“Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you, insult you, and slander your name as evil because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. Take note — your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort.” Luke 6:22-24 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/luk.6.22-24.CSB

The Christian businessman is in a dilemma that is becoming increasingly more serious. The culture is growing in its intolerance and hostility toward Christianity. The leaven that is the Church has failed these past many years to work through the dough of the culture by spreading the gospel and making disciples who are obedient followers of Jesus. This complacency toward the work of Christ has resulted in a culture rejecting Christ to the point of hostility toward those who follow Christ. Thus, the Christian businessman must choose between identifying with Christ overtly and possibly suffering for doing so or continuing to hide to maintain a profitable business. The truth is three things happen when we overtly identify with Jesus. First, the Christian consumer is encouraged to do business with the Christian business owner. Second, the true seeker begins dialoguing with the Christian business owner for help understanding God so they might come to faith in Jesus. Third, persecution, which God in Jesus says is a 10x bonus for His disciples, a true win. The alternative for the Christian business owner is to hide their allegiance to supposedly keep their business. This might increase their wealth, but the wealthy are repeatedly warned in the Scripture of their difficulty entering heaven. The Christian businessman must identify with Christ because he is an influencer in the market for Christ, which desperately needs Christ. Failure to identify is grounds for removal from the kingdom of God, for God warns us that those who are ashamed of Him in this life He will be ashamed to identify for the life to come.