Book Review: “Entrepreneurial Faith”

The third book I read over the summer was Entrepreneurial Faith by Kirbyjon Caldwell and Walt Kallestad. This is a book that is up my alley. It’s a book that touches on the core of who I am — a book that speaks to my being. It’s about seeing faith through the eyes of innovation. Our churches are often stagnant, content with the status quo. There are some of us who wither and die in that environment — I am one of those people.

The authors had me in the very first paragraph of the book when they wrote, “We have learned that maintaining the status quo serves neither God nor the people that he loves.” (pg. 1). Indeed, that is true. Shift down two paragraphs and the two authors follow up with the following statement: “ We have been pastors for a combined sixty years, and we know from hard experience that ‘church as usual’ is guaranteed to fail.” (Pg. 1). I’ve been a pastor for just over five years, but been walking on this planet for over 46 and I can confirm that this is true of more than just church. Anything as usual is guaranteed to fail because nothing stays the same — nothing. Yet why is this such a difficult lesson for people to learn and grasp? Why are we so attached to the way it was when the way it was is no longer?

This is a book that gives the reader permission to dream and dream big. The church needs to dream. It needs to dream big. This shouldn’t be difficult. Scripture is full of dreamers. It’s full of people who dreamt big. It’s full of people who told big stories. It’s full of stories of a big God who has done…