Redemptive Entrepreneurship and the American Idea
As we near the 250th anniversary of our country’s founding, there’s a lot of talk about the role of faith in America.
Many are asking the question: Was America founded as a Judeo-Christian nation?
Well, yes. However, not in the way most people think. And the answer to this question has a lot to do with the importance of free enterprise, which is foundational to the American idea.
Our founders built our country on a firm tenet: A deep belief that man was made in the image of God, blessed with the natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—along with a divine spark of creativity and ingenuity.
Faith in America became all about freedom, especially using our God-given talents to create and enjoy the fruits of our labor. This belief in individual potential, as opposed to external power and control, unleashed something extraordinary. America experienced prosperity and human progress unrivaled—and indeed unimaginable—in human history. And more than that, freedom created the most generous and engaged citizenry known to humanity.
This faith-based approach was a radical departure from all of human history’s conceptions of mixing faith and politics. Before America, a government constituted out of religious faith meant using the levers of power to enforce a set of religious ideas or cultural values. But America showed a better way—respecting God-given freedoms and capacities rather than imposing religiosity politically, creates the most human flourishing.
Unfortunately, every generation is still tempted to follow the path of power. The allure is especially strong when we see culture moving away from the specific set of religious values that serve society best. This temptation—to use the levers of power to dictate to others a specific set of faith and values—has a name: the “Constantinian Temptation.”
Named after Emperor Constantine’s conversion and establishment of Christianity in Rome as the Roman Empire’s favored religion, it represents the allure of using state power, wealth, or institutional authority to advance, in this case, the Christian faith.
The temptation essentially asks: “Why suffer as a minority when we could rule as the majority?” But that’s a dangerous path. Our founding fathers knew that men are not angels and that power corrupts. Ruling through power leads us to fail to see and treat one another as image-bearers of God.
We need a better answer. At my organization, Praxis, we believe the answer is “redemptive entrepreneurship.”
When something’s broken in the world—as so much of our country’s politics and culture appears to be today—we ask: “what actions can be taken to creatively restore and renew our culture?” It’s a bias toward action rather than argument. Toward relationship and collaboration rather than winning or losing.
It’s also the American way. In this country, when we face problems,, we often start a business or a non-profit organization. Or we use our freedom to start a peaceful social movement, many of which, throughout American history, have been guided by people of faith.
It’s imperative that people of faith engage—because not all entrepreneurship is created equal. Many will exploit their freedoms and play an “I win, you lose” sort of game. Others will follow a more ethical path—a win-win approach. But the truly influential entrepreneurs will follow a redemptive way: “I sacrifice, we win.”
We need the former gang member creating job training programs that transform entire neighborhoods; the technologist developing tools that make quality education accessible to children in underserved communities; the farmer pioneering regenerative agriculture that heals both land and livelihoods; and the manufacturer reimagining supply chains that honor both workers and the environment.
The American promise, properly understood, is not about a set of predetermined outcomes, but about continually creating new possibilities for human flourishing.
It’s about unleashing the creative potential that exists within every community, every individual, every situation where problems persist.
This is our deepest calling: to see ourselves and our neighbors as image-bearers, equipped with immense creative potential and called to exercise that creativity in service of redemption and restoration.
Let’s return to the roots of our Judeo-Christian founding in America: Faith, free enterprise, and redemptively and creatively restoring our communities and country through sacrifice.
Evan Feinberg is a partner at Praxis, which supports founders, funders, and innovators motivated by their faith to address the major issues of our time.