Presence-Driven Entrepreneurship

Over the last few years, we have observed an increased engagement in using business to address global issues like human trafficking, unreached peoples, environmental challenges, rampant youth unemployment, et cetera. It is honorable and often good.

But I also observe, especially from the West, a Deus ex Machina approach. It has a von oben angle, and can sometimes have a bitter taste of colonialism. (Von oben is German and translates as ‘from above’; it is sometimes used for a top-down approach or a condescending attitude, assuming a superior status over those ‘below’.) We have the money, the connections, and the solutions. Unintentionally, we behave as though we can fix things—for them!

Deus ex Machina refers to ancient Greek and Roman dramas, when the plot thickened, and there was an unresolvable issue, a man-made mess. The gods and demigods appeared from above and fixed it, and disappeared again.[1]

It is easy to be steeped in a modernity paradigm, have triumphalist language and mechanical solutions to other people’s problems. But as we seek shalom, wholeness of all relationships—also in the marketplace—we must recognize Shalom as Presence, the incarnational model of God. He came and dwelled among us. He gives us his Shalom, the Holy Spirit, to live in and among us.

Or as my good friend Michelle Nipp said at the BAM Global Leaders Forum in Manila in March 2026: Jesus offered His presence, and He didn’t fix all the problems.

We know as parents, or grandparents, that the kids and/or grandkids above all want our time and our presence. We cannot compensate absence with toys or things—they want us, our presence, a relationship. And then time and space are essential. It is not about speed or efficiency.

Moses tried to solve an injustice, a whole nation in slavery, but he acted both prematurely and with wrong methods. God was ready to intervene, but Moses was not ready to lead. Moses had to regroup and rethink (and slow down) for 40 years. Then God said that “I have decided to come down”, and walk with the people of Israel, and be present day by day.

Ultimately, God became a man and moved into the neighborhood through Jesus. He walked with people. Day by day. He promised an ongoing presence through the Holy Spirit, which gives us power to be present witnesses, not shouting megaphones or deus ex machina problem solvers.

My good friends Bill and Shari Schafer lived in the USA, sold everything, and moved to Kenya to start and develop BAM (Business as Mission) businesses. They solved problems and addressed different issues through business. But it was more than problem-solving; it was real presence, a sharing of lives.

Sadly, Bill died recently, but his motorcycle business is a great testimony of a holistic transformational impact on many stakeholders.[2] At the memorial service in Nairobi, it was said about Bill: “He walked with people”. Business as presence.

We mustn’t reduce Jesus to a problem solver, nor limit our call to business to address the world’s greatest problems. We need to walk with Jesus and people. We need presence-driven entrepreneurship.

[1] Originating in ancient Greek theater, the term translates to "god from the machine" and originally referred to actors playing gods being lowered onto the stage by a crane to magically untangle the plot.

[2] See https://enzimotors.com/