Entrepreneurial Faith : Launching Bold Initiatives to Expand God's Kingdom

Rating:
Summary: Needs more faith, less business
Review: Bits and pieces of the stories of the successes of Caldwell and Kallestad are sprinkled sparingly between aphorisms and simplistic, well-worn advice such as "persuade; don't badger," and "turn failure forward."

The authors also simplify both theology and history to fit their premise. They assert that Jesus was an entrepreneur. They claim in chapter nine that entrepreneurial spirit brought about the fall of the Soviet Union and rebuilt East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Their statement that entrepreneurs drive the U.S. economy holds more water, but even that is a simplistic view of another complex situation, and hardly what I was expecting from someone as well educated as Caldwell, who holds an MBA from Wharton in addition to his ministerial credentials.

But business books tend to over simplify things, too. And this book seemed intent on finding a spot in between other business bestsellers that offer pithy advice.

It also offers sample strategic plans and funding proposals as tools for would-be entrepreneurs. But that's it.

This book contains no earth-shattering revelations about entrepreneurs or faith. Neither are there great spiritual insights about ministry. The most memorable checklist was a test of godly vision in chapter 12, which provides six tests to determine if a vision is "a dream or a scheme." It wasn't necessarily scriptural, but seemed solid.

Other suggestions didn't even make sense. A section in chapter seven told entrepreneurs that while their schedule may consume all 168 hours a week, it is important to maintain equilibrium. That ill-conceived paragraph is tempered by other sections that explain in detail how to discern God's will by spending consistent time with God. And Callestad did offer a testimony of his lengthy prayer time in a subsequent chapter. That was encouraging.

Even so, I was expecting more about reliance on God, prayer and miracles. Without that "Entrepreneurial Faith" is really saying that the church needs more entrepreneurs, rather than more faith.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see"(Heb. 11:1). Entrepreneurialism is the subject of bestselling books.