Marketplace Ministry: How To Reach People In The Marketplace!

I recently had the opportunity to participate as a guest speaker for the ACCELERATE Leadership Conference hosted by Lead Pastor, Chip Stallings @ Discover Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The topic that I was assigned was, "How To Reach People In The Marketplace".

Since becoming a Christ follower a little over 3 years ago, I have guided many of the people that I work with towards closer relationships with Jesus. I myself was a product of Marketplace Ministry, which is the terminology that kept popping up whenever I would research my topic. Wikipedia refers to Marketplace Ministry as:

"Evangelism or other Christian activities that are targeted towards the secular workplace as opposed to homes, churches, or specialized venues...it speaks to the fact that any Christian can fulfill their desire to serve God in the workplace".

Reaching people in the marketplace makes just as much sense in today's society as it did in the book of Acts if you really think about it. The marketplace is where we spend a majority of our time each week, so why wouldn't we as believers try to make the most of it for His Kingdom? Whether it's our 40+ hour work weeks, meeting someone for coffee, grocery shopping, or just going out for fun, the secular marketplace in today's society is filled with opportunites for Christ followers yearning to make an impact for God. 

In the book The Tangible Kingdom, Hugh Halter states: "Our goal isn't to attract Christian people to our worship service but to be the faithful church in small pockets throughout our city". The thing we need to take away from this statement is that our main goal shouldn't be to lull people into the four walls of a church setting, but to be the church wherever we go. The best way that I've learned how to do this is by living a biblically transparent life in such a way that the people you come in contact with are drawn to you the same way that people were drawn to Jesus. 

So...after browsing through a couple of online articles, watching a couple of videos that I came across, referencing a few books that I've read, and reflecting on how God has used me to influence those within my marketplace...here's a small list of things that have seemed to be effective for me during my pursuit of How To Reach People In The Marketplace!

FIVE WAYS TO LIVE A BIBLICALLY TRANSPARENT LIFE IN THE MARKETPLACE:

1) Share your own personal struggles & past with people you are trying to invest in. This allows people who may be inspecting the claims of Christianity to see that it's not necessary & virtually impossible to live a perfect life. It also makes them more comfortable knowing that you struggle with life too, which enables you to share transparency #2...

2) Openly speak to others about how God has helped YOU through a tough time in your life. Talking about your struggles allows you to gain influence with people because most of us are programmed to naturally want to fix things. Sharing how God sees you through those tough times creates curiosity & interest...especially for skeptics!

3) Your actions within the marketplace must align with your Christian principles. In other words, you have to practice what you preach. This point is crucial if you want to be able to even attempt the first two transparencies that we have already covered. Without building trust & respect among those who you're trying to influence, you'll never gain the spiritual leverage you're looking for & rarely get the opportunity to do so.

4) Always remember that you are working to please Jesus & nobody else! I can honestly say that Colossians 3:23 has completely transformed the way I approach my work everyday & the way that I lead people! When you concentrate on pleasing Him instead of the people you're catering to, your actions will follow suit and the rest will usually fall into place as it should.

5) Finally, make sure that you have a Kingdom minded vision for your place of employment. We spend a majority of our time each week, at our jobs, ensuring that we are capable of supporting our families, which means that we're spending as much time with supervisors, co-workers, & employees as we are with immediate family. As Chip likes to say, "You can't hit a target that you're not aiming at"!

In summary, Your Marketplace Is Your Ministry! The next time you're working, having coffee, out to dinner, doing your weekly grocery shopping, or meeting a friend for lunch, I hope you're able to put into play some of the things you got from this blog entry.

I'd like to thank Chip Stallings & the entire Discover Church Event team for the opportunity to speak at this year's ACCELERATE Leadership Conference and for all of the behind the scenes work that goes into making an event like this possible!