of depending on donations is accepted everywhere. But the perception that ministry requires offerings creates great limitations for ministry. This is especially true in countries where donations are scarce.

That is true even in the United States, which has traditionally been a generous nation in many ways. The individuals are slowly learning to hide behind tax-dollar supported “relief.” People now give you strange looks when you tell them that you don’t want government money. There is good reason to encourage these efforts to stand on their own feet as they help others:

Social development projects, it is said, "have no memory," as they are funded by grants and not required to demonstrate viability. Economic development projects do have a memory, and the problems with funded projects cannot be hidden simply by redefining accounts receivables on paper.

Sometimes the consequences go much farther than you would expect:

It sometimes also happens that church people do not act with integrity, and this is quickly discovered in a business environment. To identify the problem may be of benefit to the life and Christian walk of that person, but to confront it may be difficult or destructive in the church environment.

When somebody is simply volunteering, you can take it or leave it. When they are working for a business that pulls its own weight, you can expect more.

Kingdom Business covers a lot of basic business principles that larger corporations use. This is an attempt to be a small primer on business activities. The balance that it aims for is a tough one, with a focus on ministry while operating as a business.

An interesting aspect of the process of institutional development is that the people who are involved in the initial start-up are not able, in many cases, to manage the project as it grows. As the project grows, ... there may be the need to recruit new people, even from outside the church circle of contacts, resulting in lower levels of control in exchange for higher levels of professionalism. ... [This is similar,] in some ways, to parents who begin to let their children go as they mature.

This idea is very present in the business world and is the reason for so many company sales and mergers. Quite often the direction of the business has to change and grow with it. Those who began the project do not know how to deal with the necessary changes. The problem, particularly in ministry, is that this results in “mission creep.” Nevertheless, Mr. Befus has these things to say:

The institutionalization of the program is important as a basis for serving others, not for serving the institution and its employees.

It is better for the program to stay small and maintain its objective than to grow into something different than it was created to be.

Even though he did not state his reasons clearly, I suspect that one of the biggest reasons for incorporating is the same one that caused the creation of companies as separate legal entities in the first place. It offers legal protection and allows for ideas to span multiple, successive, leaders. But if the purpose is going to shift very far, especially when ministries are involved, it is better not to let it go. The book closes with some very good ideas for how to involve the Good News of the Gospel into our everyday interactions with new entrepreneurs. The life and parables of Jesus show a knowledge of business (especially of what can be seen by one who directs others):

**Agriculture:** Modern textbooks on agriculture production present four basic outcomes of seed germination that are similar, in many ways, to the four cases that Jesus presents in a talk recorded in the Gospel records. If the outcomes of Matthew 13:3-8 are considered, we have (1) insufficient soil preparation for seed to take root, (2) inadequate depth of soil for seedling to mature, (3) competitive growth of other organic production preventing proper growth, and (4) adequate conditions for satisfactory production.

In the “modern” world we have gotten away from working with our hands. This is often to our detriment, while to the rest of the world the depth of Jesus’ knowledge is fantastic.

Kingdom Business has made some good points that I still need to consider further. The “free market” does have its pitfalls. One of those is that with distribution working primarily through certain well-defined routes, it can be hard for new suppliers to work a way in. Sometimes that complicates matters even with local distribution. In my opinion, there were a few parts that could have been written better but it was, overall, a good primer. It should not be used as a definitive source but then the author tells you to learn from the locals about how business activity works anyway. Even though half of the book is about lending money to others, I think it is a good starting place when you are interested in a self-sustaining ministry.