Allen C. Paul | Founder, God and Gigs (00:00)
Are you struggling with the desire to move beyond just making stuff you love and actually building something that could impact the world around you? If so, there's a reason that tension keeps popping up.
Since beginning the God in Gigs Show, I've been spending years talking to creators, musicians, podcasters, authors, people building all kinds of creative work. And the one thing I've noticed is that many of them never stop to define what a creator business even is.
You may be asking God for something you haven't even fully named yet. And that matters because the difference between creating for joy and creating with intention and structure with real financial stakes. Those are two completely different things.
So here's what we're going to help you with today. We're going to walk you through exactly what a creator business looks like, whether it's something that God is calling you to and what it means to multiply what he's giving you instead of just keeping it to yourself. By the time we're done, you're going to know exactly how to distinguish between a hobby that feeds your soul and a calling that requires you to step into unfamiliar territory. If you're new to the podcast, welcome. My name is Allen C. Paul and I am the host of The God and Gigs Show.
we help you to become the creator that you were created to be. And by the end of this episode, you will understand not only what the God wants you in creator business, but what obedience looks like when he's asking you to stretch and build something far bigger than yourself.
Allen C. Paul | Founder, God and Gigs (01:28)
one of the most important questions to ask when it comes to our creative lifestyles is what exactly does God want from my creative life? Now I could, you know, immediately I could say, well, it's obvious what God wants from my creative life. He wants me to be productive, effective, inspired.
He wants me to bring him glory. But that doesn't answer the specifics. And I don't mean God doesn't give the answers to specifics, but I do mean that there's a lot of gray area between God wants me to be creative and God wants me to have a creator business.
your specific issue or your specific situation might be different than everybody else's. As matter of fact, I'm sure it's different from everybody else's. No two creators are alike. No two creative businesses are alike and no two creator situations or circumstances are alike, which means all of us.
have specific ways to look at this, but it also means God is able to answer and to speak to every specific situation because He created us. He knows exactly where you are as a creator. So there's no reason for us to feel like nobody understands. Nobody knows exactly how I would, you know, how I'm approaching this. There's not this kind of isolation when it comes to the creator lifestyle and starting a creator business.
Because number one, God has a plan for your creative life. And then if he wants you to be a creator in business, he has a plan for that. Not only that, he also has people that will be a part of his plan. So you don't need to go into this thinking. There's nobody that's going to understand. There's nobody that's going to be there to help one way the other. If I don't start a business, if I do start a business, it's all on me. Not true. Not true.
In every situation, you have resources that you may not even be aware of that are available for you. But let's start with number one. And it basically comes down to what a creator business is. We have to define it before we ask if God wants us to have one. So I would very, very simply state that a creator business is anything involving the creative arts, performing arts,
anything involving artistic growth, artistic ability, and that can include once again, entrepreneurship that is outside of performing or visual arts. And I want to be clear about that because a lot of people assume that you have to be artists in the very, very literal sense of the word of art, meaning painting, drawing, music, dancing, performing arts, visual arts.
in order for you to be a creator. But as you have seen in out the last maybe 10, 15 years, definitely the last 10 years, a creator is not just someone in the performing arts or the visual arts. It could be somebody that is sharing their ability to learn their ability to, ⁓ to teach a certain skill. And because they are using creative tools like podcasting YouTube,
because they are using creative abilities to share something that is maybe not necessarily a creative gift like financing or accounting or how to build models or how to start a lawnmower business. These are not necessarily what people would say creative things, but the way that they have built their business is through a creative platform. And so I want to make sure it's clear that
We are not leaving creators only to those in the visual and performing arts. is anyone that is using their creative abilities or creative platforms to build something that is designed to make money. ⁓ Now make money is once again, one of those, wait a minute. You mean I have to make money to have a creative business? Well, technically yes. A business is designed to be in and of itself, a generator for revenue has sales.
revenue or even if it's a nonprofit and this is another area, you still have to have funds in order to run a nonprofit. So in all these areas, a creator business revolves around creating income, creating something that will build on itself and lives by itself and doesn't necessarily mean that you are doing business only for the sake of you and your income alone. It should also be usually something that builds itself.
the business stands on its own. If you wanted to sell the business later, I know a lot of us don't want to even think about selling businesses, but the business could be sold. The business could be given to somebody else and they could run the business. So that's kind of like where we have to be very clear about a business is not just your creative gift alone. It's when that business has its own life cycle, its own ⁓ income, its own. So the business itself has kind of like a life of its own.
And those two things with creators oftentimes feel like it's literally the same thing. But I'm being very specific now and you can see why this is a kind of like a deep dive, a little mini deep dive. Because these are the things that we have to be very clear about before you establish whether God wants you to have this. So let me tell you why I'm breaking this down so deeply. Because before you ask God, should I have a creative business? You got to ask, what am I asking for?
The Bible says we have not because we ask not, or we have not because we ask amiss. Right? We don't ask the right thing. We don't know exactly what we're asking for. And so if you ask God, God, do want me to have a creative business? Then he might ask you, well, what do you mean by creator business? And then it has to be a decision in terms of what is God saying to you about your makeup, your needs?
and your desire to build something that glorifies him and is for the good of others. So here's the first question I want you to ask yourself. Am I willing to follow God into unfamiliar territory in order to achieve this goal of building a creative business? Here's why I start with that. Because if God
wants you to have a creative business. He is going to stretch you in ways that usually will involve things that you're not necessarily comfortable with. And yes, I know creators, artists, I know that we can handle business, but it's not normally our go-to. It's normally something we have to add on to our makeup, to our skills. And so the first thing you have to ask yourself is, are you willing?
to be obedient and to be teachable in learning what God will show you about creator business, because it's going to stretch you. It's going to ask you to be a little more flexible in terms of, wait, I just want to create. I just want to do this for a hobby. I just want to this for fun. Now, that might be all that he wants of you. That might be that you're not supposed to monetize. And that's why I want to be very clear.
Not everyone needs to monetize their creative gift. And why I stopped so surely on the, hey, a business is designed to make money is because if you are not being called to make an income out of this and you are not called to decide to build something that kind of stand on its own and be something that you can say, hey, this is literally a part of a portfolio that I'm building of
of artwork, of assets, of intellectual property, all these things that can outlast and outlive me. And you feel like your gift is more built for ministry specifically to your church or built more specifically for your enjoyment or built specifically just to create, but you do not want to attach any financial gain to it. That might be something you're called to. So if God wants you to build a creator business, he's also going to put the desire in you.
for something that is more than just a side project hobby to fulfill your own soul and your desires and to make you feel inspired and enjoy this particular gift. But you also have a desire to add it to the world, to add it to other people, to add it, to see it multiply. This is a very, very, very clear indication in Scripture where multiplication is expected once you step into certain roles.
The parable of the talents. wasn't just added an extra talent. He multiplied it by two, right? He multiplied it. He doubled it. The five talent one doubled it. The two talent person doubled it. The Bible says be fruitful and multiply upon the earth in Genesis. So multiplication, as I say, this is part of our U version devotional, by the way,
In the creator's purpose, we talk about multiplication. Multiplication is an expected part of God's creation. Things are expected to multiply. A seed is expected to grow. So if you have a desire to see your creative gifts multiply to become more than just that one particular seed, but you want to see it grow and you want to feel that you are
expanding and giving your space more room for your creative art to grow in other areas. And you realize it's going to take finances, it's going to take organization, it's going to take an amount of of intention. And you feel it and you see it and God is calling you to it because you kind of say, wait, I want to do more. I would like to see my stuff out on that marketplace. I would like to see people.
that are blessed by this. I would like to see this show come to life. Well, thank God is probably saying, well, there's only one path to that, and that is to do business. I love what Tim Schmoyer said. If you don't know who Tim Schmoyer is, please make sure you are subscribed to the Gotten Gigs Show podcast because Tim Schmoyer will be with us very soon. And he is one of the leading YouTube coaches. has coach Budweiser, Disney.
ESPN he's consulted with so many thousands thousands thousands of creators. He's one of the YouTube experts and He is speaking with us on the God and Gigs show and one of the posts that got my attention that I knew about him But another post that got my attention was he spoke about how Jesus Literally used business over and over as an example of the way the kingdom works and this was shocking to me, but it shouldn't have been that farming
is a business. Yes, you use it to feed your family, but farming in itself is a business of making money by selling grains, selling corn, selling whatever that you grow and then you sell it. It's not just for your family. Farming is a business. So Jesus used business as a primary way to describe the way the kingdom works. ⁓ And the same thing with every single time he talked about money.
And so he said, God is clearly OK with business. As a matter of fact, he might be a using it as the primary one of the primary ways to explain how he works. And so if God wants you to have a creative business, he's going to use the creative business to expand you to understand him even better. And yes, this might seem like I said, wait a minute, we're talking about business and we're talking about God and it all fits together. Yes, because as creators,
We've been given his spirit. We've been given his creative spirit. And we've also now been given this tool which can then supply income to us and we can build something that is greater than ourselves because it can live without us necessarily even being around because you can just look at all the different businesses that have last names, Marriott, Ford. Those people are not around anymore. We assume that, you know, those are businesses that are just like corporations that are huge, right?
But they started with individuals. Entrepreneurship starts with individuals, even though we see big business as so corporate. It all started with one person with a dream almost every single time. And then they built something that outlasted them. And a creative business, again, maybe you start one, you finish one or do whatever, but the whole point is you want something that outlasts you. You want something that you can build and that will then help you to bless others, bless your own family, have an income.
and be able to keep something for later. All of that means you've got to look at creator business as more than just something to do. It is, and I'm going to be very, very, you I'm going to be emphatic about this and maybe get on a soapbox a little. It is a calling. Just like being a creator is a calling, having a creator business is a calling. You're called out of just being kind of safe.
You're called out of just doing this for fun. You're called out of just doing this because you feel passionate about it. And you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I want to invest myself because God wants me to have a creative business so I can expand what he's given me. I want to multiply what he's given me. That's what I want to make very clear about this.
business deep dive that we're about to do on Monday on Monday on on next Saturday. Because I don't feel that it's fair for us to see God calling us to something big and then not apply ourselves to the tools that it will take to build it. But I would say once again, if God is calling you to have a creative business, you're going to feel this sense and understanding that what you are doing is bigger than just you, that your creative gift requires more
structure more tenacity more intention it requires more of an organization and it also Can be a bigger blessing to you, but it will stretch you and if God wants you to have that and if you want you to understand more about Him He's going to say yeah go into business. So first pray about it Never fails again. It starts with prayer Lord Search my heart Lord
I want to follow your will. Lord, order my steps in your word. Seek his face, seek his desires for your creative lifestyle. Your creative lifestyle could mean any sort of mix of things, but you got to seek him first. But then after you seek him, seek out people who are following the same path. Seek out people who have
Mix it up. Maybe there are people in your life that are just creative and they just love to perform and play, but have no desire to have a business. And then seek out the people who have made it into a business. And be willing to ask questions and be willing to say to yourself, do I prefer this lifestyle? Is this what the lifestyle the guy's calling me to? This creative lifestyle? Or is it this creative lifestyle? I would be remiss if I did not mention right now our creative quiz, our creator personality quiz.
I'm going to pull that up right now and take a pause. So make sure you guys can go there. If you are having questions about this, because at GodinGates.com, that's quiz. We have a quiz that literally helps you see where are you as a creator? Let's leave that up a little longer. There we go. So I would love for you to check that out. If you are having questions about does God want me to have a creative business? You got to see where you are as a creator first. And so this quiz will help you figure that out. Five different distinct creator personalities that
you might have as a Christian creator. And this quiz will help you figure that out. So go to Godandgifts.com slash quiz to figure that out. But remember, it all depends on what God is leading you to. And for me, it was absolutely, yes, God wants you to have a creative business. Does He want me in ministry? Yes. He made that clear because my heart is for there, right? The heart is where the treasure is. So the church and ministry is a treasure for me. It's in my heart.
And that means I'm going to give to it. That means I'm not going to use it only as a source of income. is a place where I find my joy is place where I find I learn more about God. It's a place where I give back. So the church is clearly part of my creator lifestyle, but is not the only part of my creator lifestyle. My creator lifestyle includes business, includes having financial records for my Paul creative solutions. It includes.
being able to market myself as a musician. It includes how do I build a publishing arm, self-publishing for my books. It includes that. So the portions of your creator lifestyle might include ministry. They might include ⁓ simply doing this for fun, but it also can include and may be emphasized or the highest priority in terms of being able to make sure the other two happen is having the business.
having a creator business, which again is not just fluff is not just I felt like doing it. It is I want to build this for the glory of God and the good of others. All right. So I hope that helped with everyone understanding what a creative business is for. And once again, we'll talk about this in this prescriptions. We want you to join our deep dive. Only 10 spots. If you want to join us there, that is at God and gigs.com slash biz deep dive. If you would like to join us.
for that deep dive into the solutions to the things that are frustrating you about creator business. Okay. But I believe God wants you, if you are feeling this calling to do beyond just a hobby, beyond just for your own sake, if you feel like I would love to do this more seriously, but I just don't know where to start. That is why you should be one of the 10 people in the deep dive.
I hope this was a blessing to you today. And as always, until next time, continue to become the creator that you were created to be.
