The world tells us that success is the key to happiness. Get a better job, make more money, buy a bigger house, and then you’ll be content. If that’s the case, why do some of the wealthiest people in the world feel so empty? That’s how John Rinehart felt. At 25, he had a great career and plenty of money, and yet he knew something was missing. As John searched for answers, he discovered that success means nothing if it isn’t used to advance God’s Kingdom. Success doesn’t satisfy, and it was never meant to. Instead of accumulating wealth, believers will find greater satisfaction in giving it away. Today, John helps ordinary business people find extraordinary purpose in being gospel patrons—those who use their resources for God’s glory. How might God be calling you to leverage your career for the sake of the gospel? Continue reading for highlights from this episode of the Even You podcast, or watch the full interview with John Rinehart below.
Tell us about Gospel Patrons and what your organization does.
The organization was started because of a book. I wrote a book called “Gospel Patrons,” and I thought it was a one-time assignment that I was going to be done with and move on with my life. And yet God kept blessing it and growing it. So it grew into a ministry, and the ministry has kept growing since then into a movement. We’re trying to help business leaders and professional people around the world find their part to play and find their purpose in what God’s doing.
What led you to start this ministry?
I was 25, and I had a midlife crisis. I was in business and succeeding, but I didn’t understand how I fit within God’s Kingdom. I love Jesus, and I loved what God was doing in the world. But I didn’t understand how I fit into that. It just seemed like business leaders were second-class Christians. I thought if I was really serious about my faith, I’d be a pastor, a missionary, an evangelist, or something like that because those are the all stars. I wanted to be on the front line and engage with what God was doing. I just didn’t have vision, and vision is so important. In Proverbs, it says unless there’s vision, people perish. We need to understand why God made us, what He wants us to do, and how we fit into His Kingdom plans. So I left business at 25, and I went to seminary and was trained as a pastor. I didn’t feel called to that; I never had that sense of calling. But I knew that God had something more for me, and I wanted to be anchored in His Word for what came next. At 29, I was finishing seminary, and I said to my wife, Renee, “You’ve helped me chase my dreams for the last four years. What’s your dream?” I didn’t think that question was going anywhere huge, but it ended up changing the course of our lives. She said, “Ever since I was 13, I dreamed of traveling all the way around the world in a single shot in order to become a global Christian and to learn to walk by faith.” So, I said, “Yes.” We packed up all our stuff in storage and traveled the world for four and a half months. We learned to walk by faith and become global Christians. On that trip around the world, I wrestled with what to do next. Do I go back into business because I know how to do that? Do I go into ministry because now I’m equipped and trained? I was pretty sure business and ministry didn’t overlap. But then I heard about gospel patrons through a friend of a friend from Sydney, Australia—that God has always used business leaders and professional people, not just frontline workers, to advance the gospel. We call them gospel patrons because they are these people who support with generosity and partnership and encouragement. They come alongside pioneering missionaries and leaders and evangelists, and they support them. They encourage them, and they give to make their ministry possible.
Do ministry and business have to be separate?
I think there are a lot of people asking that question. They love Jesus, and they want to be involved in what He’s doing, but they’re good at their job, or they feel like God’s led them into their career. They ask, “If I get really serious about my faith, does that mean I have to leave my career?” I talk to business people all over the world who are succeeding at the highest levels, and they’ve wrestled with that at some point. “Does my increasing faith automatically equal full-time vocational ministry?” A lot of people just assume that’s what it means. I think that the historical stories of how God used business leaders in the 1500s through the 1700s tell us that you can stay where you are with your career and leverage that in light of what God is doing around the world. That’s why generosity is such a huge link. It’s amazing that, through giving, we can contribute to other people’s ministries all over the world without ever having to go. Now, it’s good to go. It’s good to visit and see what they’re up to and support them. But it’s incredible to think that we can support things in places we’ll never go, and God considers that effective ministry.
What was it like to feel that tension of being successful and yet feeling like something was missing?
Success is not satisfying, and the world doesn’t really talk about that. There’s a story of a couple from Houston, and the wife is really beautiful and was in beauty pageants. Her mom encouraged to go into these beauty pageants. She actually won one and said, “I thought it would make me whole, and I felt emptier after I won.” The world doesn’t talk about this because we all think that on the other side of success is happiness and joy and fulfillment, but it’s not. That’s not how God works. He didn’t create us to have our achievements fulfill us. He’s made our relationship with Him and our engagement in His Kingdom to be what’s most fulfilling. Love God, love people, make disciples—that’s what He’s made us for. And if we delete some of those ingredients out of the recipe, it just doesn’t taste good. There are so many examples of some of the wealthiest people in the world getting divorced, ruining their lives, having all kinds of addictions. Success is not the goal. It’s not bad to be wealthy, but it’s bad to make wealth your goal. It’s an empty goal, even if you achieve it. And so, at a young age, I found success and thought I was doing all the right things as a young Christian businessman. But there was an ache in me to be more engaged. So many people feel that and say, “I’m doing my job, I’m going to work, I’m maybe even succeeding. But what else? I was made for a bigger purpose. Not just to make money. Not just to build a company. Not just to build a resume or climb the corporate ladder. I was made for more.”
For the younger professional with a smaller income, how do you begin the journey of becoming a gospel patron?
Jesus said that if you’re faithful with little, you’ll be faithful with much (Luke 16:10). A lot of people in their 20s and 30s get stuck thinking, “I’ll give later when I have more.” The problem is that if you don’t give what you have now, even when you have more, you’ll keep saying, “I’ll give later. I’ll give later when I have $1 million.” When you have $1 million, you’ll say, “I’ll give later when I have $10 million.” It’s a trap from the enemy. I love that Jesus praises the widow who puts in two copper coins and says she gave more. The only thing less than two copper coins is one copper coin. He said she put in more than all the people who put large sums into the offering box (Mark 12:43-44). It’s not the size of the gift; it’s the size of the faith. It’s faith that pleases God. You could write a huge check with no faith, no sacrifice. Some people should write big checks because God has entrusted us with much, and therefore we should be faithful with much. But you have to start with what you have. I would also say start narrowing your focus. Some people give to a million places, but they only go an inch deep. One of the joys of being a gospel patron is to focus on a few things and go deep with those things. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). We can lead our hearts where we want them to go by where we put our money. If you put $10 into a March Madness pool, you care a lot more about March Madness than you would if you didn’t give. You just led your heart with your giving. Now ask, “Where do I want my heart to be engaged in God’s Kingdom?” How about the least reached people? How about people who’ve never heard of Jesus before? How about people who have no access to the gospel? You can actually lead your heart to care about that more by beginning to give.
The Even You Podcast
On the Even You podcast, we want to empower ordinary people to say, “Yes!” to extraordinary purpose. Hear how everyday believers are using their gifts to have an eternal impact on people’s lives around the world. Learn more, share, and listen to the podcast now!
