A Christian Business in a Secular Market

Here are a few things we've learned about being in the world but not of it, from taking our little pop-up store to secular markets around the city. Packing our small business into our little car most weekends, and taking them to different locations around the city has been one of the best memories of our lives. But its not always fun!

When you run a small busines you're putting your heart and soul in front of people, your own creativity, your own way of expressing yourself or a message. Every time you put your brain babies out there for the world to see, you open them up for opinion. Those opinions are expressed verbally or non-verbally, on social media or often at our markets!

When we go into those secular markets often we get pushback, weird looks, a roll of the eyes or questioned for why we are doing what we are doing, or why we believe what we do. But we've learned over the years that this has been a huge lesson for us in being a light of the world. That this is what it means to be in the world but not of it. Here are 5 lessons we learned as a result:

1. NOT EVERYONE WILL LIKE YOU- and that's okay. You were called to do what you do, to be liked by people. People often dislike things that they don't understand, but this can open up curiosities doors! It might lead people to question what's going on, or might inspire them to look something up later! Above all, remember not everyone liked everything Jesus did either, but that didn't stop Him from making a difference in people's lives.

2. THE ENEMY WILL TRY TO STOP YOU- we have so many instances where things go wrong just before or during or even after the market! Sometimes the devil will try to cause division between us, things would break, we would forget things, we'd get a terrible spot at the market and so much more. While bad things happen all the time, it is important to pray against the enemies schemes, especially when you are carrying out the mission and vision of God.

3. BE READY TO ANSWER THE HARD QUESTIONS- why do you do what you do? That's something people have asked us many times at the market, and at the start we didn't really know the answer! Overtime, we've really understood and begun to articulate what our business does, but moreover begun to memorise scripture and reflect on why we personally believe in Jesus too. Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you about the hope you have (1 Peter 3:15).

4. DON'T AVOID WORLD SPACES- they need the light too! Sometimes we've been so discouraged from being at a secular market that we just didn't feel like going back. Maybe on business terms it may not make sense to "go where your audience is", but that is exactly what God calles us to do. There are so many people who haven't heard the gospel message yet, and you never know where they'll find you.

5. YOU NEVER KNOW THE DIFFERENCE YOU CAN MAKE- you just don't the impact you can have on someone. You just don't know who may cross paths with you and your message. We have some crazy stories (which will follow this post) about amazing, crazy, God ordained stories about people who have come up to us. These have become our businesses testimonies, which we treasure and give right back to God.

Let us know if you would like to hear the details of some of these stories!

Till next time,

Tarun & Sarah.