Most people hear "family-run business" and imagine the proverbial pile of baggage dragging behind the phrase.
It's true. Family is messy. Everyone's family is messy. Even Jesus' family on earth (and I'm not just talking about the very long and messy story of Israel).
Jesus' mother Mary had an immaculate conception. While being betrothed to Joseph. Who was going to quietly "divorce" or release her from the commitment of marriage.
Draaaammmaaaa.
But... my family business is teaching me about the Kingdom of God.
There is no getting around the reality that combining family and business is complex, layered, and often emotional.
And in our culture we've decided that it's a terrible idea. Mostly because we have terrible examples of what it looks like.
But, was family ever intended to be involved in business as a unit?
The history of family and business.
This could be an entire book. But, let's just cover some basics.
Family and business were never intended to be separated. And if you didn't already know: we didn't have outside corporate entities until the 17th century (think East India Company)1.
Hollywood has us imagine family business as an oppressive culture in which young men and women have NO choice about what their heart desires, but are forced into the trade of their mother or father.
We never really consider it, but children didn't come to a certain age and then go apply for their first job. They learned from a *very* young age the work that had to be done.
If you look at the structure of homes throughout history, you'll actually see that storefronts were often incorporated below people's living quarters. Families had trades, they all worked together to create what they could sell, and they could sell it out of their home.
In fact, storefronts that were distinct from the home didn't appear until the early 1700s2. Of course, there were open air markets long before that where *families* took their goods for trade or servants traveled to buy items for their masters.
But you catch the shift here: family and business have always been intertwined. It's just in the last few hundred years that this shift took place.
And now when someone says: "Our business is like family," we all roll our eyes and try to keep our food down.
The "business-like-family" sentiment comes with such a deep sense of distrust that it creates the opposite effect. We actually believe it less when you say it out loud than if you had never proclaimed it in the first place.
For Christians, the logical next question is this: what does the Bible say about family business?
Many... or maybe most... would say that the Bible is silent on this issue.
In fact, I could list some direct quotes below from trusted Christian thinkers on this topic.
Most of us assume that the Bible has no direct revelation for family business, so that means we just need to apply the fruits of the Spirit.
You know: state our values as Biblical, be kind to each other, have so much peace and joy that people just can't wait to ask why we're so "different."
And that's pretty much it. That's being a Christian business.
I won't argue against being Spirit-led, of course. Nor that our business culture should look and feel so different that people notice.
But contrary to popular belief, the Bible has a *lot* to say about family business.
The Family Business Codes, as we like to call them, can be found in a few places. But most prominently in:
- 1 Peter 2:13–3:7
- Ephesians 5:22–6:9
- 1 Timothy 2 ; 3; 5; 6
Some would refer to these as the "family codes." They are ways a family should operate.
But, as history reminds us, the family and business were one-in-the-same. Family codes were business codes were family codes.
How a master operates in his home is always how he operates as a boss. How a servant or child operates in the home is also how they manage as an employee.
We've created a deep-dive podcast series on this topic if you'd like to go down the rabbit hole.
The story of God is a story of family. And that has not changed in the marketplace.
We like to put sacred things on one side and secular things on another. We like to put work in its own "that just pays the bills" pile and ministry in its own church-related stack.
And family does not belong in the work pile.
Often, family doesn't really belong in the ministry pile either.
I supposed family is in bits and pieces wherever it's convenient or least painful. Maybe kids go in the ministry pile, but frustrating siblings go in the "obligation" stack and parents are their own special section depending on how broken that relationship happens to be.
The Bible is a unified story of God's family that leads to Jesus and ends in God's family reconciled back to Him. The most incredible revelation we have of who God is, how He operates, and what He's planning is anchored in a history of family. And in that history we see money and family and business and calling and ministry and fathers and daughters and brothers and mothers and servants and masters and students and government leaders and neighbors and managers all intertwined in a beautiful unified tapestry.
Family belongs in the marketplace.
Blood relatives. Chosen sisters and brothers. The family of God.
It all belongs in the marketplace. And if you work with your actual, blood-related family, I have news for you: that's an enormous gift.
I know this because I've been given that same gift.
Working in my family business has taught me some of the most powerful lessons of how God's kingdom operates.
Lesson 1: God's kingdom is an invitation.
If I look back at my work experience, I can name multiple times when my father actively invited me into what he was doing.
His was an open invitation to join the work.
The Kingdom of God is exactly the same way. In fact, if we look at our original vocation in Genesis we see that Adam and Eve were not made to simply exist. They were made for a purpose: to join their Creator in subduing the earth and bringing heaven on earth.
That invitation has not changed. Through the wildly disobedient history of God's people, He has continued inviting us into the work He was doing.
And through Jesus, we live in community with God's people as we are actively invited into the work: reconciling all things back to Christ.
Lesson 2: God's kingdom carries a spirit of adoption.
This isn't a hard one to understand, but it can be a hard one to implement in the workplace.
Even in the Old Testament, Yahweh was adopting the faithful into the Israelite family (think Rahab). And ultimately, Jesus made a way for everyone to be adopted and grafted into the family of God.
It's this idea that leads to leaders saying: "Here at xyz company, we're a family." Often, this is said with the best of intentions. It's intended to carry this very spirit of adoption.
But, when we begin to analyze how we actually treat our employees, vendors, team members, and customers, the common realization is that we do *not* treat each other like family.
Or maybe we do... in the most toxic and dysfunctional way possible.
Out of the same mouth can come the words: "It's not personal, it's just business."
Yikes.
As I've come to experience a deep sense of belonging in my own workplace, that same feeling has translated to my team and my customers.
I find myself operating with a deep sense of compassion and mission for the clients that I had formerly been bitter toward.
I see a change in the way that I treat contractors and vendors. Not just with a desire to be ethical, but with a real desire for health within their hearts, minds, and bodies.
And the fruit of our business has been a belonging experience for countless entrepreneurs. That's something I could not have dreamed up. That's something only the Kingdom of Heaven can do as it comes alive in our work.
Lesson 3: God's kingdom does not push children out, it makes room for them at the table (or desk).
If you have ever brought your children to your place of work, you know that their very first inclination is to take a seat at your desk.
And if you're sitting down, they move your things around, drag a chair up to the desk, and make room for themselves right next to you.
Jesus famously invited children into community with Him in a culture that saw children as the lowest-value people.
In the same way, marketplace is not somewhere children should be kept away.
In our family, business is where discipleship happens for even our youngest family members. Here at our desk they can learn what it means to be a Christian... like, really learn.
They can discover their value, their gifting, and their role in God's world. The legacy of your work doesn't have to wait until they're out of college and ready for "adulting." I have been the recipient of that same invitation from my own parents many times as a child.
Children can lay hands on someone and pray. They can lead others into musical worship. They can serve your clients in excellence. They can hear a conversation about how tight the budget is and pray for God's rest in the waiting. They can watch your frustration with an employee turn into compassion. They can hear a disagreement turn into mutual respect.
They belong where you are working/worshipping.
Maybe not all the time. That's all dependent on what you do (i.e. we know that your 2 year old can't wonder around your office while you give legal counsel). But, you get the point.
The kingdom does not look down on the young. It makes room for them.
Family business mimics God's design.
There are five-hundred more lessons to share. But the point is this: family business is part of God's design. It's His heart that family (blood-related or otherwise) is a core element of your workplace experience.
And in a really way, family business mimics the Kingdom of God.
So go ahead... tell your team that they're "family." And then go do it. See what happens when it's done in a healthy, intentional, and God-fearing way.
1. https://newint.org/features/2002/07/05/history
2. https://www.eraarch.ca/2024/storefronts-and-urban-evolution-qa-with-shannon-clayton/
