Podcast episode
Episode 378 – Why Your Business Is a Gospel Platform | JD Greear
What if your business isn’t just a platform for the gospel—what if it is the gospel? Pastor JD Greear joins Justin Forman at South by Southwest to make a case that’s both theologically sharp and practically urgent: entrepreneurs are the tip of the gospel spear, and the church needs to start treating them that way.
EPISODE NOTES
What if your business isn’t just a platform for the gospel—what if it is the gospel? Pastor JD Greear joins Justin Forman at South by Southwest to make a case that’s both theologically sharp and practically urgent: entrepreneurs are the tip of the gospel spear, and the church needs to start treating them that way.
JD unpacks his five-characteristic framework from Everyday Revolutionary—Creation Fulfilling, Holiness Reflecting, Excellence Pursuing, Redemption Displaying, and Mission Advancing—and shows how every one of these applies to any entrepreneur, in any industry, in any city. He draws from Daniel, Acts 11, and his own church’s hard data to demonstrate that Kingdom impact through the marketplace is not a secondary calling. It’s the primary front line.
This conversation also gets practical for pastors. JD shares the sermon that beat out his annual sex sermon for most downloads, Summit Church’s stunning 50-to-1 return on church planting investment, and the simple reframe that could change how your church sees—and serves—its entrepreneurs.
Chapters:
00:00 Opening: The first interface of gospel and culture
01:07 Reflecting on 20 years of faith and work conversation
02:09 Leslie Newbigin and the missionary shift
03:04 The Great Commission vs. the First Commission
04:18 How the faith and work movement has evolved
05:04 The 10/40 window as a door for entrepreneurs
05:45 Nehemiah’s three waves: spiritual, governmental, economic
06:19 Bringing Kingdom blessings into the workplace
06:45 Introducing Everyday Revolutionary and Daniel’s model
07:34 Daniel’s credibility: quiet excellence, loud testimony
07:34 The trust gap: entrepreneurs at 65-70% vs. institutions
08:25 Daniel and the lion’s den: being indispensable to Babylon
10:53 How to see the everyday revolutionary as the better way
11:10 Grace and truth: both full, not half-and-half
11:59 Two miles of ditch: the danger of truth without grace
12:54 What does this look like for an entrepreneur?
13:26 Five characteristics of a faithful marketplace witness
14:05 Creation Fulfilling: tasting worship in the work itself
15:20 The Chariots of Fire moment: feeling God’s pleasure
15:20 Holiness Reflecting and Excellence Pursuing
16:26 Redemption Displaying: you’re saved by grace, not employed by grace
17:14 The Madison Avenue intern story
18:22 Mission Advancing: standing before kings
20:09 Revolutionary faithfulness in a loud world
21:13 What pastors need to do right now
22:32 Entrepreneurs as the tip of the gospel spear
22:32 Acts 11: the unnamed “them” who changed history
25:35 Applying ROI thinking to Kingdom investment
27:30 Summit’s church planting data: 50 to 1 return
28:53 Chick-fil-A and for-profit Kingdom impact
30:18 The both/and: proclamation and presence
31:09 Tim Keller on staying right where the gospel is
31:55 Closing gratitude and encouragement to entrepreneurs
32:42 Call to action: Everyday Revolutionary
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