Book Brief: Soul Work

Finding God In Your Entrepreneurial Pursuits

Brief Summary

Title: Soul Work: Finding God In Your Entrepreneurial Pursuits
Author: Lowell W. Busenitz
Published: 2023 by Hendrickson
What It Teaches: Soul Work starts from the premise that God is already at work in our workplaces, teaches five spiritual disciplines for finding God in our work endeavors, and closes by encouraging us to respond to God’s presence in our work with worship.
When To Use It: Soul Work is positioned as a book for entrepreneurs, but actually speaks to any believer in any work setting. Anyone seeking to understand how they can better connect their relationship with God to their everyday work will find something of value in this book.

Brief Review

I first encountered Lowell Busenitz while serving as Entrepreneur in Residence at Oklahoma Christian University. Each year I would mentor student teams competing in the statewide business plan competition. Our teams were blessed with success in the small schools division, but the teams from the University of Oklahoma dominated the large schools divisions. Busenitz was co-founder and director of OU’s entrepreneurship program. At that time, I didn’t realize that we shared our faith in Christ.

Before earning his PhD and becoming a college professor at a research-focused university, Busenitz spent six years in christian college ministry followed by several years running his own construction business. He brings all of these experiences to Soul Work. The book takes scriptural truths and applies them in practical ways to real life just as a campus minister would with the students under his care. Busenitz uses stories from his own business and those of others he’s mentored to show what the lessons he’s teaching look like in real work situations. The book also relies on research to support some of his conclusions.

Although written by a recently retired academic, Soul Work is not an academic treatise filled with big technical terms and dozens of references to scholarly papers published in vaunted academic journals. Rather it is a practical and accessible guide for anyone seeking to integrate their faith with their work.

The book is divided into three sections with an appendix:

• Part I: Discovering God Already at Work
• Part II: Opportunities for Experiencing God at Work
• Part III: The Fruit of Being with God at Work
• Appendix for Pastors: How to Help Your Congregants Engage with Soul Work

Part I makes the case for the premise on which the rest of the book is built. The author characterizes most books on integrating faith and work as holding a “faith-to-work” model, meaning that it’s up to the Christian to bring God into the workplace. In contrast, Busenitz presents a “God-Already-at-Work” model, meaning that God is already in the workplace (and already at work there) and it’s the Christian’s joy to connect with God in that work setting.

The first part of the book not only makes the case for this model but also deals with three important theological fallacies. The first is the false view that full-time ministry is a more noble calling than other forms of work. In fact, scripture teaches us that God values all kinds of work, as long as it is honoring to Him. The second fallacy is that our work and our spiritual walk are separate. Jesus’ teaching actually most often used workplace situations to teach spiritual truths, demonstrating the integration of the two. The third fallacy is that work is a curse of Adam’s fall. Scripture actually tells us that God worked in creation (e.g. Genesis 2:2), ordained good work for Adam before the fall (e.g. Genesis 2:15), and that we will even be working in paradise (e.g. Isaiah 65:21–23).

The author describes “soul work” as being “about connecting with God with our whole being — mind, will, and emotions.” Part II explores opportunities for soul work within entrepreneurial pursuits, specifically focusing on five disciplines:

• Chapter 4: Innovation
• Chapter 5: Giftedness
• Chapter 6: Loving Neighbors
• Chapter 7: Pursuing Justice
• Chapter 8: Gains from Pains

In each chapter, the author focuses on practical ways that the discipline can help the believer connect with God in his work. Each chapter draws on both scripture and real world examples and closes with questions to help the reader figure out their next step.

Part III begins with the observation that the Hebrew word Avodah is translated as both work and worship. He gives examples from his own life of times when seeing God active in his work led him to appropriate worship. He then lays out a four stage process for moving from work to worship: recognize God’s presence, see God actively at work, learn what God is teaching, and respond in worship. He then applies that model to each of the disciplines covered in Part II.

The final chapter brings the book to its conclusion — challenging the reader to identify the specific practical actions they are going to take to connect with God in their work.

Bottom Line: Soul Work is a helpful book for anyone seeking to integrate their faith with their daily work. The author is humble (sharing mistakes he’s made), practical, scripture-based, and accessible in helping believers take concrete steps towards connecting with God in their work. While some of the author’s approaches made me slightly uncomfortable (e.g. paraphrasing scripture through an entrepreneur’s perspective), I believe the overall approach is sound and helpful.