Called to Create or Called to be an Entrepreneur?? - A Book Review

Called to Create or Called to be an Entrepreneur?

I’m starting with a deeper look at the Introduction, as this is where Jordan Raynor really builds the foundation of his premise and argument. By they way, ALWAYS read the introduction to a book as it nearly always includes key information needed for the enjoyment and understanding of the rest of the book!

“God was the first entrepreneur. … Before the Bible tells us that God is loving, holy, ^[1] or merciful, we learn that he is creative.” (p. 11) These are among the very first lines of the book. Say what?? God an entrepreneur?? BUT the definition of entrepreneur is:

·      “a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks to do so.” (dictionary on iPhone)

·      “one who organizes, manages and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise” (Merriam-Webster)

·      “a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.” (dictionary.com)

·      “someone who exercises initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity and, as the decision maker, decides what, how, and how much of a good or service will be produced. An entrepreneur supplies risk capital as a risk taker, and monitors and controls the business activities…” (businessdictionary.com)

Does any of this describe God? Other than initiative (as He did take initiative in the act of creation), NO! However, that last word in the first paragraph of the introduction is accurate – God is creative!

So here we see the beginning of an argument/premise that is founded on false logic. Mr. Raynor’s logic looks like this (remembering that ∴ means "therefore"):

A = B ∴ B = A

or

All Entrepreneurs  (A) are Creative (B) ∴ All Creatives (B) are Entrepreneurs (A)

However, the proper logic formula here should look like this:

A = B but B ≠ A

Because, yes, all entrepreneurs are creative, to a degree, but not all creatives are entrepreneurs!

I am creative and that’s the main reason I chose this book! I love the idea of being called to create! But this book isn’t, primarily, about being creative. It’s about being an entrepreneur, and, specifically, one who uses his/her gifts to glorify God.

If this book were renamed “Called to be an Entrepreneur” it would be more accurate. But, that’s just not as catchy a title as “Called to Create”[2], now, is it? J

So, what happens in the introduction is, in order to make his presupposition work, Mr. Raynor actually redefines the word entrepreneur in a way that is not at all supported by any existing dictionary (as seen by the quotes I included at the beginning of this review). In doing so, he is now free to call God an entrepreneur and claim that, in being entrepreneurs, we are reflecting God’s image. [3]

If you ignore Raynor’s faulty logic and poor presupposition and, instead, focus more on the idea of being called to be an entrepreneur, this is a fantastic book and one that would be a very beneficial read for Christian entrepreneurs everywhere! It is not a book for me (being creative but not an entrepreneur) but I would readily recommend it to Christian entrepreneurs!

Now, I focussed most of my review on the introduction, as this is really where Mr. Raynor builds his argument. But I will give a brief outlook on the rest of the book.

There are other minor problems I have with this book, one being Jordan Raynor appears to be a classic millennial (though not ready to admit it) and this influences more of his arguments. It is easy to look over though.

Positives:

1.     He is passionate about business of Christians being to the glory of God. This is encouraging!

2.     He uses fantastic and unexpected real life examples of Christian entrepreneurs who focussed first on the glory of God which then lead to success in business. For example, Arthur Guinness, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, the founder of TOMS Shoes, Chick-fil-A, …

3.     He does, rightly, show that God has created in some the gifts to be successful entrepreneurs (in the first chapter he shows this when quoting from Exodus 31:1-5).

4.     He presents an encouraging argument for Christian entrepreneurs, which he divides into 4 parts: Calling, Creating, Challenges, and Charge (or the purpose of being an entrepreneur).

As I said, if you are a creative but not an entrepreneur, this book won’t be a fabulous read. But if you are creative AND an entrepreneur, read this book! It will encourage you, it will bless you, and it will show you your purpose!

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[1] FYI, I love the use of the Oxford comma! Raynor earns some bonus points from me here. J

[2] Short, snappy, use of alliteration makes a fantastic, if inaccurate, title.

[3] No, I’m not saying that entrepreneurs don’t or can’t reflect God’s image. In fact they should! BUT in redefining the word entrepreneur, Raynor almost makes it out that we should all be entrepreneurs as this would be the best way to reflect God’s creative image. I don’t think he realized this problem when he reworked the definition!

Disclosure: I received this book free from Baker Books through the Baker Books Bloggers www.bakerbooks.com/bakerbooksbloggers program. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.