Welcome back to the Theology of Business podcast. I'm your host, Darren Scheer, and this is a show that helps marketplace Christians to partner with God in business to transform the marketplace and make an impact in eternity. On today's episode, Restorative versus Disruptive, what the Bible says about innovation. As a book publisher, I spent a lot of time sitting at my desk, and unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a chair in the market that helps me to maintain good posture that prevents back pain that results from prolonged sitting. So I took it upon myself to cobble one together by repurposing a few off-the-shelf products that, as far as I know, have not previously been used in the construction of an office chair. I've been using this invention as my primary office chair for the past six months. My goal in making this chair certainly wasn't to disrupt the office chair market. I would have gladly purchased another existing chair on the market had it met my needs. Instead, my aim was to restore my back to proper alignment and comfort while sitting at my desk. And having experienced these restorative benefits of this invention, I'm now working to commercialize it so more people can benefit from it. Who knows? Maybe you might be one of those people. And this is what I call a restorative approach to innovation as opposed to a disruptive approach. So here's what I mean by the disruptive approach. Many of today's business professionals seem to be preoccupied with quote unquote disrupting industries, being progressive, being contrarian, and generally living in opposition to the status quo. I recently found 1,561 search results for books on Amazon that included the keyword disruptive, and most of these are business books, and there are twice as many Google search results for the term disruptive than for the term restorative. And this against the grain approach to innovation and really to life in general is deeply ingrained in the ethos of the millennial generation. When I was in business school in New York City, I was led to believe that the only respectable businesses one could start these days were disruptive technology companies that required millions of dollars in venture capital funding. You know, you think about Facebook and Google, you know, the companies that really do significant things, the companies that really matter. At least that was kind of my my thought, and seemed to be the philosophy of my professors. And so I'd fallen into this trap of refusing to develop a business that I didn't feel would be highly disruptive in a particular industry. For me, the disruptive approach to innovation was driven by my ego and fear of starting an insignificant company. Because obviously, you know, we want to start companies that really matter in the world. The result was futility as I continued to search for quote unquote the next big idea before taking action on what God had already gifted and called me to do in business. So when the this disruptive approach to innovation is used, here's what happens. Work in ideas that don't seem creative are despised. Disruptors experience overwhelming fear of being insignificant, or that their business idea is just insignificant. Opportunities for collaboration are missed because the disruptor wants to take all the credit. And then there is often a lack of massive action taken due to the disruptor feeling that his or her ideas are never significant enough. So I'll just go back to the drawing board again and again and again and continue to do research and find, you know, the real big thing, the real thing that's gonna make a cataclysmic, disruptive ripple effect through the marketplace that TechCrunch and Forbes and everybody wants to write articles about. So let me talk about the myth of the creative class. One of the byproducts of this disruptive approach to innovation has been the emergence of a creative class in our culture. And that is what I mean by uh creative class is many people have been led to believe that their work isn't meaningful unless they are knowledge workers doing work that can be considered highly creative by the culture. If you just go on Wikipedia, type in creative class, you'll see what I mean by this concept. Ironically, humans can't truly create anything. In order for something to truly be created, it must be brought into existence from out of nothing. And of course, only God can do that. God's word reminds us that we brought nothing into this world, so we can only repurpose what God has already made. You can get the reference there, 1 Timothy 6, verse 7. We brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out. Even when God formed man in his own image, and the word there in Genesis chapter 2 is Yatzar, that's the Hebrew word, uh, which is a different word from the word create that you see, for example, in uh Genesis 1, God created the heavens and the earth, brought them out of nothing, and brought them into existence. So even when God formed man in his own image, he didn't truly create man in the biblical sense, because man was formed from something that already existed, which was the dust of the ground. And so it would be more biblically accurate to say that God formed man from the dust that he created than to say God created man. So, really, God formed man out of something that he had already created. Despite the idolization of human ingenuity and innovation, we can do nothing more than repurpose what God has already created. As King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1 verse 9, history merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. So there's your theology of innovation right there. We are managers, formers, and reformers, not owners and creators. As innovators, we have the opportunity and responsibility to discover, steward, and synergize the resources God has already created for us to manage, form, and reform, as the case may be. So now what do I mean by this restorative approach? Innovation has been described as when happening when two old ideas shake hands for the first time. Now, as restorative innovators, we're called to facilitate these quote-unquote handshakes for the purpose of restoring that which humanity has lost. Jesus said about his mission in Luke 19 10, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And this mission of Jesus is highlighted in Luke chapter 15 when he told three consecutive parables about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son that each became found. He was more interested in restoration than in revolution. Although society had fallen so far off course that his coming felt like a radical revolution. Rather than promoting something as altogether new, Jesus declared that his mission was to seek and to save that which was lost in order to re-establish the relationship that had been severed between God and humanity, which is a relationship as ancient as creation itself. Rather than proclaiming his ideals as something radically new and progressive, Jesus aimed to restore something ancient, timeless, and transcendent beyond the world systems. The restorative approach to innovation is not about promoting the next big thing. It's about it's not about trying to develop the next disruptive innovation or idea to overthrow competitors in your industry. Following Jesus' example, we should aim to restore through our entrepreneurship and innovation rather than aiming merely to revolt against or to conquer something. Especially when we're aiming to correct something that has deviated so far away from meeting people's needs effectively. Our innovation as restorers may appear like we're doing something radical and revolutionary, but don't give in to society's temptation to pursue change merely for the sake of change, because what may appear to be progress may actually be a digression. As restorers rather than disruptors, some innovators aim to provide remedies for human illness or illiteracy. Some serve to fill gaps in customer service or to help save precious time that people are wasting in their daily lives. Some focus on restoring human dignity where it seems to have been degraded. Others promote the opportunity to experience greater happiness and fulfillment in life. And in every case, restorative innovators will restore what humanity is lacking or is lost altogether. Innovators who aim to be radicals and disruptors, pursuing change for the sake of pride, will continue contributing to the lack and lostness in our society. So here's a discussion. You can go to theologyofbusiness.com to comment on this. What's an example of restorative innovation that you've seen in the marketplace? And what are your thoughts on this question of what does the Bible have to say about innovation? I hope you've enjoyed this episode. You can share your feedback and get more information about marketplace ministry, spiritual gifts in the marketplace, marketing like Jesus, and Christ-centered leadership and entrepreneurship at theology of business.com. The Theology of Business podcast is sponsored by Airlift Marketing. It's a noisy world out there, and at the same time, it's never been easier to reach a highly specific group of people with your message, product, service, or cost. Through website development, social media management, podcast management, pay-per-click advertising and branding, Airlift Marketing helps businesses and authors to reach their target groups with precision and to get the highest return possible on your marketing investment. Reach out to us at airliftmarketing.com to schedule a free 15 minute marketing strategy consultation. Thanks for listening and keep partnering with God in your business.